I just wondered if people tend to work through their treatment. I am going for surgery and reconstruction with expander next Tuesday - followed by chemo and rads. I am hoping to go back into the office - even for short days and work at home for some - from second week of January. I read that lots of people take a whole period off work… but is it possible to work through? I love my job which is desk based. I am also due to go to the US at end of April. Are overseas trips banned on chemo - does anyone know?
I worked through FEC and rads 4 years ago. Usually needed one week off and generally felt well enough to work the other two during chemo - I had a desk job, too. I was part-time and ended working nearly full-time (ie, doing overtime) when I did go in, because my employer only gave 10 weeks paid sick leave and I’d already used up most of that for a knee op and then the WLE! So… if I didn’t go in, I was on SSP and it don’t go far when you’ve got teenagers to feed. So, for me, it was financial.
I also worked through rads. Four years on, I’ve got lymphoedema and ongoing shoulder problems, so I do wonder if it was worth it, sometimes, and whether pushing myself too much back then has contributed to these complaints.
Again 4 years on and I’ve just finished a course of Taxotere. I’m not working at the moment (currently a part-time student), but I don’t think I would have been able to do as much on this regime - definitely more fatigue involved. Do you know what drugs you will having?
As far as I know, they advise against foreign travel on chemo (although I have dared the odd day trip…!)
Thanks so much Bahons. I don’t know what drugs I will be on yet - as only just going in for surgery next week (single mastectomy and recon - plus removal of lymph nodes as positive in sentinel node).
Sorry to read about your on-going problems - if you on taxotere does that mean your cancer came back? I hope not.
I think that with work, it’s also very much a ‘suck it and see’ situation. Some people’s jobs lend themselves more easily to flexible or part-time working, or are less physically or mentally demanding than others. And then, individuals vary greatly in their responses to chemotherapy, too.
I gave up work before chemo but that was because I worked in a school so was prone to all types of infection. I tried going back for an hour a day but even that at the moment is too much for me but I also have secondaries so have problems with mobility
We had a trip to the USA planned for when I was having chemo but my oncologist told me to cancel it as again the risk of infection and getting poorly was too high. We cancelled and went two weeks after rads and had a marvellous time. It would be diffiult to get travel insurance to the USA whilst on chemo and medical charges over there are astronomical if you did get sick. If you do decide to go make sure you get a letter from your gp of what medication you are on and also get him to give you a course of antibiotics to take with you. I always take some with me when I go away in case I develop an infection.
Wishing you all the best
Jools
Thank you Jools. Mine was going to a work combined with holiday trip. I will talk to the consultant when I start the chemo to see what he says about the trip. I am sorry about your secondaries - did you know you had them, or were they just picked up on a scan? I haven’t got any symptoms, but haven’t had any scans (yet). I am just at the beginning of my BC journey - going in for surgery on Tuesday and then chemo and rads to follow.
Sorry about the reoccurance - and hope you will get back to being fit again soon. Coincidence about the knee - I broke my knee cap 18 months ago - and went in for it to be wired together. Other ladies in my bay were in for BC surgery - never thought that such a short time on I would be one of them… it is a strange life… never knowing what’s around the corner.
Hi Brightlight, I too am just beginning this journey, having right mastectomy and axillary clearance Tuesday pm (same as you), then chemo and rads. I’m being discharged the next day with drains, how about you? I have put off reconstruction until after treatment. Had CT and bone scans last week, both clear, Thank God!
Hope everything goes well for you.
My surgery is in the morning on Tuesday - so hope I will be awake for the afternoon. I am going for reconstruction at the same time (expander) - as this is what hospital seemed to suggest. I haven’t had any scans yet, only a chest xray. I’ve been told I am staying in for a week…
What are you going to do about your hair. I’ve just ordered a wig - arrives 28 December, and will try to see if cold cap works.
Hi, I’m having my op on Tues afternoon so am allowed breakfast, as though I’ll be in any state to eat it!
I don’t think I could face the cold cap so have had my long hair cut to shoulder length and the wig I bought styled to match. I’m not a scarf or hat type of person & think it might just draw attention to me
Have you found this BC lark costs an arm & leg??? What with wigs, haircuts and blooming enormous bras (mind you after spending a fortune online buying two mastectomy bras, I found some very nice ones in M&S - much cheaper too!!)
I’m trying to stay positive,but have to say finding it hard to concentrate on organising Christmas.
This weekend I’m telling my youngest children, but am anxious about using the ‘cancer’ word in case they hear horror stories! Do you have children & if so how did you approach it?
It’s great to find someone going through it at the same time as me, but I wish neither of us was here.
I go to Beckenham sometimes - quite a quaint place, and like some of the old buildings in the town with white wood weatherboarding. I actually live in West Norwood, so essentially I think we have Crystal Palace between us. My hospital is Kings College, but having surgery in St Thomas’s as that’s where the plastics team is based. I have ordered a bespoke wig (cost £400) which is real hair and long 28 inches. I am getting a cheaper one too for wearing in the house, as cannot bear the thought of being bald. Not yet cut my hair yet as it is very long, and I will try the cold cap and cut it when it starts to fall out.
You are right about the cost the mounting cost - and in my case expect there will be quite a few taxi bills as we do not have a car. I never even thought of mastectomy bras - nurse just told me about a prosthesis whilst I get temporary expanded every two weeks. I don’t have children - and sorry that you have to tell yours about BC. It is all so scary and surreal.
Morning, and what a miserable one it is!!! (the weather, I mean) my husband put up the Xmas tree in the sitting room so just waiting for branches to settle & then we can have fun (?) decorating it. Needless to say he has gone off to football!!
I went up to London & bought my wig so I could try on various, decided on real hair wig too, then it cost another £80 to have it styled! Like you I’m getting a cheaper one, the hospital said that we all get one on the NHS, good idea wearing it indoors. I washed my shorter hair this morning for the first time and of course it looked nothing like the salon style, but is better now after straightening it.
Are you packed and ready for Tuesday? I’m not! I’m having my op in Orpington but all treatment etc at the PRU.
I think you’re very brave trying the cold cap and hope it works for you. Hope I don’t regret not trying it, just something else to worry about.
I have replied to you on another thread but thought you might like to know that as you are being treated at the PRU they have a wig lady there every Friday afternoon. You need to make an appointment but she is very friendly and not pushy at all. We are lucky because once you have selected your wig you just sign the paperwork and walk away with it. No charge at all. Some people have to pay even for NHS wigs. I selected mine which is from a well know range available everywhere then took it to my normal hairdresser and he trimmed it down a bit to be more like my normal style.
I’ve just come back from a shopping trip to Battersea. I was going to look at nightwear for Tuesday, but in the end I could not summon up the enthusiasm, so putting that off until tomorrow or Monday (I work near Victoria Station so lots of shops). We had lunch out at one of the All Bar One places - and I ate some little bowls of tappas which were lovely, Jason on the other hand went for burger and chips: he loves chips, and is always chiding me for not making them for him. But he is overweight (2 stone) and I’ve just lost 15 1b - so anxious not to put it all back on again. I’ve read that chemo can increase the appetite and most people gain weight, so I am going to try not to succumb to temptation!
So how are the wigs looking? Do they look convincing? Did they explain how they are kept in place. I need to find out soon…
Bright I have found that I have put on about half a stone since starting chemo and am really annoyed with myself that it has happened because a few years ago I went on a major diet, lost a fair bit of weight and until this BC hit had managed to keep most of it off, The problem I have is that my taste has gone completely haywire and nothing tastes right. In fact some thing taste really awful. I find I keep eating to try and enjoy something which tastes as it should. Unfortunately with me the things that taste near normal are the sweeter things and the fattier things. I know I have very little chance of losing weight whilst on chemo but as planning to try really hard not to put any more on.
A lady in the treatment suite who I had never met before asked me yesterday how I was finding the cold cap. When I told her that I hadn’t used the cold cap and that my hair was a wig she came right up to me to have a closer look. That convinced me that to people I don’t know my wig must look realistic. Close friends and family realise because the colour and style are slightly different to my normal hair. That has given me the confidence to carry on wearing it. I just put it on and it seems to stay securely in place until I take it off again. I think I have been lucky to find one that is a good fit.
Don’t know if you ladies realise that to have the cold cap means that you have to be in the treatment suite considerably longer than if you don’t. I just wanted in and out as quick as I could even though my nurses are wonderful.
I am prepared to stay in the centre for longer if there’s a chance my hair will go less quickly, and it may mean that it will take less time to regrow. It is only six treatments after all - six days at most, and it would take me four or five years for my hair to reach the same length. What make is your wig? and how do you clean it? Glad it is looking realistic - must make you feel happier.
Thanks for the tips about the diet. I’ll just to persevere with things like vegetable soup - and the daily plate of beetroot that lost me the 15 pounds so far… but so scared of regaining!
My wig is a brand called Natural Image. I think it fits me so well because they do a petite fit and my head is quite small. I have to buy hats suitable for girls, ladies sizes are a bit too big and feel insecure.
Because the wig is not real hair I have beeen told to treat it like fabric not hair. It needs to be swished around in water containing something like washing up liquid or washing powder. Then really well rinsed,shaken a bit, put on a polystyrene head,organised back to its original style and left to dry.
I like the sound of your beetroot. Do you have it on its own or with something. Now you have mentioned it I fancy some beetroot, wonder if there is any in the cupboard?