Recovery period

Hi Marsh and welcome to out community. So sorry you have had to find us but hang about. There is lots of help and support from folk here who have been through it themselves.

I am retired so I can't help with the work bit but I know people who were back at work 6 months after their treatment finished, earlier if they could work from home. It's a tough treatment that does take it out of you. I see you are Marsh 74. If that means you are 47 years old then you are younger and fitter than me; I was 68 when treatment ended and was a presentable version of my old self at 6 months.

Macmillan have a section on financial advice if you find the need to get some help managing things while you are recovering.

Best wishes 

Hi Marsh74

It’s a great idea to keep working as long as you are able as it does help to take your mind off things.

My cancer was in the jaw so was different to yours but I had 8 weeks off work after my operation when I was 59 and then felt well enough to return. I went back and then had to have radiotherapy 6 weeks after this. I tried to work through the radiotherapy as some people do manage this but I found I could not cope so had to take more time off. The radiotherapy was for 6 weeks and then it took me another 6 weeks before I felt able to return to work so was off for 12 weeks before I felt able to return.

Luckily I had heaps of sick leave available as I had been working for about 20 years in the same job.

However everyone is different in their recovery. If you alert your manager about your situation I am sure they will be happy to negotiate your time off. I found my management really helpful and were happy to let me do a slow return to work and build my time up to my previous hours.

Wishing you all the best.

Lyn

Thanks for getting back , it’s a great site with so much info , at present I still don’t know what and when my treatment will be , what ever it is we will meet it head on , 

Thank you Sophie , after reading a lot about the treatment and after treatment I think it could be 3 to 6 months, the good thing is I am not worried about being off as my employer is really good and I get full pay for my first 6 months of absenteeism, it’s 1 less thing to worry about , I just like to keep them up to date 

It is great that you have such a good employer. That really takes the pressure off. Yes keeping them updated is really important.

Best wishes for your treatment.

Lyn

Now that’s great news about work. It will let you relax a bit and concentrate on recovery. 
Stay with us and we’ll prop you up when you need it. 
I couldn’t have managed without the guys in the community. They are all great and they all understand 

Hi Marsh74

Good question and one I was going to post in the next few days!  I finished treatment 20 days ago (3 weeks tomorrow) and was wondering about work too.  I had surgery end December for removal of tongue tumour and selective neck dissection and then started radiotherapy/chemotherapy 6 weeks later (beginning of Feb).  I have been off work since mid December working some days from home as I had to self isolate pre my op in December and again in January as I had a PEG inserted ready for treatment.  I did ask my Oncologist  how long I would need of work and he said 12 weeks - only thing I didn't clarify was did he mean 12 weeks to include the 6 weeks of treatment or 12 weeks post treatment!  If he meant 12 weeks in total that would mean be going back to work in 3 weeks.  I think for me that may be achievable on a phased return/work from home position but I am taking things day by days at the moment and not thinking too far ahead.  I guess it also depends on what kind of job you do, I have an office based job but it is very stressful, demanding and full on however I know my team will support me and make sure I am not overloaded while I find my feet.  I can also work from home and I have been dipping into work all through my sickness all except for around 3 weeks at the end of treatment where I just felt rotten and too ill to work.  I am also lucky in that I have a very supportive employer with an excellent sick pay scheme.  I was hoping to return sometime in June which will be around 3 months after treatment, I want to get back to a normal way of life as quickly as I can but am aware that my body needs time to heal too so it is important not to rush things. 

Good luck with your surgery/treatment and keep us posted.

Sue

Hi Marsh74

It is good to be at work and have things to concentrate on rather than dwelling on potential outcomes.

The answer to your question comes in 2 parts.  The first is the treatment that you have.  The second is how you personally react to that treatment.  BTW, my early pathway was very similar to where you currently are.

I was fortunate to retire early just before my diagnosis.  However I think after each of the 5 operations I've not had on neck, tonsils and tongue I could have returned to work at most 3 weeks after the operations.  That said the GA does leave quite a bit of fatigue in the body and that takes quite some time to overcome, whilst the pain subsides quite quickly.  It may depend on the type of work you do.

I've not (yet) gone into radiotherapy or chemo so others will be best placed to respond to that phase.

The important thing is that almost everyone on here who has been through the treatment has a quality of life that is acceptable to them and their families after the recovery period.  This cancer responds well to treatment especially if it is HPV+

Thanks for replying, I work in the rail industry so I do a lot of night shift working , I mostly do inspection type work so it’s not as heavy as it used to be , my only concern is I do a lot a bending up and down on a shift measuring rail ,switches and crossing and on som nights I might cover between 2 to 4 miles ,  I just really want to make sure I am physically fit before I go back , there’s a difference between feeling ok sitting in your home rather than a horrible cold wet Scottish night 

Thank you for replying, I am still in a wee bit of limbo just now , I had my pet scan 7 days ago so I am hoping to here some news maybe this week, they initial early diagnosis is squamous cell carcinoma, HPV driven , and they think the primary is the base of the tongue or the tonsils. They said they would operate but spoke about 6 weeks of radiotherapy maybe some chemo. But until they get back to me it’s just all the questions going round in your head , I am going to keep working for as long as I can as I will probably be off long enough when treatment starts

cheers

stewart