This is my first post. I had a seed-guided wide area local excision on 26th January, and am wondering when I should be returning to work? At the initial consultation I got the impression that 1-2 weeks off would be needed.
I have a stressful management job which I have been doing from home (because Covid) though my team is returning to the office 2 days a week from this week. Pre-op I thought I would be able to go in tomorrow, but then realised a 90 minute commute wouldn’t be a good idea.
I was still aiming to return to work tomorrow, but I’m still really tired and finding it difficult to concentrate. I’m not sure how much is down to the op and how much is just accumulated work stress (it has been manic over the past couple of years trying to deal with all the Covid-related changes of plan.
Hi , I would say in my opinion you are pushing yourself quite hard to go back so quickly , it sounds like you are having doubts too . I found that even after 3 months off I felt really quite wobbly emotionally going back to work and my resilience to deal with stress was reduced .Give yourself time to heal emotionally and physically . I didn’t go back to work til after my radiotherapy - I did a very stressful social work job .Have you negotiated reduced hours / phased return / lower caseload ? If you find things tough when you go back , speak to your GP and ask for a sick note or speak to your employers about less demands .Everyone is different some people find work therapeutic but it sounds like your job has a lot of demands ,good luck . Jill x
I think on this forum you will find many many different answers and this will probably be based around how we are coping with the diagnosis and what we do for a living.
im a nurse and am used to exercise 6 days a week. I was tired initially in week 1 but after that felt fine.
I took 3 weeks off just because I wanted my results first, which then resulted in more time off as I had to get a 2nd excisional lumpectomy.
no tiredness this time round but again took 3 weeks off to cover my results.
Im lucky enough to get a phased period of return for 1 month with the option of extending this.
Can you get phased return - you are entitled to ask for it.
I based my ability to return on how I felt after long walks - if too tired then I knew I wouldn’t be able to cope with a full day on the ward.
Try giving yourself wee goals at a time and remember we all heal differently.