Compromised Immune System
Hi everyone, just wondering whats the best practice regarding working after Radiation in the current COVID-19? I was diagnosed in Nov 2019, surgery Jan 2020 & Radiation March/April 2020. I work in a secondary school library and the last two weeks of term I’ve worked from home. When the school returns Term 2, I’m not sure if it’s best for me to keep working from home or to head back into the school Library? I finished my radiation (21 sessions) about a week ago so I would be considering returning to work aprox a month after. I haven’t started my Hormone Therapy yet as I wanted to have a few weeks break from the medical merry-go-round before I stepped back on it. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance 💌
Advice needed please regarding leave from work during radiotherapy
Hello, I was diagnosed end February 2019 (invasive lobular cancer) and after two operations (after finding a pesky second cancer in the pathology report after the first op), I am now heading for 16 x radiotherapy treatments starting 8 May. I am 58, still work full time (grrr) and have two beautiful daughter's, one at uni, who lives with me. I work as an auditor, where I travel all around the city and state (but only working metro at the moment due to my appts), and do 9am-5pm (very busy) audits. Our schedules are planned at least one month in advance. This makes it difficult to work around the only appointment time available at Rth, and so I will take this time as leave. I understand my entitlements, so confirm this is my decision to take leave. I will be using all my sick leave for this period, which is also fine. My question is, it seems pathetic, but here goes, my radiotherapy finishes on a Wednesday (29th) - should I also take the Thursday and Friday off, and start work the following Monday (3 June)? I know it is only two days, but I read and hear the fatigue can accumulate towards the end. My work has been VERY helpful and flexible, but I also don't want to mess anyone around with chopping and changing dates. I appreciate this is a personal choice, we all react and respond differently, and I am truly grateful for any advice. I also want to say how much I appreciate reading the posts showing such support, advice and kindness. Have a lovely Easter!
Tiredness. How hard should we push ourselves? What does "listen to your body" really mean?
I know I have a few things going on in my life. I am a mother of three who still live at home, I look after elderly infirm parents and my Dad has been in hospital; my heart levels aren't great thanks to targeted therapy; I am not sleeping well thanks to the hot flushes I got from chemo putting me into menopause; I have injured both my knees from pushing my mum in a wheelchair and am on pain meds; I have to have another day surgery to correct a flipped port; yesterday I had my 22nd radiation session with 8 more to go; and I still have to have another 12 rounds of Herceptin to go. I had none of this before BC. So yeah, I get it - that seems like a fair few things to keep me busy, much like other women on this forum, but no doubt people go through much worse. But despite knowing that this is a bit of a full plate I am struggling with how to feel about my tiredness. Everyone tells me being tired is normal when going through radiation, especially after you have had a rough time with chemo. I am also strangely teary, not sad or depressed at all, just teary - will cry at the drop of a hat at just about anything, at movies, tv commercials, my son's uni graduation, a soppy birthday card, baby chickens, a kitten in a tree - you name it, it will bring on the water works just for a minute or two then I am fine, I get over it and then am back to normal. My GP says that too is probably because I am tired. I am also working not quite full time but 6 hours a day. I love work. I love the people and the problem solving and being productive. I feel so rotten in the mornings and feel like I can stay in bed all day, it's a struggle to put one foot in front of the other, but then I just push through it and eventually get to work. By mid morning I come good, then I have radiation in the afternoon, visit my parents if I can, do shopping and cook/buy dinner. But it feels like such a roller coaster. And I feel like if I don't go to work I am giving in to the tiredness, that I am being defeated. Resting, as I do on the weekends, doesn't make me less tired, so what's the point in staying in bed and not going to work? I am definitely not the potter-around-the-house kind of person, so that option is out as well. It just makes me wonder, when we are going through breast cancer we are often told to listen to our bodies, but what does that really mean? I have said this to many women on here, but don't know what it means for me. I feel as if I listen to my body that I may never get out of bed again. Is it important to push through? How do we know when to push through or when to rest? Will I be this tired forever? Sorry for the rant, maybe it's just because I am tired. Nadine