Returning to work

Hi Kath, I worked part time throughout chemo and found that it was to my detriment. I finished chemo in October 2014 and I still have times when I do too much that I get hit with the fatigue. I also found lots of people thinking and saying "oh well you've finished chemo, so you'll be right now". I still had 33 radiotherapy sessions to go and 7 months of herceptin to go. My onc told me that it could take up to 2 years to recover from treatment and I'm certainly finding this to be true. I explained it to my family that it wasn't just tired but it was overwhelming exhaustion and no matter how much I slept it made no difference. I think once your hair grows back, people find it difficult to relate that you are a cancer patient. I have a dear friend who is stage 4 and people don't believe her when she tells them she has stage 4 cancer because she looks too well! You need to do what's right for you. If you need extra time then take it. My employer struggled with the fact that I no longer did long hours and the like and they ended up sacking me because I wasn't working like I did before. Like you I will never work to breaking point again. I'm believe that it had an impact on getting cancer in the first place. Take care of yourself. Others don't get it because they haven't been there. Wishing you well. Karen xox