Hi @paulinagtzr
I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis 🌸 which must have been a real disruptor for your plans for 2025.
My invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) breast cancer was HER2+ and oestrogen & progesterone positive, so it’s different to your diagnosis.
I was diagnosed just as I was about to start a sabbatical/ LSL career pause.
Since I couldn’t do the travel I’d intended and I was asked by my team, I was able to work part time (1 day a week remotely). I continued the study I had planned to do in the UK part time by doing it online (1 day a week) throughout treatment.
I kept engaged professionally through board and committee commitments which helped my wellbeing and helped me feel in touch with my identity as somebody other than a person having medical treatment.
My treatment included 5 months of pre-surgical chemotherapy and immunotherapy, then surgery, a pause for 1 month then 3 weeks of radiation therapy and then another ~6 months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy targeted for HER2+ patients. Now I take a daily oestrogen suppressing tablet to reduce the risk of recurrence.
I learned that the cancer type we have usually determines the treatment regime, the drugs used are tailored to the type too, and then your own medical history and breast cancer presentation will be other considerations. These factors, in turn, shape the types of side effects some of us experience and how we respond.
I was surprised at how the chemotherapy affected me, at first, but came to an acceptance. Aside from the physical side effects, I found handling multiple people and issues incredibly taxing - it was something that used to energise me.
I assessed how I would work (between 10:30am- 3 pm) and how many interactions I would have each day. I paused the (mainly social and people focused) things that were not as important for my health and wellbeing, to preserve the available energy that I had for my priorities.
This is just a snapshot of how my particular treatment impacted me and my work life.
@@Afraser story shows that there’s a whole spectrum of experiences and one thing to try to be comfortable with is that it’s something that is hard to predict until you have the treatment, and it can also vary during the course of a treatment lifecycle, so if you can keep an open mind it is a good way to be. Sending you lots of positive vibes 🌸🌻
