Occupational Health interview request - advice please

Hi JoulesG , sorry you’re going through all this, happy to share my experiences. If you click on my profile you’ll see my treatments which sound very similar to yours. In summary, lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy, Anastrozole and 3 weeks rads (rads in Jan 2019, pre the more usual 1 week schedule nowadays). 
Re work: off sick from date of op till 4 weeks after rads, 4 months in total, far longer than I’d expected. School were very supportive (I was a special needs teacher). Went back on a phased return, 2 days per week to start, then 3 days, not consecutive (ie Mon, Wed, Fri). GP suggested this as I was so exhausted after a day, so she said do alternate days to ‘recover’ in between. The aim was to get back to full time but I never managed it, carried on doing 3 days but in the end couldn’t even cope with that. Fatigue, brain fog, joint aches and pains, anxiety, sleep issues and also kept forgetting things. Just couldn’t cope! Whenever I’d go to discuss it or anything else with GP, I’d burst into tears, not like me at all! Ended up being signed off sick.  Had an OH referral and face to face interview, and ultimately got recommended for ill health retirement. So I retired at 61, several years earlier than planned. I can’t pretend that it was an easy process, I felt pretty wretched and like a total failure, but it was definitely the best decision. I simply couldn’t cope with the job at all anymore. 
As to whether you should simply go for retirement anyway, that’s really difficult for anyone but you to know. I did find the process painful but maybe it was helpful that someone else (ie the OH doc) was saying that I couldn’t do the job. Although I knew I was struggling it was still hard to face and to admit. It was a very weird time. 
Would it help to talk through the pros and cons with a union rep if you’re in one? I really feel for you as I found it hard too to know what the best course of action was. I’m very glad that for me that period is behind me. Love and hugs, HFxx 

Hi, all I can say is write down your problems that are keeping you from being happy to go back to that job, keep that to hand when you get the call. it sounds as if it wasn’t right for you anyway? You need to feel that whatever the outcome, it’s right for you! 

In my experience pre-retirement (not due to bc but stress). I was asking for redundancy, almost at retiring age, as they closed the unit I was working in and I didn’t want their alternative, I’d worked there before and hated it; Union didn’t support me, my GP signed me off sick. My department insisted on a HR/dept boss interview regularly. Which in itself increased my stress levels hugely whenever it happened. 

Work paid for me to have counselling; the chap I saw was excellent and I learnt lots, BUT he strongly advised I should not return to their alternative job. In the end work had to ‘get rid’ of me, as my GP also insisted I should not return. I suspect the money they had to pay me during that time probably was around the same as redundancy would have been! 

Hugs xxx

I am so sorry this issue is making you feel more anxious. Remember physically and emotionally you have gone through a lot of trauma in a short suave of time and your bound to still be feeling washed out and quite yourself just yet. Being medically well is not the same as being back to your previous level of health prior to your diagnosis as this takes much longer emotionally and physically, so give yourself the time your body and mind needs as this can’t be rushed. I absolutely love my job as a senior occupational therapist and rarely missed a days work in years . Since diagnosis I initially thought I could carry on working which I did , then I had a weeks annual leave when  my diagnosis hit me big time. I am now into my 2nd week sick leave as I decided not to return to work with realising I have so many treatments such as surgery and chemo planned that I ended up having a few Wobblies as I calm them as usually I’m so strong. It made me realise I am more important than work and need to focus on myself right now. I am aware I won’t be returning to work possibly for the next 6 months at least (chemo won’t end till December following double mastectomy at end of this month I’ve worked out) realising work is now secondary not my priority as it recently was. Please consider chatting to your Occ health and explain how you are feeling. They are there to support you and could be a great asset fighting your corner for additional time off work allowing more time to think about your future needs with reducing the pressure ands nicety you feel right now. whats important to you is what matters so don’t feel pressured into anything x

Thank you HappyFeet1 for replying, it is really helpful to hear from you having been  through this process with OH.  I don’t have a Union Rep, my male Boss said he doesn’t know what to say to me, so has stopped phoning.  HR are on radio silence.  My poor husband is my sounding board.  I think I just want work to finish so I can get on with my life.  I don’t want the whole process to make me feel like like a patient again, when I’m only just starting to get my MOJO back.  I want to try to stay in control as far as I can especially after having cancer which takes so much of us.

Hi Moomy, thank you for your comments.  You are right, I don’t want to return to this work - hot office, sedentary etc.  I used to work as an FE Teacher, loved it and was semi retired 3 years ago.  I took this other work to tide me over till I retired at 66, but dealing with Breast Cancer has woken me up, and reminded me that life is too short.  I just don’t know how to end this employment and have the least hassle.  I know I have rights and have a LGPS pension with ill health etc, but somehow this process is making me feel very uncertain and anxious.  BTW I love reading your posts and will be visiting Bletchley Park at some point. (I taught IT).

Hi again, analysing how and why you feel as you do, should help in that call too. They should hopefully give you alternatives within that call and allow you time to consider and get back to them. If they don’t come up with alternatives, maybe ask that they do? 

The Bombe is at the National Museum of Computing on the BP site, by the way, and I ‘mostly’ do Saturdays demonstrating. Thank you, would be happy to meet you! 

Hugs xxx

Hi, I was where you are at in the winter of 2021. Like you, I was asked to see Occupational Health. It was the best thing I did. I saw a consultant doctor, who completely understood the effects that all my treatments (chemo, mastectomy / axillary nodes, three weeks radiotherapy, bisphosphonates and Anastrazole) were having on me. Recommended that I work from home, and that I work part-time if that’s what I want to do. Like you, I had changed as a person, and I didn’t feel any enthusiasm for the job after my diagnosis - I had always wanted to retire, but couldn’t afford to (I was 60 then). After not much thinking, I applied for ‘flexible retirement’ offered by my work pension. I saw it on their website - HR didn’t suggest it to me. So I now work 2 days a week from home (I’m lucky that I get a decent salary) and take 3 days worth of my private pension (that’s not so much, but it helps). Work didn’t make it hard for me to get this, as it was on the back of the OH report. 
Due to a major change of management practices, I have decided to fully retire from 31 March 2024 - ie. at the end of the tax year. I have discovered new interests and friends, and since my diagnosis have appreciated so much more from life. I don’t regret retiring in two stages - it was a good bridge, and made me realise that work isn’t important or enjoyable like it used to be. I’ll be 62+ then, so will supplement my monthly private pension with savings for a few years, including using my lump sum from the pension. Once I get my state pension I will be fine. 
So that’s my tale. It is a bit scary, but if you can arm yourself with as much info as you can, and also get some recommendations from OH that are reasonable for your employer and yourself, then you might feel a bit better. Hope that helps xx

Don’t make any snap decisions. I had several operations on my eyes (before cancer) and was called into Oc Health to discuss my time off. They hadn’t got a clue about my treatment and continued to employee me. I was like you, concerned but what’s happening to you is not of your making. I wish you well x

Hi, sorry to hear you're going through this additional anxiety on top of your recovery.  You might think about giving the lovely folks here at Macmillan a call. They have a lot of experience and knowledge and could potentially help you prepare for the OH call and give you some advice on your rights and the best way to approach this to get the outcome you want.  The number is 0800 808 0000. Best wishes 

Hi JoulesG, I am recently retired (undergoing treatment for breast cancer) but was an Occupational Health Nurse Advisor for 25 years and hope to reassure you that the service is an impartial one with the aim to give professional support and advice to both the employee and the employer (and HR) on fitness to work. A cancer diagnosis automatically falls under the remit of the Equality Act 2010 which means that legally your employer has to consider reasonable adjustments to support you to return to work, leaving work is always the last resort. I do hope you will find the experience a positive one and use the OH service for support for you too.