Hi
I posted the other day about my herceptin treatment, here is a short summary, iwas diagnosed with grade 3 her2 + breast cancer , lymph nodes invoved, in june 07, i had 8 chemotherapy , WLE in november 07, 20 radiotherapy in january 08 and started herceptin in march, i returned to work in april 08 , i work for the nhs and they have been fantastic, recently i have reacted to herceptin dose number 12 it is now affecting my heart, i must admit i have been feeling really crap and have been picking up bugs and colds etc which seem to hang around, my gp has signed me off today for six weeks i have just been off for two weeks as he says i need to ge back on my feet, i work in the evenings and he feels i have done too much but i feel so guilty been off work , i am now worrying what they will think im off sick again, especially over the chrstmas period! please can anybody tell me how long they were off work for and have i really just expected to much from myself, i would really apprecite your comments
galen x
I’m self employed and was signed off work for 14 months in total.
Hi Galen,
I’m still off after diagnosis in July 07 stage 3 later upgraded to stage 4 due to small bone mets & 12/22 lymph nodes effected. I had 5 mths of chemo, mx & anc and finally rads finishing in March 08. All through treatment I aimed to go back to work after 12 months to get some normality back & be as if nothing had happened.
So in Aug I tried to go back to work, starting on a very part-time basis doing beginners stuff ( I was a mortgage adviser for Halifax - rubbish timing, eh ??). I lasted 4 weeks of 2 half days a week & it was all too much for me. I went to see my bcn in a real state but she was lovely, explained everything to the surgeon I was seeing the following week for a check-up and he said he would write to work to say I wasn’t fit enough to be there. I was signed off for 3 months and have just been back today for another 3 month note on the advice of all the medical people. I’d pushed myself too hard to go back. It isn’t just the physical side effects but the emotional ones that you go through and once my surgeon had been so lovely, I felt I had permission to be off.
I felt SO guilty about not being able to be at work again and have been through all sorts of ‘trauma’ coming to terms with being off work (not the cancer !) especially as people see me & I look well. It’s taken these last 3 months but I am much better now and know I have to do what’s right for me. Yes the lack of money is a pain but I had practised what I preach & had a critical illness policy so that’s helped a bit & I don’t have kids etc to worry about.
From my experience, PLEASE don’t feel pressurised into being back at work or guilty about not being there - you MUST put yourself first. The medical people looking after me have been so supportive & it is their advice Ithat has been a godsend. After all, I trusted them with the treatment so I now trust them with their advice about after & side effects.
Look after yourself,
Liz
Hi Galen
I was diagnosed May 06 with similar diagnosis to yours - grade 3 her2 + breast cancer , 13/19 lymph nodes involved. Had mx, 6 chemo, then 20 rads, followed by a year of Herceptin which finished in Jan 08. Only difference is I thankfully had no problems with Herceptin. I had 9 months off - went back to work Feb 08, 5 weeks after finishing rads because like you I wanted to get some normality back. It was really a mistake - I wasn’t ready, not so much physically as mentally. I ended up having 2 months off work at end 07, early 08 due to stress and also had to go for a bone scan which was obviously a worry at the time but thankfully turned out to be ok.
I’d say don’t feel guilty about work. Its far better to go back when you are as fit and well as you can be, otherwise you risk being off again if your not up to par. Thankfully I had great employers and it sounds as though you do too, but I understand about feeling guilty, that’s natural, but listen to your body - and your GP - and concentrate on getting some strength back. You’ve been through a great deal. Good luck
I had a disastrous episode at the beginning of the year as I decided I would perhaps be better getting a job outside of our business - I think at the time I wanted the cushion of a regular salary and sick pay as I didn’t get any benefits when I was signed off. I totally misjudged my confidence, although the employer was at fault as well on account of the proposed training package not being in place for me when I started. I became so stressed out I had to leave and my Oncologist referred me for counselling.
Thankfully, I’m now a whole lot better and have returned to the business again. I’m doing p/t hours combined with p/t study and retraining and it’s working out fine. At the time I think I found self employment very daunting as our income varies from month to month. We can have no projects coming in for a couple of weeks, then more work than you could shake a stick at for about 2 months!
I am also thinking about when is the right time to go back to work. I had WLE and axillary sampling on May 08, it was 3.1cm grade 3 and 5/7 lymph nodes. Had 6 chemo and 30 rads (which I had to travel over to the UK Mon-Fri for) which finished last Friday. Saw occupational health consultant on Monday and she advised 5 mornings starting from 5th January.
I’m 39 with children aged 4 and just turned 3, and I am the breadwinner in our family, my husband being full time Dad.
My bcn rang yesterday and she said she thought going back 1/2 time at first might be too much. I am desparate for some normality and do feel guilty not being at work. There has also been some re-structuring whilst I’ve been off, and I am keen to assert my position in the new set-up, but also I don’t know if I’ve got the energy. I’m finding this hard one too.
Kinden
x
Hi,
I have been off since the end of March 2008 and I too am thinking when to go back. It will most likely be Jan or Feb 2009. My Gp wants me to stay off longer but my pay went down to half in the middle of October, so we are down by a lot of money each month. I can’t work as a teacher and the chances of infection from 1200 kids was too high. I start rads next week and thought I could go back during or after them. The rads nurse says it will hit me for 3 weeks after rads and has advised me to take longer. On no account should you feel guilty, remember what we have - we are not sciving! Do what is best for you and don’t even think about work unless you want to. Work will still be there but there is only one of you, and worth so much more
Good luck
Lily x
I too have been off since my op at the beginning of March (had mast/DIEP-recon/chemo/rads). Originally I told my boss I expected to be off for only 3-4 months but my oncologist said I should stay off throughout treatment as I work in a dirty environment on a farm. I have been signed off until the end of Jan, am under some pressure from work to return after Christmas but my job is heavy physical work and at the moment I couldn’t even be on my feet for two hours, let alone running up and down steps, and lifting and carrying for 5 or 6 hours a day.
Now two weeks post-rads I am either incredibly sleepy, or lying awake at night panicking about something or other, my GP said depression is almost the norm at the end of treatment and I have been referred for counselling. My dearest colleague died during my absence and other staff changes mean I really dread trying to slot back into a very different and younger team from the one I left behind, with the worry that I’m neither physically nor intellectually competent to keep up.
Money is a huge worry, I don’t get company pay and claimed Incapacity Benefit when SSP ran out after 6 months but the DWP now want a long medical form completed prior to attending an interview and as I can actually manage to stand up from a chair, pick a coin up, hear, see and speak, etc, I don’t think I will fall into one of the categories this covers. It’ll be a relief when Christmas is over and I can take stock of how bad finances really are, and take it from there.
I think it’s important to remember that no employee is irreplaceable, it’s you as an individual that has to come first, and the reality of cancer is it makes you look at life, past, present and future, in a very different way.
Hi
I havent been at work since August 2007 (long story mastectomy, reconstruction infections and then implant removed) I have been on incapacity and its bloody hard finacially but we have coped!!!, dont worry about the DWP I went and saw a really nice lady and then sent to a doctor and she didnt even examine me, she said I had been through enough/ The outcome was that I didnt need to send them medical certificates until a set date (approx a year) but the time is up next month so not sure what I will do.Get what you have a right to get although I personally feel that if you have a serious illness some how you should have your pay made up to how much you got before the illness, Its not that we chose to have cancer (I’ll get off the soap box now!!)