Hi All
Sorry for the mega post below. I have been reading posts but not managed to find time to respond for a week or so. I hope you have all been enjoying the weekend in one way or another. I am really clinging on for Easter as I have a week off. My first break since diagnosis not to be entirely taken up by treatment/recovery.
@naughty_boob I wanted to say thank you for responding just over a week ago to my query about muscle aches etc. I missed your post at the time but saw it recently. I am sorry to hear you are feeling the same as me but in some ways it is reassuring to know I am not alone. I asked the BC nurse and surgeon about this on Friday and they seemed to think this is all par for the course. They were very vague about what I could do to improve it. So I am continuing to try and increase my walking etc and hope that exercise and time will make the difference. I also totally get what you mean about friends, family and colleagues willing treatment to be over, like they are all a bit bored of it. If only we all had such a choice. I think we are all pretty bored of it too but the side effects keep on coming and it definitely doesn’t feel like it is over yet. I also feel 80 rather than 49, just getting off the sofa takes a lot of mental and then physical effort. I am also sorry to hear about your friend. Sometimes life moves on and losing friends is hard but life abhors a vacuum and I expect that gap she has left will be filled with others who can join you for the next bit of your life. I lost one of my best friends about five/six years ago (she started a new relationship and just didn’t have space for her friends). It has taken time to move on but it has happened. Congrats on negotiating your redundancy. Hopefully that will allow you to start afresh later this year and do things that will bring more fulfilment.
@copperycat sorry to hear work is hard. I have been working on and off throughout and like you at times working long hours in a job which isn’t very fulfilling. I keep thinking about what can I do instead. I am 49 so I am too young to retire but the thought of working this hard in a role I don’t really care that much about for the next ten years is not great. Like us all I have bills to pay and so work has always been about paying those, but I need to find a better balance. I feel like we are all reassessing our lives in one way or another. Hopefully in a year or two we will all have managed to change things sufficiently so that we have happier day to day lives.
@pinklilli3s don’t take the lower salary. They are chasing you so try to negotiate them back upwards. So pleased you are able to ride again. I know that means a lot to you. I am still finding a lot of soreness and pulling at surgical sites (am at 3.5 weeks) so I am impressed you feel able to do something so physical.
@annemanc I have found returning to work okay most of the time but the last time I was off for just over two weeks post surgery and still had a lot of side effects and I found the return pretty tough, it did get easier as the week went by though. I also had to practice gratitudes for quite a few nights (something I always go back to when life is hard). I think some time off after rads sounds sensible (especially as the side effect seems to be fatigue). Phased return also sounds very sensible. I used to do a compressed week to get every second Friday off but I have actually found it easier to normal 9-5 since going back. But I might consider reducing my hours to 0.9 FTE which would give me Friday afternoons off. I think I need to work out the impact on Salary and Pension before making that decision. In terms of any of us feeling like we are letting people down or feeling guilty about work I think we should knock that on the head. Any company I have ever worked for has looked after itself first, as have colleagues. So we need to look after ourselves too and put ourselves first. After all if we don’t do that, no one will do it for us.
@annemanc are you still seeing your personal trainer? How is it going? How soon after surgery did you start this? I am keen to get going but feel very far from recovered from surgery.
@plum1 glad the boob is all sorted but sorry to hear the nodes are not clear. Good that you didn’t have to wait long for the news and there is a clear plan for next steps. Also sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope you manage to make the funeral as planned.
I saw my surgeon on Friday and he happened to mentioned the date when I went to the GP which was July last year! I couldn’t quite believe how long this has been going on. It just feels a bit never ending at the moment. One day/week at the time eh. My surgeon confirmed next step for me is probably Herceptin (have oncology appointment next week) and radiotherapy (probably around the start of May not sure for how long). Has anyone else been offered a shorter series of Herceptin injections (part of a trial). I don’t know much about it other than I will be offered it. Part of me wants less drugs and part of me worries it won’t be as effective in reducing risk of reoccurrence.
I hope I haven’t missed anyone out on my replies and I hope you have all been enjoying restful weekends. Lots of love to you all and I also just wanted to say how grateful I am that we are all still posting and looking out for each other. This cancer thing is one crazy ride and I wouldn’t be coping nearly as well if the support we all offer each other didn’t exist.
I work as an accountant and bookkeeper so am on the laptop all the time. Finding it hard to sit for long periods doing that!
I am not forgetting I’ve just been through major surgery and will give my body the rest it needs.
hopefully will be putting it back on (never thought I’d say that!) . Looking at a sunny holiday in may but overwhelmed by the choices!
my BC nurse said there’s a small chance the plan could revert back to Phesgo if the nodes were clear but I don’t want to get my hopes up…