Hi ladies. I'm hoping someone can help with my questions. I'm newly diagnosed with invasive lobular bc and have yet to see the specialist. I've been reading heaps of stories from everyone and I know every case is different but was wondering, if I require chemo can I still work. I work full time as an administrator from home. I'm on contract so I only get paid when I work and as the "boss" of the family finances I worry how much time I'm going to need off work. Silly I imagine it sounds considering what I'm facing but as a mum of 4 young children I worry. I'm lucky my fiance (husband in 3 weeks) has a good job but I can't help being the practical one and it worries me how everyone is going to cope around here if I can't take care of them all. I'm normally active but the last month have been getting tired by lunch time and achy over my body. Did anyone else feel tired and run down before treatment. I appreciate any answers and thanks for listening to my rambling. I've ordered the my journey kit from here and should get that this week coming. Tanya

im not really sure what i can add to some of th wisdon ladies have already stated. i work outside of home andI worked as much as I felt able as I found great strength in my work and support in my colleagues. it gave me structure and a reason to get out of my PJs. somedays, I was lucky enough to be able to work from home when I just couldnt do the driving. I couldnt work after chemo and my chemo didn't go for too long....max was an afternoon then it went down to 2 hours. some people I know had it all day. I had 5 months of it. ...but like our friends are saying everyone is different. listen to yourself..and . talk to the nursing staff and breast care nurse (I found I had to chase her up and then i had mrre support - the squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of philosophy...and I don't like being the squeaky wheel but it worked). I think the thing I would do differently is when people would say... is there anything I can do... I couldn't think about it and felt awful saying come vacuum my house or clean my shower. if I had to do it again I think I would TRY to say, when are you free.... or what did you have in mind... and try to then have something concrete in place. you must be a very capable woman with all you have on..... take it a day at a time.... I worried like you wouldnt believe about everything I read in the literature and really got myself a little paralysed with fear... and looking back, I am much more casual about it all now. I was also blessed to find a local friend at the feel good look better workshop as I found the face to face support over a cuppa invaluable. what my chemo brain is trying to say is... you are not alone, you know you have the skills and gifts for this journey as you have already displayed them in other aspects of your life..... relax and use the resources around you and you will get through it. being anxious sets of chemical blockers that means we cant even access what we have already laid down.

Welcome to BCNA, although for your sake, I wish you did not need to be here! As you say everyone is different and many people do manage to work through Chemo, if you have to have it. It is very hard at the beginning of this journey to stop yourself from worrying about how everything is going work out. There is so much you do not know and you maybe worrying about things you do not need to. Try to take it one step at a time. There will be a lot of waiting in the beginng, waiting for appointments and waiting for results. It is hard to make plans until you have your treatment plan. There is nothing you can achieve by trying to get too far ahead of yourself with worrying about what may or may not be going to happen. Your family need and will want you to do what you have to to get well again. That needs to be everyone's priority and everything else will work itself out as you go along. You will find support from many people on here to help with individual issues as they arise. 9 times out of 10 someone else will have faced a similar situation. For now, just keep busy and don't think too far ahead. Deal with each step as it comes and as you find out more. It may not be too bad and you might be wasting energy on issues that never happen. Be gentle on yourself and you will find a way through this. I hope that it helps to know that you can find support here and that others have been through this and are now well and living full lives again. This is just a detour that you need to slow down for and you will get back on the highway when it is safe to do so. Wishing you lots of luck and please look after yourself. When you know a bit more, we will be here to answer your questions and support you in any way we can. Deanne xxoo

Wow you've got a lot going on! Full time work, four kids, BC treatment coming up and a wedding! Not surprised you're feeling exhausted. So sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It must be quite strange and emotionally draining dealing with the stress and fear surrounding BC at the same time as planning a happy event like wedding (even if its' a low key event). I have three kids myself, work part-time from home and had four rounds of chemo over three months last year. From my experience - and you're right everyone is different - you won't be able to work on the days you receive your chemo. It is quite time consuming and then I always felt a bit wrung out afterwards. The next two days after that I felt ok but but by the end of the second day I was starting to feel pretty bad - achey, exhausted, slightly nauseous (and various other symptoms). Days 3 & 4 were always the worst. I couldn't do much on those days and spent most of the time in bed or just slowly pottering around the house doing essential chores. By day 5 I was starting to improve and could get up and about again, although I was still not feeling great. Then I gradually improved again until the next cycle. So I would say you would have to plan at least 3-4 days in each chemo cycle where you probably won't be up to working. But even though I felt better during some of it, I never felt completely well. There was a continual lethargy that got a little bit worse with each cycle. You can get things done though and working from home should make it a bit easier. Having said all that, try not to put too much pressure on yourself to hold everything together. Chemo is tough and you will be going through a hard time both physically and emotionally. Accept whatever help is offered from family and friends. Delegate responsibilities where you can and only do what is essential. Don't worry if the house gets messy. You have to put yourself first at this time. The very best of luck to you Tanya. I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible. And good luck with your wedding too. Take care. Janet.

Thanks Deanne and Janet for getting back to me. I'm trying to just relax and not think about anything but the wedding at the moment. I have been planning this wedding for 9 months now and it just seems so unfair that 2.5 weeks out from it this happens. Some of the thoughts I have are stupid and childish, I know. Like if only I hadn't found the lump till after the wedding and cruise I could still be blissfully ignorant....but realistically I know that the earlier the better is how I should be thinking. The lump is currently estimated on ultrasound and mammogram as 2.5 to 3cm with a smaller 1.5cm lump partially attached to it. Probably best I didn't wait but it doesn't change the fact that I still feel like a child stamping my foot and yelling "this is not fair". I get scared so much but cover it with jokes, my 3 children 20, 13, 11 from my previous marriage have already had to go through losing their dad to a car accident 4 years ago and now I think they r worried about what will happen to me. I've tried to assure them that the odds are well in my favour and bc is not a death sentence. I guess it's normal to think "why me" " what did I do wrong". I think it will be better once I have the surgery and know exactly what I'm dealing with, they say patience is a virtue, but I'm not feeling very patient these days lol. Thanks for letting me rant...Tanya

Working during treatment | BCNA Online Network

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Deanne
Member
12 years ago
Welcome to BCNA, although for your sake, I wish you did not need to be here! As you say everyone is different and many people do manage to work through Chemo, if you have to have it. It is very hard at the beginning of this journey to stop yourself from worrying about how everything is going work out. There is so much you do not know and you maybe worrying about things you do not need to. Try to take it one step at a time. There will be a lot of waiting in the beginng, waiting for appointments and waiting for results. It is hard to make plans until you have your treatment plan. There is nothing you can achieve by trying to get too far ahead of yourself with worrying about what may or may not be going to happen. Your family need and will want you to do what you have to to get well again. That needs to be everyone's priority and everything else will work itself out as you go along. You will find support from many people on here to help with individual issues as they arise. 9 times out of 10 someone else will have faced a similar situation. For now, just keep busy and don't think too far ahead. Deal with each step as it comes and as you find out more. It may not be too bad and you might be wasting energy on issues that never happen. Be gentle on yourself and you will find a way through this. I hope that it helps to know that you can find support here and that others have been through this and are now well and living full lives again. This is just a detour that you need to slow down for and you will get back on the highway when it is safe to do so. Wishing you lots of luck and please look after yourself. When you know a bit more, we will be here to answer your questions and support you in any way we can. Deanne xxoo

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