teaching during chemo

oppalv1

I am an elementary special education teacher. I am going to be getting chemo treatments, then surgery. Will I be able to teach during chemo?

Moderators

Hi Oppalv1-

Welcome to BCO! We hope you're finding this community to be a source of support and information when you need it!

Many, many of our members resume and maintain their normal, daily routines while undergoing chemo. Side effects range from mild (fatigue, nausea) to the more severe (neuropathy, anemia), but everyone is affected differently. Some people experiences little to no side effects at all. You can read more about some of the side effects and how to manage them here.

We hope this is helpful, and good luck as you begin treatment!

The Mods

ruthbru

I was a middle school special education teacher and I taught through chemo. I would take Friday off for the infusion, lie low over the weekend, and be back to work Monday. Here a are couple things about it:

* nobody knows how they will react to chemo, you might be like me and feel not good (but not terrible), but really antsy.....and working was good because I HAD to think about and deal with other things beside CANCER 24/7. Other people feel really rotten or really, really tired and it would be difficult if not impossible for them to work. So, if you want to work, go in with the attitude that you WILL, but be aware that you might have to adjust.

* I did 4 rounds of AC dose dense, every two weeks with Neulasta shots. With the shots kicking my white blood cells into production, I didn't really have to worry about infections etc. without them, I think it would have been more difficult to be around kids and their colds etc. all the time.

*Make sure your administrator knows what is going on & is supportive. I (with permission) had the secretary forward updates on my health situation on a periodic basis so I wouldn't have people asking me, or silently wondering how I was doing all the time. I also contacted my parents and let them know what was going on.

* Get as much of the extra 'stuff' as you can done ahead of time. Run off papers, get lessons ready, get as many of your meetings and as much of your paperwork done as possible before you start.

* You will be pretty wiped out by the end of the day. Take any and all offers for help. Hire a cleaning lady, if people offer to bring you food say YES, make your outside of school life as easy as possible.

Those are some things I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any other concerns I can help you with, just let me know!

Skittlegirl

I am not working during chemo. For me, I am on a 3-week cycle with 6 rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 I felt okay on the two days after infusion and then crashed on days 3 and 4, slowly improving on days 5, 6, 7. And then doing okay the next 2 weeks. Rounds 3 and 4, I crashed the 2 days following infusion and then was still down and out for days 3 and 4. I have also ended up in the hospital twice. So sometimes stuff happens.

My manager was incredibly supportive to have me go out for chemo and not work. I am glad that with the hospital admissions I didn't have the added stress of trying to find someone to take care of my lab experiments.

exbrnxgrl

I teach first grade. Chemo was planned, but never actually happened. My mo advised me not to teach due to the questionable hygiene habits of my students 😊. What does your mo advise

Veronica31

I will not be teaching because I already get sick easily from the kiddos. I have not started chemo yet, but I've already been in and out with surgery and I feel like it wouldn't be worth the stress of constantly taking off, making sub plans, and still doing all the regular work in and out of school. This is time I've designated to making myself better.