Hi I've not since returned to work following active treatment so maybe some of what I have found may help you. I had 2 surgeries, 6 rounds of chemo and 15 rads. I finished on 4th Oct, I gave it a further 2 weeks for any skin reaction to reach its peak and a further 2 weeks to recover and returned to work on a phased return on 4th nov. I did q day the first week, 2 days the next then 3, then 4 and finally back to full time hours on the 5th week. I suffered very little fatigue during my treatment but oh boy I hit it big time upon return to work, it was a godsend that I had a phased return. My job is very similar to yours and believe me it is so difficult initially, you're trying to return, catch up with what you've missed, still keeping up with the kids not to mention other things like cooking, washing etc. I had a bit of chemo brain going on too, very frustrating especially when you have a job which relies on your memory so much. Colleagues reactions can also be wearing, not that they intend to be but hey your heads a mush. What I'm saying is it is an incredibly taxing time when you return even if you (like me) are so looking forward to it. Because I had been off so long I had accrued all my yearly leave allowance so have not yet, apart from once, worked a full week. The one full week I did was not successful - although I fulfilled the hours, the fatigue and subsequent meltdown was not so good. I still won't be doing a full week until after the Easter holidays due to bank holidays and rest of my leave. I am shattered at the end of my day and thats 8 hours, I honestly couldn't do 12 after 8 hours my judgement starts to falter and I get too tired to think straight, you will need to think seriously how many hours you can cope with in a day as you need to be on the ball. Being at work is different to being at home, you don't realise how much easier it is to pace yourself at home (even with kids) than it is at work until you do it. If I were to do it again, I'd have taken a bit longer off before returning - you're very soon back into the role and people soon forget what you were off with. If you can afford to take as long as you can, your body and mind will thank you for it. I'm thinking about dropping a day but am going to give it a bit longer before making that decision. In my opinion 12 hr days are a no no for quite a while. Sorry for waffling and hope you find a suitable solution for yourself, occie health should support you with this. Joemic x p.s I am still enjoying being back at work 😊
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