Was any one able to work during treatment?

Thanks to everyone for the replies.  I appreciate it so much.  Biopsy is back and Im officially diagnosed with cancer…so. Staging and treatment to come.  I find having some sense of what’s to come helpful for planning, even if it sounds challenging.  Thank you!  I’ll be “seeing” you all around here.  

Hi ffion,

I think it’s awesome that you’re managing so well—gardening and exercising is absolutely a “normal life” type of routine!  I, too, found that exercise helped all through treatment.  Yes, there were days when the fatigue was just overwhelming, but I can probably count those on one hand.  There were also days when I was just *down* and didn’t feel like going for my run, BUT for me, I found that distinguishing between those two types of feelings became really important.  True physical fatigue got rest, but depression, anxiety, or lack of motivation resulted in going for the run anyway, and I was always glad I went!  I think for me, exercise became a mental boost, also.  I felt like if I could do a full workout, I must be healing.  The bottom line for anyone in this treatment is to really pay attention to your own needs.  Be a little selfish, moderate others’ expectations of you, and relentlessly, unapologetically take care of yourself!

To answer your question about digestive stuff, yes, I did have some side effects, but again, on only a handful of those days was my daily routine interrupted by digestive issues.  For instance, in the morning for the last 2-3 weeks of treatment and for several months after, I needed to be close to a bathroom.  I’d have 3-4 bowel movements per morning…decreasing in firmness as the morning went on.  A few mornings, I had to move my workouts from walks around the neighborhood to treadmill at home or ballet barre at home, so I could be close to a bathroom.  Most mornings, however, I could tell when I was “done” and could venture out as usual.  For about a month after treatment, I’d have a bowel movement every time I ate, and there was one instance when my husband and I were getting in the car to pick up the kids from school in the afternoon, and I just had to go back inside and let him do the pick-up on his own.  Again, most days I had a good sense that I was good to go on as usual, though.  I’m now 9 months out of treatment, and I have a couple of very normal bowel movements each morning…basically back to normal for me.

Upon diagnosis, I switched to a vegan diet, then gradually added eggs and some dairy, and then occasionally fish.  I think being primarily plant based has kept my fiber intake high, so though I experienced constipation twice in all of my treatment, in general, that wasn’t a problem. I used senna tea, okayed by my oncologists, to alleviate it both times.  I took an anti diarrhea pill before an airplane flight soon after my treatment ended (I was treated out of my hometown), but otherwise, I have not needed anti diarrhea meds.  I do seem to be a little more sensitive to dairy, in general, bloating, gas, etc.  I had my gallbladder removed during my liver resection surgery, so I’m not always sure which side effects are cancer treatment related and which are gall bladder related.

In all, I recognize how lucky I’ve been through treatment side effects, but as anyone on this path knows, you’ll tolerate darn near any side effect to have those treatments really WORK!  I have such gratitude for that.

Best wishes to you, ffion, as you continue to heal, and hugs to you, DebButterflies, as you begin your journey.

Red

hi Red,

thank you so much for your response, that has given me some hope! sorry it's taken so long to reply, the last week has been difficult.

keeping up exercise and moving about when you feel you daren't leave home is not easy and you have managed so very well. but it's definitely worth persevering, i'm with you a 100% on that.

i hope that you go from strength to strength and wish you all the very best,

ffion.

So, I’m ready to weigh in with my own answer to this question.  I was able to work weeks 1-2.  My office was closed for holidays weeks 3-4 but have been fine working all but 1 day those weeks.  Week 5 I worked about 2/3 time and it was really only the tiredness that made it hard to work. Then came week 6 and the radiation side effects came out….I worked about 10-15 hours.  I’m now in week 1 of post treatment and took most of this week off. I’ll likely work 2-5 hours for the week.   Next week I expect to be up to 10.   Right now the radiation symptoms are just really time consuming to deal with and I’m still really tired.   Big caveat here….I have a job that’s super flexible….can be done from home and all happens on the computer so can be done lying down.  If I had to show up at specific times and be in front of the public on my feet  I’d have been 100% out week 6 and this week and next.  My rad onc team says my skin symptoms have been relatively good compared to the norm.  If that’s the case…my compassion for those at the other end of the spectrum is vast cause this is really challenging.  Sharing this in case it’s helpful to others for planning. Wishing you all well.  Deb