Hi everyone hope you are all well. I'm on week 2 of my phased return to work. Doing alternate mornings again this week, and next week will be going Mon, Tue and Wed, but then am off from Thursday for a week's holiday! Really looking forward to having a break away with my husband and the dog. We're not going far - just an hour or so away. but it's to a lovely HPB property in the countryside, with a swimming pool and plenty of walking to be done. Work is going fine so far - it's difficult to get up and leave at lunchtime, but I'm determined to be kind to myself and not get swept back into the full on pressure like before. While I'm on my phased return I can either record the time out of the office as sick leave (in which case I only get half pay) or take it as annual leave or flexi leave (on full pay). It doesn't seem right, especially as the policies published in the staff handbook don't say anything about that, this is just what I've been told by the business managers. I've decided to let it be recorded as sick leave until the end of this month, as my doctor's line runs until then, and next week I'll start using the flexi credits and annual leave. My boss has been really supportive and basically left me to decide what I thought would work for me and is willing to come and go with the plan. I recently discovered that the hospital has free complementary therapies available for cancer patients, so I went last week and today and have had lovely relaxing massages. My boss has agreed that I can continue going on a Tuesday morning while I'm on the phased return (they only have appointments on Tuesday mornings) and just go into work later. I'm feeling the benefit of giving myself a bit of extra TLC and would highly recommend it if you get the opportunity! This week is the final session of the Moving Forward course - I would definitely recommend it if you have one near to you. It's been really helpful meeting other women who've come through breast cancer treatment and sharing experiences. The sessions have included talks giving advice on looking after yourself and getting to know your new shape, avoiding/reducing lymphoedema, exercise, nutrition, hormone therapies and side effects, and bras/prostheses. Not everything has been strictly relevant to my own situation, but it's all been of interest and the various speakers have been really helpful and answered loads of questions. I'm really glad I got the chance to go on the course. Good to hear that everyone is coming through the tunnel!
... View more