Nurses with Breast Cancer

xpectmiracles

Add another RN to the thread. This is my second career. I went back to school at 40. I'm 46 now. I work in a hospital. Before I started chemotherapy I was working 3 12hr days a week. I have cut back to 3 8hr days. So far I've only made it to work half the time since chemo stated d/t fatigue, nausea and achiness. I go back in to work tomorrow and hope I will feel ok. I'm good now; but I need to get off this forum and get to sleep! Good night.

curlieqs

Interesting how we spent so many years taking care and worrying about others. Now we are on the the other side. Whole new perspective isn't it? Makes me even a better nurse.....

RN for 12 years, all 12 spent with geriatrics......my absolute passion.  I also work on a Med-Surg floor with background  in same-day surgery and Cardiac nursing.

Lets take care of ourselves like how we take care of our patients

Edit to say.....Hi samedaynurseJAN.see you posted here, love ya sweet sweet MAMA! Love your pic too btw

priz47

I just started back to work last week. I have done 4 hr shifts, 3Xweek. Why am I so exhausted???? I used to work 12-16 hr days! It is flu season, so I am not taking those patients, only RSV and clean kids. Good news- after unilat with TRAM, chemo, negative biopsy in good breast, I had my port removed yesterday! Goint to try to work 8 hour shifts next week. Any suggestions? I feel like I can't get my act together!

D

curlieqs

Hi priz! I was in the sept chemo clan with you.....then one thing lead to another......stage IV. anyway....nice to see you again! Remember me???

It will take a few weeks to get back into the groove of things for sure. Chemo knocks the crap out of you while working!!!  I do 12 hr shift (still on chemo) and my trick is stick to a sleeping schedule. I work nocs and I find if I budge from my AT LEAST 9 HOURS of sleep, I am toast. Also, drink tons of water on shift. I know this seems impossible to us nurses who never even have time to pee, but I feel it is so crucial, and I swear, it helps me. I feel more energized when I do.

No iso patients is good idea, you do not need any help with an altered immune system! I have that restriction too and almost "feel bad" for not taking the MRSA/Flu/ESBl etc, but I work with such great people they never think twice about it. Just call on your co workers to help you if necessay. You would do the same for them. Your bod has been through so much, it will just take time. I have been back since mid January, and it took until beginning of Feb to feel somewhat normal again. You will get your act together, it just takes time

Good luck girl, and do not work too hard!!

Hugs

2Hands4me

Thanks for joining in everyone! It helps to hear the nursing perspective! I wonder if so many on the ese forums that go back to work 2 weeks after surgery are non-nursing desk jobs? My surgery was 2/6 and anything at home still makes me tired! Each week is better, but I expected to be able to return to work by this next week at the latest! I work GI and feel like I can do Bx etc. but we are on our feet all day! Yesterday, I worked on scrapbooking pictures from a trip, sat most of the time, and felt on the verge of too tired last night! I see my surgeon again Monday - guess I'll ask for a couple more weeks......

xpectmiracles - I'm still trying to put pieces together. If your IDC was <1 cm, and stage 1, and no nodes involved - yet you still need chemo? DCIS with microinvasion is the same as IDC? I should get my path report Monday. The surgeon said there was microinvasion but you know how they tend to tell what they want, and if you don't think to ask questions..... So, I still don't know ER, PR, and HER2 status. My onc. had said only Tamox, and that was negotiable unless there was microinv - then he would strongly rec. Tamox.

xpectmiracles

2hands4me, I am in the TailorX clinical trial. My oncotype score was intermediate (14) and I was randomized to chemo and hormonal treatments.

We have a flu outbreak at our hospital, too.  

I went to work today for the first time with my bald head. I started the shift with a scarf on, then a couple hours later was so hot I took it off and spent the rest of the shift bare headed. I was exhausted by the end of the shift, so I went to an empty room and napped for an hour before going home.

2Hands4me

What a day! First a call from the onc office to say "hormone status all negative so no Tamox."

Then a surgeon follow-up - he says tiredness is very unusual, maybe it's all in my head, maybe I should go back to work to get my mind off of it, maybe I should go back part-time, maybe I need more activity - but if I can't, then don't! I tried to tell him that if getting dressed makes me so tired, how can I work? He's never asked where I work, so wonder if he thinks I have an office job? I came away questioning myself - should I push more? It is not in my head, I'm not babying myself, I'm seriously tired with little activity - yet each week is an improvement, and I don't want to overdue and go back to square one! Maybe he's just being an arrogant surgeon - this can't be because of his surgery???? He said EBL was only 50cc - without checking the op report - so no need to check my Hgb. He denied a need for a vitamin D level. Yet could have no explanation for the tiredness. I do have fibromyalgia....but no aches and pains at present with Bromelain, so surely that can't account for this much tiredness. I have a call in for a primary MD appointment - maybe he will be more co-operative with some answers.

Oh - then a call back from my onc - it's actually only the ER and PR that are neg. He says that due to the size and only microinvasion, the tx wouldn't change for knowing the Her2 status. So, unless he finds out something new this weekend at the breast cancer conference in Florida, no chemo, no hormones. I was getting a little anxious understanding it was triple neg, so I'm glad I clarified his plan!

priz47

I worked my first 8hr shift last evening and I  am EXHAUSTED! It is our busy season with RSV and influenza and I had 3 admissions back to back, no regular staff only per diems and had to look for staff for today d/t call-offs! I work again tonight and don't know how I will last! I give credit to all of you who continued work through chemo. I know I could not have done it! Going to lie down before going in....

D

robink

priz- way to jump back in with both feet.  At Urgent Care we've been swamped with RSV, flu, over low from Peak Vista - many record setting days.  Since I returned to work last August (4 weeks after my last treatment) I have never stopped being tired but it has gotten better.  The exhaustion at first was almost incapacitating.  In October I started taking Femara which presented another set of side effects for me but I am coping. 

I join you in applauding those who continued to work during chemo. 

Hello to all the other gals on this thread.  I think I may have posted here long ago but had to make a clean break for a while, so much so that I forgot my user name and password.  My 1st anniversary as far as diagnosis has past, surgical anniversaries up coming.  Reflection is my state of mind right now and I'm grateful for my life.  Not that I would want to relive the past year however I have been blessed in many ways and uncovered many treasures that I may not have recognized if it weren't for this journey.

Rest well tonight

curlieqs

How did the 8 hr shift go Priz? It will get better..............

It is NOT all in your head 2hands4me. It is exhausting for sure. It does get better with time though. I feel though that even though we may "turn down' the iso patients, the crap is still out there floating around in the hospital. I have been sick for over a week, and no matter how much i wash my hands or take the necessary precautions, it will eventually find ya! LOL! I wore a mask all week, and then I feel bad what the patients may think about that...............The nurse is sick??

Congrats Robin on the 1 yr anniversary, yahoo!!!

haltsaluteatx

I was exhausted for about 2 months after bilat mastectomies. I usually work nights and it was a very different tired than working nights. I thought working 3 consecutive 12hrs shifts was tiring but that was nothing. I was going back to work last week but had a pelvic mass removed (benign!) and total abdominal hysterectomy instead. So not back to work for awhile. Time was the biggest factor I think. I also finally started eating better. When I got the ok to exercise that helped. It goes without saying you have to rule out anything physical first if the fatigue continues. When I go to the oncologist, they ask to rate fatigue as well as pain.

caligrlof68

I am glad i saw this posting. I have been unable to work more than an occasional 8 hr shift here or there since the chemo always had my white count in the neutropenic range. Fortunately I have finished chemo and my immune system is fully functioning again!! I had my left mx on feb 25 and hope to go back to work next week...3 shifts, 8 hrs each. Normally we do the 12 hrs shifts on my floor, but since I have to do rads I won't be able to, gotta find time each day to get my daily dose of radiation.. grr.  The biggest problem is that on my floor the RNs do total patient care...we have no CNAs to help out. How is that going to work now that I am not supposed to lift, push, or pull with my left arm? 

2Hands4me

A quick update - I am finally getting some energy, but need some rest time, too. At least I have some motivation now! But about 15 minutes weeding a small flower bed made me tired enough that I know I'm still not ready to handle a full day! Somehow I don't think they would like it if I needed a break after every procedure of two!!! I did re-start 2 of my 5 tutors - at least I can sit for that even though it takes brain energy! A little at a time.....

Everyone keep taking care of yourselves - we are good at taking care of others, so we do need to take our own medicene! My husband had prostate surgery last July and I've been hearing many of the things come back to me that I had told him! At least I know he listened!!!!!

KAK

Pacing, comrades, pacing.  I haven't been the same since rads, but I went to a PT seminar this weekend and learned a lot about helping me and other BC patients.  I work for the Visiting Nurses as  a PT and am working on putting a post-op homecare team together.  Any of you who might have suggestions about this, they would very much be appreciated.

2Hands4me

KAK - great idea! I'd love to know some of what you learned. What type of ideas for your team are you looking for? Do you mean a pamphlet of referrals? Or instructions? Or exercises? Or? There's a thread about what we wish someone had told us - where we were considering a checklist -- but that would be more pre-op and post-op. Someday in my spare time......I'd love to see a checklist started and then have everyone add to it! 

You're right about pacing! Maybe it should be P-A-C-I-N-G!!!! I'm doing so much better - and should be at 5 weeks out! But do some things, then at least do a "sitting" job, then do some more things! I'm just so glad to be able to do even the "sitting" things!

KAK

Oh, I have to check out the thread you mention, 2hands.  That's just the kind of thing I'm looking for.  What is it that we really need when we come home from the hospital?  Of if any of you have experience caring for breast cancer patients, in any setting, what do you think patients most need to know that no one seems to tell them?

I'll keep in touch.  I may start a thread to research this whole thing.

KAK

And now, for the other side of the coin....

I'd like to hear more from anyone who's back to work after initial treatment.  Your posts have been helpful.  I'm back to work full time, although I have a schedule where I only work 4 days a week and squish my 37.5 hours into that, so it's about 9 hours/day on average, which isn't too awful, because I have one or two days off every two days.  So it's easier to hang in there knowing I'll be off soon.

But when I get home, I'm still usually not good for much.  Plus I find it sooooo hard sometimes to be a clinician and a patient in the same body, if you know what I mean.  I think it's mainly that I'm only just over six months out from surgery, five months out from radiation, just had my six month post-op mamm, which was negative, thank god, and so I'm still actually a newish patient.  So, I've gotten past the initial terror, but I'm now in the recently-traumatized phase.

It's actually been really helpful to be back at work and doing something useful for somebody else, but I get soooo sick of being a cancer patient, seeing doctors, taking my medicine, dealing with discomfort, side effects, etc.  Well, hey, I'm preaching to the choir, I know, because all of us on this forum understand what I'm talking about.  I think it's just that being a clinician somehow makes me feel a little schizoid on top of everything else.  I think being a clinician in healthcare just adds a slant to being a patient that has its good and bad points.

Support, ladies?  I need some validation, because I'm having a hard time articulating this.  Am I making any sense whatsoever?  And of course, I'm still so tired.  At the seminar I just did, we talked about cancer fatigue at some length, which was helpful, because sometimes I think I discount its subtleties.

Hugs, Kathi

xpectmiracles

Kathi, I am working through treatment as well. I usually work a 12 hr day and I cut back to 8. I haven't been working full time, though. I haven't been able to work for a week after each chemo tx.  When I do work, I have 2 days in a row and then 2-3 days off.  On a work day I too am good for nothing the rest of the day after I get home. I think this is normal. I don't know when we will get our energy back.

It is nice to work like "normal" people. It keeps me from spending my day obsessing about my cancer. I can get out of my head and do something useful. 

KAK

Thanks, Cheryl.  Everyone's different, I know, and I'm so used to being able to run full throttle through life, this is extra hard for me, I think.

Are you done with chemo yet?

xpectmiracles

Kathi, I am half way done with my chemo. I have 2 more.

I really had to adjust to slowing my pace these days. I tend push myself too when I don't feel good. This cancer has forced me to slow my life down. I have gotten used to doing something, then take a nap; do something else, then another nap. After my first chemo treatment I was not feeling well the night before I had to work. I went in the next morning anyways. Big mistake. I wasn't there 2 hours and I started feeling bad. I must have looked bad, too. My clinical coordinator said I should go home; that the other nurses would take my patients. I felt so bad I started crying. How embarrassing! It was that day that I realized that I don't have the reserves I usually rely on to push through a bad day. I need to slow down.

xpectmiracles

Bump

xpectmiracles

I'm now have 3 tx done. I am still trying to work. It is getting discouraging because it seems about half the time I am calling in or leaving early sick because of chemo SE. Today I felt fine at the beginning of the shift. I started feeling a little weak and shakey a couple of hours into it. Unfortunately, our computer system went bazzerk and the LPN giving meds on my team was behind because it took her forever to file things. There was one pt in particular who was in a lot of pain and needed some meds. Instead of stopping to rest and eat something I jumped in to help the LPN by administering this pts meds for her. Of course it took me forever to document  and by the time I did sit down to take a break it was about an hour later. The rest and food helped as long as I was sitting in the break room. Once I got back on the floor to see pts again I found that I was shaky and unsteady on my feet. I had my bp taken and it wes elevated. I was wheeled to employee health and my husband was called to pick me up. I don't know what to do! Is it fair to my co-workers to continue to try to work when I eventually call in sick or leave early on a regular basis? Please, I need some feedback on my predicament.

Ruthy81674

Hello to all of you fellow nurses!

I'm glad to see a place for us to exchange info. I am new to this website. I wish I had known of it when I was dx 6 yrs ago. I noticed some of you were and were not taking tamoxifan. I had terrible hot flashes, felt depressed, and just did not feel like myself. After a lot of reading including Dr. Lee's and Suzanne Summer's books, I got up the courage to throw out the tamoxifan. I was scared to death, but I began using many supplements and also started using bioidentical progesterone. My hot flashes went away, I began sleeping through the night again (which I had not done since my treatment). I really prayed about my decision also. I would never go back to taking the tamoxifen. In fact I believe ther is a lot of harm being done to people by the pharmaceutical companies. In fact, I am convinced that my 10 years of birth control pills led to my cancer. They contain the same synthetic hormones found in HRT. I am now 49 and continue to work in a busy ER. I am grateful to have my health and try to do everything I can to keep it. I had no concept of how horrible it was to be dx with cancer until it happened to me. Sorry this is so long, it's just not often I find people who have this ordeal in common with me and it is wonderful just to vent. Anyway, check out those books I read and for your own opinion about the bioidentical hormones. For myself, I want good quality of life.

See ya'll online,

Ruthy

CindaD

Hi Ladies, wish I would have found this thread earlier.  I finished chemo in Feb and rads should be done by 4/22....WOO-HOO!  I think as nurses we are overachievers and try to do it all, so it's hard when cancer is dumped in your lap and you still try to maintain a normal life.  I worked through my tx, but took a week off after each chemo tx to rest and regroup.  I'm now finding myself in need of a littel R&R and have decided to take next week off.  My rad burns are killing me.....and I'm tired.  I find myself helping other cancer pts while waiting for tx, giving them little hints that have helped me....can't help myself!  So for those of you who can cut back your hours, do it!  If you can just take time off and still pay the bills....do it!  In hindsight I wish I would have taken more time for myself.  We deserve it!

xpectmiracles

Has anyone here have tissues expander exchange surgery? If so, I have a question. My PS said I should take 1 week off work after surgery. Each estimation my docs have given me for time needed off so far has been insufficient for me. I have needed more than the recommended time of for my mastectomy/TE placement and each of my chemo tx. As a nurse in a hospital I am up on my feet and moving alot throughout my shift. What has been your experience? How much time should I ask for off work after my TE exchange with contralateral lift/augmentation sx? 

AnneW

I needed the week off after exchange surgery. And I had to wait 6 weeks before doing my usual exercise routine. But I took advantage of some physical therapy for gentle moving and stretching (no lifting). My job doesn't require lifting, so if you work in a facility that requires that, you really should take more time off. You don't want those new pockets to tear and those new implants to migrate to a new home...

Anne

xpectmiracles

Thanks, Anne. My co-workers are very good at taking care  of me by not letting me lift. How was the pain after surgery?

KAK

Cheryl, I think you are amazing to go to work at all while getting chemo.  It hits everyone so differently.

Happy Easter, everyone.  I have to work tomorrow (!!) but so do a bunch of my nurse buddies.  We are all hoping that there won't be a whole lot of referrals to home care so we can all go home early!

tysnana

Hi, I am a  49 yr. old disabled LPN, happily married and mama of 6...5 survivng. I have been disabled since 2003, I grad. in 1990.  At this point I am a 18 month breast cancer survivor and 6 yr. colorectal cancer survivor and I expect to continue as a survivor!! My breast cancer was estrogen positve and I am on arimidex and have managed to succesfully have multiple frustrating and painful side effects. Doc says I have best chances to take it anyway . 

I have often wondered if some of the medications we have handled could have lead to our cancer. In 1995 the pharmacist at the nursing home I worked at told us to use gloves with tamoxifen as it put us at risk for cancer, after many yrs. of handling it!! I have wondered if there is a tie to the  tamoxifen, many nursing home residents are on tamoxifen throughout their lives in our area. I wonder what other drugs risks we have been exposed to for many years before they were known, and how many are still unknown.

my cancer was invasive but was still caught early as they were doing mammograms and ultra sounds every 6 months...or should I say were supposed to do both breasts every 6 months...later a story about the screw up with that, any way lets just say I am blessed. I had radical bilateral  mastectomy  and no chemo, no treatments. All lymphnodes were taken from right side, and only 3 from left, all were neg.

I worked mostly midnights, homecare for Childrens hospital and other local agencies the last few years,  homecare gave me much more flexibility with scheduling. I raised 6 children and the flexibility helped me to maintain a active involvement in their activities.

I by no means understand all about breast cancer , I have been afraid to read about it since diagnosed. I hate statistics and fear them. I already have a problem with anxiety attacks and the few times I have read anything...I have had 1. At this time 18 months out, I feel good about getting a better understanding about breast cancer.

I   purchased my prosthesis  4 months after surgery, hated them and have gone without since, and I feel much better about myself without them...everyone is different. To me they were a every day reminder I had breast cancer.

Anyway I am so glad to meet all of you. My name is Jeannie and I am the proud nana of 4...soon to be 5 grandkids..the first one being 4 yr. old Tyson...hence my name tysnana

WNYnurse

I have a question about the exchange surgery;;;how much time off and what special care do you need to prevent complications.....