Forum Discussion

lbirch's avatar
lbirch
Member
14 years ago

merry christnas

Hope you all had a great day. Happy all day, too much champagne melt down in the shower at the end of the day. Its exhausting keeping it all together.

I have to let my boss know about leave. How did you all manage chemo and work? Does it really knock you around or is it just an inconvenience?

XXXX

 

10 Replies

  • Chris's avatar
    Chris
    Member
    14 years ago
    Hi Linda, Such good news. Really happy for you. Good luck with your surgery next week. Love Chris.xx
  • Chris's avatar
    Chris
    Member
    14 years ago
    Hi Linda, Such good news. Really happy for you. Good luck with your surgery next week. Love Chris.xx
  • lbirch's avatar
    lbirch
    Member
    14 years ago

    This might seem minor, but got bone scan and body CT results, NO evidence of mets. Best news I've had in 4 weeks.

  • lbirch's avatar
    lbirch
    Member
    14 years ago

    This might seem minor, but got bone scan and body CT results, NO evidence of mets. Best news I've had in 4 weeks.

  • LeeS's avatar
    LeeS
    Member
    14 years ago

    Hi Linda,

    Christmas on top of all your worries-I'm not surprised you had a champagne meltdown. Just be sure to give yourself a break and know that it's fine to have meltdowns over breast cancer. Actually, I found that the medications when I was on chemo made me a bit crazy...combined with the mental weight of it all and trying to keep a relatively normal routine for my family (2 boys, 1 and 4 at the time).

    The chemo scared me the most too and unfortunately I didn't cope well with it. But, as the other ladies have said, there are so many types and combinations of chemo that you might just be fine.

    I was at home with my 2 littlies at the time but there's no way I could have worked. (I'm a primary school teacher). I had lots of help from my friends and family-sometimes I wanted everyone to bugger off and leave me alone but I think it also helped them to help me!

    I just posted a comment with another lady and said to TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME. Information overload was stressful for me and I found it helped me to just focus on getting through each chemo and not looking towards the next.

    Take care. We're all thinking of you. XXX

  • lbirch's avatar
    lbirch
    Member
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the advice. 2nd surgery on 3rd jan for axillary clearence then see oncologist.

     

  • Jrova's avatar
    Jrova
    Member
    14 years ago
    It will depend on which drugs you're going to have Linda. I had six months of AC and CMF in 2002 which made me feel sick for about 6 days then totally fine for 2 weeks each cycle. During those 2 weeks, I was able to work out at the gym, do canteen duty, work part time etc. This year I had 3 months of TC, and I worked from home with no problem, except for days 4 and 5 when my bones were achy. I had no nausea or vomitting with the TC, just tiredness and aches/pains. Having it on a Thursday would be a great idea. I found both times that the treatment was much more manageable than I had imagined it would be. In the two days before treatment, I would clean the house, change everyone's sheets, cook a few dinners, and then rest after treatment. Do you know what drugs you'll be having yet?
  • TonyaM's avatar
    TonyaM
    Member
    14 years ago

    Whether to work whilst having chemo  depends on lots of factors eg.is it partime work,is it strenuous,is it flexable hours,are you dealing with the public??? I decided to take sick leave and some long service leave when I had to have chemo.I didn't know how I would be and I just didn't want the stress of trying to rock up for work if I was sick.I had a BAD time with chemo and ended up in hosp. isolation for 4 days with an infection after the first round.It's so unpredictable and like Chris says some women sail through it. My mantra is -prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

                                             Tonya xx

  • Chris's avatar
    Chris
    Member
    14 years ago
    Hi Linda, I gave up work before chemo, as I was working in a medical centre as a nurse, and thought I might be at risk of picking up a nasty infection from sick people. I didn't find chemo too bad at all, but I would have hated to have had to go to work though. I was lucky to be able to give up work, because I could sleep if necessary, or do as I pleased, without the stress of working. If you have to work, you could probably manage better by having treatment on a Thursday, so you are home for the worse days. There are about 10 days out of the 3 weeks, where the side effects are obvious, but I wasn't crook for the whole 10 days. Maybe after your first cycle you will have an idea of how you will feel, and then can make arrangements with your boss about your work. Everyone experiences chemo differently, and quite a few of us sailed through with little or no side effects. You might be one of them. I hope so. Love Chris xx