Being a nurse with breast cancer!

Hi Sashaweed,

I'm not a nurse but have worked in a caring profession and once went through a personal situation that was similar to the the challenges faced by our clients. I found working very hard at that point and took a few weeks off.

As for your surgery, I'd say be cautious and give yourself more time than you think you'll need. However there might well be no need for you to be off long term.

After my lumpectomy and SNB I took just under a week off work (desk job). That was feasible, but in hindsight I wish I'd taken off longer. At the end of the first week back at work I was very fatigued, unable to focus. I think 2 weeks would have been right for me.

In the grand scheme of things 2 weeks is not that long... you have a challenging and energetic job so perhaps you could start with 2 weeks off in mind and see how you go? The rest will help your recovery and although it's frustrating to be off, once you're back in the swing of things you'll forget about it quickly enough!

Welcome. Click my name to read about my journey. For me my fatigue has been and still is a mixture of emotions, mental tiredness, anxiety, worry and sometimes adrenaline wearing off. Its a very difficult time and everyone reacts differently. I'm struggling to get a good night's sleep too!

I'm not sure if you feel being a nurse works in your favour or not - its good you know the medical side but not sure what kind of nurse you are. Getting a diagnosis is stressful and everyone copes differently. 

I have an office job but once I got my diagnosis back in mid May I reverted to home working as I felt I was just too emotional to be in office. We are a good male/female mix and the majority of blokes are married but it still feels bit awkward. They have been very respectful of giving me space.

Post surgery it will take a couple of weeks to get drugs out of system and for you do do exercises to maintain mobility again I don't know how you day to day job goes but even having a lumpectomy is classed as major surgery and you need to give your body as well as your mind time to heal. You may want to get back to work but do take time to be kind to yourself and look after yourself.

Keep going ... one day at a time x

Thank you so much for your replies.

I'm a care home manager so a lot of office based work. My nurse has told me a minimum of 2 weeks recovery time before going back. Emotionally dealing with everything will be the hardest part, I think. I need to be the support for my team - particularly during a pandemic - and support for my Residents families too - I just don't know that I'm strong enough to maintain that, as well as everything else my job entails and not be spreading myself too thin. 

People say one step at a time, which I'm sure is good advice but I feel impatient! They do say nurses make the worst patients!

It can be hard if you're very work involved but you do need time to adjust and the mental/emotional side is just as important as physical. I worked from home 2 weeks after surgery and have proper desk set up but found i was quite uncomfy sitting at desk all day and had to get up frequently and train myself not to sit hunched over. I was advised to have arm raised on cushion which helped. Perhaps a phased return? See if you are better in morning or afternoon or as I did late start and early finish as working a whole day is exhausting. I think as long as work are aware it may just be a case of seeing how it goes (option a and b) x

Thanks Tired Minion. My Ops Manager was a cancer care nurse so is hugely supportive of me just now. I haven't told all my staff team, I don't want them worrying or feeling sorry for me - I really don't deal well with that.

I suppose I am going to have to wait and see. I'm taking 2wks post surgery off so I'll discuss my return with my manager when the time comes.

Hope you're doing ok and getting stronger, I really appreciate you taking time to help me out x

Not a problem,.  Everyone's journey is different and I had some lovely responses when I first posted as it was and still is a lot to take in. Juggling work and quite frankly life is hard at the moment. I'm getting there. Rough afternoon trying to sort ct scan and radiotherapy planning and scanxiety but going back Fri to get it done. Only fair to give my experience in the hope it helps someone else. Good luck x

When I was diagnosed, ER+ and HER2+ I knew I would need chemo and radiotherapy after my lumpectomy. I got a cancellation for my op so it all moved very quickly, at my meeting with the surgeon I asked for a sick note - she gave me one for nine months. I almost fell off my chair and explained that was impossible , so she gave me a note for 6 months. What I hadn’t realised was that plans change and my lumpectomy would lead to no clear margins and even a mastectomy, no radiotherapy  etc. So I am sure it is quite common for us all to plan our entry back into normal life again, but do be prepared for things to change, hopefully they won’t, but be prepared. I went back to work between my surgeries and chemo starting, and then a week after chemo finished until my mastectomy. All fine for a couple of months, then was hit by crippling fatigue which just came on so quickly but meant I had to lie down wherever I was, or if I was in bed I couldn’t actually get up. So be kind to yourself, having cancer is not just an annoyance (as much as we wish it was) and you really do need time to recover.

Hope everything goes well for you , make sure you do what’s right for you, not what you think will be best for everyone else.

Jo x