Hi I had a lumptecomy in August and my lymph niodes were clear. I’ve just had my fourth chemo session out of six and then have got 15 sessions of radiotherapy. I’ve heard that some people start back to work whilst they are having radiotherapy. I’ve got a meeting Tuesday with my employer about changes that are beind implemented and my employer would like some idea of when I’m likely to be back at work. I understand that radiotherapy doesnt start till about a month after chemotherapy but I dont know if radiotherapy makes you tired if you can work during it or its best to wait till after you’ve finished radiotherapy. Can anyone help me?
Hi joodles - like chemo, some will have an easier time with rads than others. For myself, I had 35 sessions, and I did get very tired and sore towards the end. A lot will depend on how near you are to the hospital. I was commuting into London everyday in a heat wave, so it’s hard to isolate how much of the fatigue was from rads and how much was from the travel.
Also, you will need to take into account that there can be quite a lot of waiting around. The machines break down fairly frequently. I was lucky enough to have all my rads at a private clinic and therefore tended to get more flexibility with appointment times and the waiting would generally be much shorter than at some NHS units, but even so there were many days when the wait was well over an hour, and then sometimes after the rads I would wait to see the BCN or radiologist, which could easily be another hour or two. I reckon each visit including travel was 4 - 5 hours.
I don’t work so it wasn’t an issue for me, but I would really have struggled to combine the two. I know others have found it much easier.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
finty xx
Hi joodles,
I am currently having rads, and have opted not to work whilst having treatment, but I think everyone is different and some people need to work, the machines do break down and there are long delays, plus the traveling, so I feel I have made the right choice for me, I haven’t needed chemo, so have only been off work since oct.
Good luck with your treatment, whatever you decide.
X
Hi Joodles,
I finished 15 rads at the end of October following lumpetctomy, chemo, mx and recon. I arranged to have all my treatments first thing in the morning so there was usually no delay and then drove straight into work after treatment. I was tired towards the end, partly because I was leaving home at 6.30 every morning and driving 70 miles before I started, but for me it was very do-able. I know this is not the case for everyone, and certainly for those people having more than 15 treatments, I can imagine it is very tiring as time goes on.
I was also lucky enough to be able to work throughout my chemo too, so I may just be particularly resilient as well as lucky.
I hope all goes well for you and your employer is understanding and flexible.
Jacqui
Hi
I work for the nhs so return to work has to be cleared by occ. health and like you am haing 15 rads. Just had my planning session and have been told, no work while I am having rads or for at least the week after, which is when they will make a decision about when I can go back to work. Usually so I am told we are to take a month off after rads but if I feel ok then I could go back just one week after finishing. My feeling at the mo is that if the rads make me sore to the point i can’t wear a bra then I would prefer to be off until I can.
Hope this helps and good luck with rads and return to work,
Ali.
ps … I was not sore during my rads, but almost immediately once they were over I became quite sore for about 10 days … I was able to wear a non-wired bra throughout.
Jacqui
I worked through chemo, and am doing so through rads too. (I’ve had 8 so far). The hospital is only 30 mins from home and I have my appointments first thing and then go into work after. This has worked out well, as I usually get seen quickly and am away from hospital in about 30 minutes. I did have one lunchtime appointment where I was 2 hours late being treated.
My job is only part time and is not physically demanding. Perhaps you could ask about light duties or shorter hours if you want to go back? I wanted to keep things normal to try and keep me sane!