Time for a new outlook

Hi  and Welcome to the Community.

What you have set out above will ring some bells with others who come across your post. I retired early at 55 because my 15 year journey with my type of Lymphoma was starting to get worse and working in education had become more stressful so I jumped ship.

Can I advise you to use our various Macmillan Support Line Services - call them on 0808 808 00 00

This free service covering Emotional Support, Practical Information. Clinical Information, Financial Support and Work Guidance mostly open 8.00 to 8.00 but check the link. Especially check out your work related issues you find yourself in.

We also have our ‘Ask an Expert’. section where you can post questions to our mostly Volunteer Experts but please allow 2 working days to get a reply.

We do have lots of support groups that are Cancer specific and also ones that are general Cancer experience groups where you can connect with people in various ways.

Have a look through the lists and if you find something that catches your eye, follow the link(s) and join the group(s) by hitting the ‘Join the Group’ tab just under the main group name and it is worth indicating how you want to receive email notifications when someone answers your posts.

Go to the 'Start a Discussion' tab just under the main group name and set up your own Discussion and introduce yourself to the group.

All the best.

You might want to find out if you can get early retirement on ill health grounds-  but  only if the deal's better than redundancy.

I had  a stroke 5 years ago, having been living with cancer for 10 years  then. I was offered a  good deal so took it. They've since got rid of my post...

Thanks is for coming back to me. Unfortunately i don t think that’s an option for me as I’m only 36 

Hi 

I am so sorry to hear about what you’re going through. I think Mike Thehighlander has given you some good pointers for getting a wide range of views and experiences to help you find a way forward. 

I have a couple of thoughts. The first is to ask whether you’re able to take some time out of work for a couple of months or more? You’ve headed back to work very early given everything you’ve been through. Life will never be the same again and who knows, it might be even better. But it’s going to take time to find the right path for you to follow. Whether you know it yet or not, you’ve been through a traumatic experience and it takes time to get over something as big as this. 

The financial folk on the support line will be able to help you work through the finances - you don’t need to be broke to call them. If you’re the type that needs something to do (and given you’re senior at 36 I suspect you are) then you could do a lot worse than give your time to a charity as a volunteer if you take some time out of work. Macmillan has lots of volunteer roles and most councils have a volunteer bureau to match your skills to roles locally. Who knows who you’ll meet or what you’ll discover about yourself? 

There is life beyond cancer. There is more to life than work. It’s a huge challenge but I think the way you’ve reached out here shows that you’ll find your way. 

I wish you all the best