Desperate for dates.

hi Sam.

self employed people fall through the support gaps unfortunately 

I looked into insurances to provide sick pay etc but they were so incredibly expensive.

Can you Skype the meetings rather than meet face to face, I found I was fine after my op but went for the implant as couldn't face the diep surgery, being a bit of a wimp. 

Concentrating at work was difficult after the op, waiting around for post op path etc. 

Eventually after 3 weeks they recommended chemo, as there were small but significant areas of invasive Her2+ breast cancer in the large area of DCIS. I was warned about this so it wasn't a massive shock, just low level horror. 

I still worked throughout though, you can't just sign off for six months when you run a business. 

Risk of post path chemo showing anything more sinister than DCIS was about 25% but I was always in the more likely percentage, hindsight is wonderful.

have a go at working out a contingency plan, see how you feel about it, just scribble some notes, what if I can't drive, what if I can't get to this meeting or that meeting etc

I had to wait a month for my surgery but mostly it's around two weeks.

Am I helping ?

Carolyn

xx

Hi

It will probably depend on your hospital/surgeon but if it is part of your treatment plan you will have priority , so as soon as you have all the parts in place it should be within a couple of weeks. I had a delayed Diep and was bumped for someone in your position , so you will be jumped ahead of others.  I just scraped in having to have my pre-op again (12 weeks max between pre-ops and operation) and am now almost 6 weeks post op and back to work this week - I was in hospital 5 days which I think is pretty standard and those first couple of weeks were hard , I’ve healed really well , and have been doing work at home for the past couple of weeks. 

I I originally had a lumpectomy, two further failed ops, went back to work for 2 weeks then started chemo, weekly for me and was off all the time through this but went back to work the week after it finished. Back at work for 8 weeks until I had my mastectomy and was off 6 weeks then (had an implant) - so I’ve had lots of different experiences of ops and recovery and would say the snb was the worst, followed by the implant surgery , and my diep the best experience (even though you are limited physically for a bit) 

Make sure you are as fit as possible before the DIEP and do lots of pelvic floor exercises , the last tip give to me by the physio and the best piece of advice I have had through my last 3 1/2 years of this journey! 

Best wishesJo x

Hi Caroline, yes thanks that helps. it makes it really difficult with the type of work I do where I'm a Clinical Psychotherapist and the majority of my work is with clients who suffer from extreme childhood trauma, making changes to appointment times or me taking time off work always takes planning and can retraumatize clients through feelings of abandonment. It's also very detrimental to tell my clients anything that makes them feel that I am at risk so I have to try and keep everything as invisible as possible. Hard work when there's so much uncertainty on my treatment plan. 

I have a dream in my mind that I can say I've gone for a lovely 2 week holiday then look healthy and happy when I come back to work.......not sure if thats going to be the case though. 

Wow Jo, that all sounds so drawn out and fragmented for you. Must admit the SNB is sore 10 days after I had it. Lot of swelling and think it might have a bit of infection as it is weeping and clearly infected. I have taken all the plasters off last night and had a soak in the bath, the swelling has lessened now but it's still sore. Just hope the next op doesn't react the same.

Just want to get it out of the way now and know where I stand with dates. I know I shouldn't put my work as priority but I'm sure lots agree, it's not that straight forward.

Best wishes

Sam xx

hi 

I don't envy that set of circumstances ! 

Do you have any colleagues you can discuss it with ?

jowoomot

where did you have the diep done ?

just going for a walk, sorry for brevity ...

Carolyn

xx