Chemo after Mastectomy

Kwarb

I had a mastectomy (only 4 days ago) and my surgeon just rang to say they had got the 2 lumps when was a little more aggressive than the other, and that they lymph nodes were all clear.  he flagged the possibility of Hormone therapy and suggested that I may need Chemo. Can you work whilst undergoing Chemo he only thought it would be a short does.

All tests, (bone scan, MRI, Mamogram) show that the cancer can't be seen 
How do I decide what to do.

iserbrown

https://www.bcna.org.au/resource-hub/articles/chemotherapy-and-early-breast-cancer/

Some suffer side effects and others don't 

The link above explains 

Afraser

Unfortunately there’s no reliable way of telling how you will react to chemo beforehand. So an A and B plan if you do have chemo is sensible. I had six months of chemo and worked happily throughout - no nausea or fatigue. My own course was to do what my oncologist recommended - he knows much more about cancer than I do. I did have one affected node. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask your oncologist what additional benefit chemo will provide. Just remember that if it only improves your chances of recurrence by a few points, you have no real way of knowing what side of the ledger you are on! Best wishes whatever you decide. 

Tri

Hi @Kwarb I am sorry you are facing this. As mentioned above the impact of chemotherapy varies a great deal. I imagine it also varies depending on the type of work and where you work. 
In my case (last year) I reduced my workload significantly, and organised my work schedule so that I could start a bit later in the morning and complete my work by mid afternoon. My work is desk based and I could work from home. 

@Kwarb

Kwarb

Thanks so much for the replies, I work in a Kindergarten with a group of 24 children, so can be full on at times. It is just so hard to know what to do, particularly when I thought that the surgery would be most of the treatment and then just Hormone therapy. just so hard. Will wait and see what the oncologist says

lorns

Hi @Kwarb
Sorry to hear you've joined this elite!
I'm part way through my chemo treatment on the AC-T protocol - have finished AC and nearly halfway through the Taxol. As the others have said, it's hard to tell how you're going to react to chemo as everyone takes it differently and there are different protocols.

I'm lucky enough to have built up enough sick leave to be able to take time off during chemo. Side effects wise, the AC treatments (every 3 weeks) wiped me out for about 7 days - fatigue, nausea, joint pain - then I'd build back up to the next treatment. The Taxol, I'm finding much easier on the system, I am fatigued constantly as they're weekly but could work if I had to and there's no nausea (yay). The oncology team & the GP are amazing at managing side effects - make sure you let them know about things you're struggling with so they can give you the good stuff!

Chemo tanks your immune system so steering clear of people who are sick becomes a thing. It's one of the reasons I've taken advantage of my sick leave - as I work with students at uni who regularly come to class sick and spread the love. Kindy kids would be just as bad! I've managed to avoid most of the bugs that my 2 primary aged kids have brought home from school with good sickness hygiene, literally dunking the kids in hand sanitizer and getting ahead of things by going to the GP early (anti-virals for Flu A & COVID so far). Their school has had a shocking year for illness so lots of bugs have come home.