Hi - grateful for any information or thoughts. I was diagnosed on 15th August. I am due for surgery on the 8th Sept. WLE and total axillary clearance. Pre-op I have had MRI, CT, Bone Scan. This has shown no spread. As they know I have node involvement I am told I will need chemo. Have follow up apointment with the surgeon 24th September, appointment with the oncologist 10th October.
I am curious to know if anyone has worked whilst undergoing treatment? I have said I will be off 3 weeks for surgery, will definately be back then until chemo starts and hope to work whilst having chemo. Am I being unrealistic? Please help. Thanks Diane
Diane - sorry you have had to join us. Everybody reacts differents to the chemotherapy, and you don’t seem to know what regime you will be on yet. I personally managed fine working whilst having FEC, but had to take a week off after every TAX (that’s the chemo combo I was on). For many occupations you are immediately covered by the Disability Discrimination Act from the time of diagnosis, which could be of help to you if your employer gets “iffy”.
All the best. If you need to know more about DDA visit your local CAB, welfare rights office, or check out Acas website.
thanks - that confirms for me it can be done. Work aren’t iffy - it is about me and being able to cope. I prefer to take timeout after the treatment has finished rather than during - if I can to try to keep some normality in my life. My problem is my employer is concerned I won’t be able to cope with a stressful job whilst having treatment. Stress though keeps me going and it is work that has got me through the last few weeks. I dread the thought of being at home whilst going through this.
Diane
HI Diane
A Sue says everybody reacts differently.I was dx last Oct and only returned to work 6 weeks ago.I had my chemo first and was not fit to work through,although I coped well with the treatment initially I struggled in latter stages.I had WLE and auxilliary clearance in April and Radiotherapy for 3 weeks of June.I had a problem after my op when my wound opened up and I had to have daily packing to heal it.It has still not healed and gets packed every other day.It is now down to 1cm as opposed to 9cms so nearly there.I hope you cope ok and it would be great if you feel you can carry on working,but you will need plenty of rest so please consider it carefully .Financially it has been extremely tough for me,but I had to think about my health.
Sorry to hear you have been DX with this horrible thing.
I was DX in May last year and had WLE with full axillary clearance, 3 FEC 3 TAX and 15+2 rads and now on tamixifen.
Its good you are planning 3 weeks off for the surgery. I went back part time after 10 days which, with hindsight, was ridiculous cos I could hardly move my arm but I was in such a state of denial I just kept saying i was fine.
I worked 2 weeks out of 3 with the FEC but this got less with the TAX cos of the fatigue. Had to have a 6 weeks off after TAX 1 cos of problems that didn’t get sorted till the next one was due. I worked through 1st two weeks of rads but then went on Christmas shutdown which helped and then had all of January off due to tiredness again [I was over the denial by now!!].
I have been back on full hours since March and, although I am knackered by Friday, I am fine with it now. I do have a cleaner though cos I can’t [and won’t] do everything.
Continuing to work through treatment wasn’t entirely my “choice” cos my employers only pay SSP and I couldn’t afford to lose that much money but working definately helped to keep things more normal. Just stay within your limits cos you won’t do yourself any favours being a hero.
Good luck with all your treatment and I hope you get the support you will need from your employers.
Sorry you’ve had to join us, but it is a great club; if only the joining conditions weren’t so bad!
I was dx on 30th April and had WLE and lymph node sampling on 7th May, started chemo on 3rd June. Everyone does react differently, but it also depends what work you do. I’m a lawyer and amongst the many side effects of chemo for me has been chemo brain - can’t think straight or remember things I used to know easily, so I am staying off work until chemo and rads are finished and a short time after that too. Financially I am lucky in that I get 6mths full pay and 6mths half pay. I also have children aged 4 and 2; were it not for them, I might go back for some of the time during chemo as I’d be crawling the walls at home, although popping in and out of things doesn’t really help in my line of work. Sometimes I feel a wimp for not working, but as the bcn said, my family have to put up with things when I’m bad/poorly so they deserve me when I’m better too.
Welcome to the Breast Cancer Care discussion forums. I am sure you will get lots of help and advice from the many informed users of this site.
You may find BCC’s resource pack helpful, it has been designed for those newly diagnosed. The pack is free of charge as are all our publications. If you would like a copy just follow the link below:
Hi Diane,
Sorry you have had to join us but you will get great support here.
I was dx Dec 14th 07, had WLE 21st Dec and went back to work as normal on 2nd Jan, so I guess my employers got a bit lucky as I would have been off over Christmas anyway! I didnt have axilliary clearance though and I know you guys have it a lot tougher.
My chemo was Taxotere & Cytoxan. I didnt work the days I got it but other than that went in nearly every day. I did get tired and went home early 3 or 4pm. My employers were great and I think were just surpised I was in so much.
I took a couple of sick days when I lost my hair as I found that very traumatic and going out in the wig initially I felt so self conscious - now I hardly notice it!
I was lucky not to be too knocked out by chemo and I found work good for my ‘mental health’ - its a great distraction and makes you feel normal for a while, not like a patient.
I was diagnosed in Nov, 07 had wle and all lymph removed, then chemo (EPI/CMF), then rads and now tamoxifen.
I am a mental health nurse and wanted to go back to work after my op but physically could not do whilst i was on Epi due to the side effects and not being able to get off the sofa for days on end…when i started on the CMF the side effects were not too bad and i skipped back to work…i worked part time during the 4 months of CMF and then one shift per week whilst having chemo and rads combined and i have been back at work full time for over a month now…
I guess we are all different and it depends on the treatment, your job, the support of your manager and how you physically and mentally feel as to whether it is doable for you…
Thank you all so much for your help. My employers (I hope) will be supportive. I am lucky in that I am entitled to six months full and six months half pay so know I am very fortunate in that respect. Working for me though is about helping me get through this. I am terrified both of the treatment and how I will cope psychologically. My children will cope with it better though if they see mum being normal. Once again thank you all so much because some people had told me I was being ridiculous. Diane
Sorry to hear you have to go through all this. I hope you find this site helpful, there are so many of us adding to a rich pool of experience.
You sound rather like me wanting to get back to work asap. Please remember though we are all individuals and you will have to do what suits your body and not use any of our experience make you feel a need to ‘measure up’. I mean that in a positive sense though.
I found I needed more than 3 weeks off after surgery. During Chemo I was able to recover after a week and go back to work for 2 weeks before the next round of chemo. However I had an agreement with work I did what hours I could. On the whole I reduced my hours by about 20%.
I hope all goes well for you take good care of yourself.
I am going to the hospital tomorrow to find out when my first chemo appointment is and then I plan to go back to work next Monday after undergoing a mastectomy and reconstruction 4 weeks ago. My work have been absolutely fantastic about all this and there s no pressure at all. I do feel the same that I need to keep busy during all this and need to go to work. Although I am not sure how I will feel if my hair falls out - that is another bridge to be crossed at the time - getting used to all that.
Take care about going back so soon, you may feel fine at home but work is another thing all together. Its little things that can tire you, such as being stopped every few yards by people asking how you are. It can leave you emotionally drained. Folk mean well but they think you are ‘better’ when they see you at work.
As to your hair falling out perhaps I can tell you my story in brief. One morning I was aware that my hair had begun to fall out because of the hair in the plughole after a shower. As I was going to open a conferences I decided to wear a stylish hat. It was a warm April day so at the end of the conference when driving home I took off the hat and open the window. Wooosh a whole clump of hair flew out of the window.
As I watched in the wing mirror I had to laugh and thought what a wonderful nest it would make for a bird. I learned to tie headscarves and look quite trendy in them. I had lots of positive comments on my ‘fashion’ so I was able to cope with it.
When my hair did grow back every one said how short hair suited me. I have kept it short since, even after a recurrence and more chemo I have had a good regrowth. I never wanted a wig because it looked just like that, a wig. Mind I have seen some women with brilliant wigs.
There was a thread a few months back that talked about hair loss and had lots of tips and funny tales. Perhaps you can search for it.
Thanks for the reply. Your positive attitude made me want to cry I really really hope that when that time comes I can be half as positive!! I ant the strength to laugh out loud if my hair blows out of the car window if I could do that and not be so dammed vain it would be amazing!! I am very lucky with the amazing support I am getting from friends and family. Aopart from my Mother who doing my head in!!!
I’m preparing to go back to work too soon and looking forward to it. Had my first does of FAC this week and haven’t felt any side affects at all (apart from a bit of a sore thorat) so very pleased and relieved. From what I can gather though, chemo gets a bit harder each cycle with energy levels dropping offf towards the end. Anyone else found this or have any feedback on it?
I had 4x EC and 4xTAxol, and worked throughout except for a few days every now and again. Like you I enjoy my work and it really helped. There were plenty of days when I didn’t really feel like going in, but when I got there I quickly forgot completely about being ill. My only regret was that I started off by wearing a wig, and then found it difficult to change (although I abandoned it out of work). A good friend wore headscarves etc from the start at work, which I think worked out better. I don’t know why I bothered, as everybody knew.
I too also took time out after it finished. It gave me something to look forward to, and I was able to arrange cover well in advance. It also gave me time to take stock.
Hi Sarah. Thats interesting re your wig comment. I just tried some today and not that thrilled. Am deciding whether I should just stick to scarves. It’s only for a few months? I’ve got such a ‘mousey’ little face. The wigs made me look like a rat wearing a Farrah Fawcett real bad hair day!!