To go back to work or not

jennyboog

Thanks for the advice lauri....love the part about talking to people about other subjects beside bc!

Latte

I was off work for 11 months during tx, and went back 2 months ago part-time. It was really hard at the beginning (I am also a single parent with a 3 yr old), but now I am glad I went back to work, and am coping fine. unfortunately, i can't afford to stay part-time for longer, so next week am going back to full-time.

What i suggest is to go back slowly, because it is a shock to the system :-)

Katarina

All really good advice. I want to go back but I don't want to put my employer in a bad spot by having me take on responsibilities that I then can't complete due to some sudden issue or setback. I want to know I'm really healthy and physically ready to return. 11 months seems very reasonable. I'm about 5 months in now. 

Thanks for the share on part time and reasonable accommodations. I'm glad to hear that some of you have had supportive employers. I'm only 5 months out but I can already tell what a shock to the system it would be.

For me at this point it's less about going back as much as what kind of person I'm going back as. Its' the going forward part I wish to be different.

Romansma

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on the subject. I am self employed, so it was alot more about getting my head back in the game. I felt like I had lost my edge and no longer had what it takes to "make it happen". I was so much happier at home cooking for my kids and being domestic. It took me about a month of going through the motions and then one day it just clicked again. I am not the same person I was before bc, but hopefully that leads me down the path of a much more balanced lifestyle........hopefully!

jennyboog

Thanks Hope, I'm between a rock and a hard place.  I've really enjoyed being a stay at home mom but some days I want to work again.  In a perfect word I wish I could work from home, go part-time or find a more relaxed job, that would be my balanced lifestyle.  I also want to return for my benefits...retirement plan (hopefully I'll get to use it), life ins. etc.

Karina121293

Hi everyone!! Jen thanks for the thread and I can relate to what everyone says. Well, I still did my main job which is an office one and to my own pace. Thank God. But I also teach at a University couple of hours a week. So last academic year I took sick off, and thought I would be much ready to go back from this September after the tx. But... so not sure and ready at the moment. As if it was a different person, who was so confident and content of what was doing last year. I almost dread to enter the auditorium with so many changes in my looks, let alone the slow mind and chemo brain. Oh I miss my old self and life so much. When I read many of you saying you were a different person before BC, it brought tears to my eyes. So wish I could go back THERE again.... Good luck to all of you in getting the courage and strength with this challenge. 

Hugs and love.

Karina