Any nurses out there working through chemo

3girls

I am an ICU RN recently dx with stage 2 breast Ca. Will need chemo soon and I am a little worried about working with critically illpatients being immunosuppressed. Anyone else out there experience the same problem?

rjbaby69

3girls:  I am not a nurse but I do work in the education field with children.  I also have a part time job at a convenience store so I am around people a lot.  I work every day execpt for chemo day.  I have chemo on Thursdays.  I usually drive my bus that morning but I am out of my office and off the bus the rest of the day.  I return to work on Friday to both jobs.  I usually work at the store on Saturdays, but I do not work on Saturdays of my treatment.  Both jobs have been great at working with me on this.

I don't know what to tell you about working with critically ill patients.  I know the roughest days for me would be the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after treatment.  And my WBC counts are usually down for at least 8 or 9 days after chemo.  But I still go to work and so far so good.

I'm sorry I don't have any good information for you.  Are you eligible for any kind of sick leave?  You can also apply for the Family Medical Leave Act.  It may be leave without pay, but at least they can't take your job.  My job at the school had me do that to protect them and myself.

Keeping you in my thoughts.

HUGS!

ma111

I work in the operating room. I went to employee health and they gave my a TDAP, pocket gel. Wear a mask and anyone, not just your patients, that sneezes or coughs! Them and my doctor thought it would be ok with the precautions that a nurse would be able to understand. They worry more about people that do not understand disease transmission then us that do. Your onc will also give you Nulasta or something to keep up you counts. Walking also is our bodies natural way to encourage bone marrow function.

Good luck

Elizabeth1959

I am physician and I worked a lot of the time through chemo. I did dose dense adriomycin/cytoxan and 12 weeks of taxol. During A/C, i was unable to work the first week of chemo due to tremendous fatigue, anorexia etc. But worked the second. During taxol, I took 1/2 day off for infusion, but otherwise worked full time. I will say it was tremendously difficult. It was simply a financial nessecity since I'm self employed ie a large overhead. My oncologist said that almost all infections due to immunosuppresion are from our own flora. I would see what feels right to you.

Elizabeth

bjnash

I am a nurse who works in long term care & rehab and have been going through chemo since August. I have not worked since July. I honestly do not know how I could have during this time - cannot imagine 8-16 hours on my feet like I used to because of the fatigue & bone pain I experienced with chemo and the fact that my white blood cell count dropped so low throughtout the first 8 weeks of Adriamycin & Cytoman. Everyone responds differently to chemo as far as the side effects so you may be able to work, but it may be a greater risk for you because of exposure. I hardly visited my own mother who has Alzheimer's or my friends or family members who have younger children and I did avoid getting really sick. Wear a mask whenever you have doubt. I do miss working at times but have been fortunate enough to not have to work.  Because of the way my body responded and setbacks in treatment due to infection at surgical site three times and rejection/reaction to dissolvable stitches used, I am glad I didn't. Good luck to you during your treatment. Its is scary not knowing what to expect. Wish you the best. Whether you work or not, make sure you take the time to really rest & take care of yourself every day.

Lunakin

I'm a nurse practitioner working in an outpt clinic. I tried working through chemo, but even at 50% couldn't due to fatigue and wanting to throw up all the time. I quite chemo after 7-8 weeks because I couldn't continue without quitting or taking a leave from work, and I'd already exhausted all my medical leave with surgery & recovery. If I didn't work I wouldn't have medical coverage.

I was in the very low end of the moderate risk category as far as my Oncotype DX was, so probably the benefits of chemo didn't greatly outweigh the risks. But I would have been in a very bad spot otherwise. 

I have heard of some RNs working full-time through chemo. We are all so different. Hope all goes well with you.

TSB1

I'm a pediatric RN working in the OR. I have not worked since June 3. I had surgery and about eight weeks later I started chemo. My MO did not allow me to work during the hardest part of chemo which was the A/C. I will start Taxol on November 3 and I'm returning to work part time on November 1. I will work 4 hour days 2-3 days a week. My MO is allowing me to work part time "as tolerated" and I can increase my hours if I feel able to do so. I do not think I could have worked much during the A/C part of treatment. I'm so tired and I've been very, very sensitive to smells. The OR is full of bad smells so I'm hoping I'm able to tolerate that.



I really think it depends on your stamina and your job requirements. I've been so anemic and weak that I'm not sure I'd be able to lift and move equipment, instruments or patients.



I am looking forward to returning to work. I will take it day by day and see how it goes. I can't wait to finish chemo at the end of January. Do you know what your chemo plan is? Good luck to you!

Theresa

3girls

Thanks for the replies.  I was out of work for 7 weeks earlier this year with a broken foot so I have used all my time.  I would really like to work through this if I can for financial reasons.  My nurse manager said she would be flexible.  I work 3 12 hour nites.  I guess I will take it one day at a time.  My chemo plan is 4A/C and 4 Taxol I think.

DocBabs

I'm anRN but I haven't worked in several years however my husband's nurse was diagnosed 15 years ago with stage 4 invasive ductal cancer and she worked full time through her chemo.She is an IR nurse and so far still working full time with NED.I think it's pr obably a very individual thing.You could give. It a try and see how it goes.Good luck to you.



Barbara

fredntan

I havn't worked since aug and work in IR. I'm just not comfortable doing it. we get so many patients down that we don't really know what they have. It happens a lot thta they are on isolation and its not communicated to us. I worked prn. just called my job last week to let them know how long chemo lasts. said they would get back to me. I'm pretty sure they can't fire me. I really don't feel comfortable sedating patients with my brain so wonky acting.

3girls

Thanks!  I Know I am concerned about decision making at work and chemobrain:(

alesta29

Hi 3girls

I work in alcohol liaison in a general hospital which means visiting lots of different patients on lots of different wards. I thought I would work through my chemo but was pretty sick then neutropenic on my first FEC which kind of wiped me out. My second and third FEC were a bit better and at a push, I could maybe have worked the last week on both of those. I've just had my first TAX and there is no way I could have worked through this due to pain, tiredness and lack of concentration (I'm a nurse prescriber and wouldn't trust myself to prescribe detoxes for folk at present!) Having said all that, some people think TAX isn't too bad...

Assuming you're not putting yourself at risk and are staying healthy, I'd say, day at a time and see how it goes. Don't beat yourself up and weigh up the long term gain over what you might feel you need to do in the short term. 

Good luck

Laurie x 

LoriKristine

I'm am a flight nurse and work part time in the ER. I was off for 6 weeks for the bilateral mastectomy. I just finished round 3 of 4 of the A/C and am scheduled for 12 doses of weekly Taxol. I went back to work on the helicopter and in the ER 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I'm tempting fate going back in the ER during flu season but disability is not paying the bills. I am practicing extreme precautionary measures and I were a mask around potentially infectious pts. My employers are very gracious with me on the schedule and allow me to take chemo day and the following 3 days off. Im usually good to go by then. Plus my co-workers are watching out for me. At first I felt like a burden to them but one explained to me they want to help and this makes them feel better too. I keep telling myself- it's just 20 weeks. It's only temporary. I am anxious about the exposure but I do like that when I get that really critical pt that needs resuscitation now- I forget I have a cancer. That has been a tremendous uplift in my spirits. Plus going back to work has made time pass faster. My 20 weeks of chemo is now down to 16.

nurseronda10

I had to take a 6 month leave from work.  Was just planning on being off work 6 weeks for mastectomy, but had to have a second surgery for infection and had an open wound from Sept 2010 to Jan. 2011.  I work three 12 hr night shifts on a med-surg floor.  I was so sick from chemo (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) I could have only managed to work every 3rd week that being the only week I felt like anything, but then that was the week my feet and ankles would swell huge.  I was neutropenic after all chemo but the first one, so was told by my ONC to stay away from sick people and crowds.  Just wasn't meant for me to work.  A friend who also is a hospital employee was able to work the entire time, so seems it just depends on the individual.  Very thankful that I was able to be off 6 months and get 60% of my pay.

3girls

Thanks for the replies I guess it really depends on the person and the side effects.  I am scheduled for my 2nd re-exicion today to get clear margins.  Anxous to get this alldone and get the plan for chemo.  Didn't expect to need all this surgery and is eating away at my sick time:(

irish22

Hey 3Girls, I'm not a nurse but I work in a hemodialysis unit as a tech. I worked my entire time on chemo and it really wasn't that bad. I did learn within my first few infusions what days were the worst for me and my scheduler worked with making the days I had off the days my side effects were the worst. I had infusion on Wednesday and Saturday was the peak of feeling hit by a truck. So I typically had that day off. My boss was pretty good with making it aware I was not to be near the patients with cdiff, mrsa and certain other infections and illinesses. I wore a mask a lot and washed and sanitized non-stop. Honestly the worst for me was the chemo brain and charting. I would sit and stare at the monitor for like an hour trying to enter an end of treatment note that normally takes less then five minutes. The same fill in the blank note I'd probably done 1000 times seemed like I was deciphering a code. Prayers you will be able to manage both.

3girls

Thanks Irish22  How long did the chemo brain last?  I am really nervous about that:(  I work in an ICU and need a fairly sharp brain.  ( as sharp as a 50 year olds night shift nurse can be ! )  Seems to get less sharp every year! 

toomuch

3girls - As you can see from the previous posts, everyone's responses to chemo are different. I work in a  pediatric ED and my MO told me that he didn't want me to work while getting chemo so that's what I planned for. As it turns out, I was neutropenic on AC even with Neulasta (ANC < 1000) for the first 2 rounds so it would have been a good idea to be working in the ED then. By the third round my ANC came up but my chemo brain and fatigue would not have made it safe for my patients! I was fortunate that my long term disability kicked in at 90 days. Does your employer carry that benefit for you? If they do, get started on the paper work early, it takes awhile to wade through it!

irish22

Chemo brain kicked in after first couple of months and I kind of stayed in a heavy fog until the end. About a  month after I finished chemo I started coming out of it but honestly I still have my moments, I don't think my attention span will ever be the same. I even find listening to music while I drive distracting, it's like everything is over stimulating. I'm not sure how I would do in an ICU setting, because like you said, you need to be sharp. I think when/if it gets to the point where you feel like you are not in the right state of mind to do your job or you feel like there could be potential harm to your patients you will know it. There is nothing wrong with taking an LOA. 

bedo

I think Irish is right.  I did only radiation, surgery and then another unrelated surgery, lost my lob at the beginning of all this and had to move to a smaller place.  I am not an RN, but am in a place where I am finding it hard to concentrate. and I could do potential harm.  I admire anyone who does this.  I tried working during another illness several years ago and wish that I had saved my strength for healing. My doctor supports me.

3girls

Thanks for the replies.  I am going to give it a try I can't get long term disability unti being out 90 days and can't afford to not get paid for 3 months.  People have very generously donated time for me so I have about 3 weeks.  I think I will cut down my hours to 3 8 hour nites instead of 3 12 hour nites.  The nurses I work with have been wonderful!  I am very lucky:)