Working

Sweetpetal

How many of you worked whilst undergoing treatment and how did you go.  I work permanent part time at a childrens hospital and I'm hoping only to drop one day during my treatment but I will see how i go.  I will be wearing a mask but I wont be on the front line.  I hope everything will be ok but I also realise I may have to totally stop working as well.  Any previous experiences????

arpie

I haven't had to do that myself, @Sweetpetal .... but wish you well as you work thru your treatment.   Good idea to wear the mask .... hospitals are full of sick people!     (I used to work at RNSH in Sydney & was always catching colds/bronchitis & any other flu bug!    )

You may find that it is not so much the physical work/side effects, but the mental load that may contribute to any stress ...

Take care and all the best xxx

Afraser

Hi @Sweetpetal

It's almost impossible to tell till you start but I did work right through treatment and was happy to do so. I missed nausea, fatigue and chemo brain. I did get other side effects but nothing that made work difficult. How you manage mentally and emotionally is also variable. I found that working kept me focussed on non-cancer stuff and for me that was productive. I made no secret of treatment to my staff and colleagues, I relied on them to tell me if I was getting vague or losing the plot! After 12 months, I cut back (coinciding with a new job) to a 4 day week but that was more about work/life balance than anything else. I work in an office environment, with the usual sharing of germs, and didn't find I was especially prone to catching anything. The only problem I had from infection was an entirely internal one caused by a seroma. However, I can't emphasise enough keeping flexible about what you will do. You can't predict or much affect the impact treatment might have. And feeling that you have failed if you can't work, on top of feeling sick, would be awful. Some people find focussing in on the present works well for them, just as I found distraction to be most effective, we are all different. Whatever happens, treatment is finite, so the important thing is to go with the flow and get through it the best way possible for you. Best wishes.

primek

I thought I was going to be able to work the second and 3rd week but I just couldn't.
Then when on new regime I thought omay it shoukd be easier now....nope different issues that impacted.
I know many women can...you just have to be open and go with the flow. 

Sister

I didn't work as most of the time I wouldn't have been able to.  If nothing else, I was too tired (still am and I've been back 7 weeks).  Be aware that if you're intending to claim income protection from your Super, you need to investigate the conditions.  For mine, I had to be off work (inclufinc sick leave) for 30 days before I was eligible and working would have invalidated it.

Sweetpetal

@Sister I investigated that it didn't seem worth it as I work part time and it was way too much hassall