What do I do about work?

kamalokitty

I am scheduled for four rounds of Adriamycin an d Cyclophosphem... whatever. I think they call it A/C chemotherapy. and then 12 rounds of Taxol once a week for 12 weeks. I don't know what to do with work. Do I just take the first two months off completely for the A/C? I don't know how I'm going to feel. I don't know. Will I be able to go back to work when i'm on the Taxol?

LimnoGal

Kamalokitty- different people react to chemo differently. I had four cycles of taxotere/cytoxan. I took chemo week off, then worked 20-30 hours during week two, and full time week three. I was lucky enough to have a boatload of sick leave, supportive management and staff, and an HR officer who was perceptive enough to ask me exactly what the he** I was saving my leave for if not this. I could have worked more, but, frankly, it was nice not to have to worry about it.

That said, I know lots of women who have worked through, taking off only chemo day. Generally, you will have one or two days where you really don't feel like working. If necessary, you can arrange your chemo schedule so those days fall on the weekend.

You can do this

ElaineTherese

Hmm, everyone responds to chemo differently. I had the same chemo regimen as you, and I worked through it. I should note that I did ask for reduced responsibilities and I spent my Wednesdays at the infusion center. My job is such that I could also work at home a lot.

AC was worse for me than Taxol because it gave me more fatigue and made me spacey (chemo brain). I had to write everything down ahead of time so I wouldn't forget things. Taxol gave me mild diarrhea, starting on Day #3. I managed it with Imodium. However, I felt more mentally alert on Taxol, and that was a huge help.

Have you told your boss yet about chemo? Mine was really flexible and helped me to keep working during treatment.

Best wishes!

muska

I had AC injections on Thursdays. I took those Thursdays off as sick days and worked from home on the following Friday. Was feeling good enough to go to work on Monday. Looking back I could have worked on Fridays post-infusion if I needed to because the worst day was Saturday when steroids wear off.

I had my 12 taxol injections on Fridays. Taxol injections are quicker than AC and I was back home before noon. I took those injection days off too Five weeks for mastectomy recovery plus the infusion days were covered by FMLA and short disability.

Best.

Bliss58

I wasn't on the same regimen as you since I took TCHP, but I worked a similar schedule to others here. I got the infusions on Thursday, back for Neulasta shot on Friday, then took the first three days off the following week using sick time. I was lucky enough to be able to work from home, too, for the next two days, then it was back in the office until it all started over again. I found that SEs didn't really set in until the Sunday after my infusion. I was very grateful that the leadership at my job were very flexible and understanding.

xxyzed

What is your job? If it is somewhere like a school or hospital where you are surrounded by lots of germs you are better to take time off. If it is heavy lifting you are also better to take time off as you get quite fatigued. If it’s an office job and you are on three weekly rather than dose dense cycles you can often get away with just taking a few days off each cycle.

kamalokitty

I am a lawyer. I write decisions. So my work is very detailed, focused, reading reams of things, and boiling everything down to written form. It's not hard, it's just detailed. Maybe I just cut myself some slack and take time off for the hard chemo. But at what point does it become "hard." I have four rounds spaced out every two weeks over two months. I have sick time. And my colleagues will donate their sick time if need be. I've done it for everyone else who had cancer over the last 17 years. I just don't know what to do. this is so overwhelming.

LimnoGal

kamalokitty-if you can take the time for AC off, and you won't go crazy at home, do it. Your clients might appreciate it.

Or you can be flexible, take time off and see how that goes.

This is the time to be nice to yourself

Kicks

I did not work at a 'job' during chemo - I've been a 'stay-at-home wife' almost all the time we've been married (34 yrs at time of DX).

I did 4 DD A/C (Dense Dose Adriamycin/Cytoxan - every 2 weeks) neoadjuvant. It was not bad at all - did not slow me down at all. Of course, hair left, I lost all sense of taste and appetite. Just never thought about eating so Hubby called me every few hours to remind me to eat something/anything. My lack of eating was hard on him as my Mom had died 4 yrs after we married from her very long ongoing Aneroxia and had seen what her behavior had done to Daddy and me and was so scared. Not that I was fighting IBC but what the ravages of Aneroxia does to the body. I also had issues with my lowered temperature. But all in all, the 8 weeks of A/C was not bad at all.

The 12 weekly Taxol adjuvant were NASTY. I was completely and utterly EXHAUSTED the entire 12 weeks, basically existing laying in bed or on the couch in front of the TV. My temperature also plummeted, getting down to 94° at least once. The 'good' part though was a week after last Taxol I started feeling better daily throughout the Rads I started a week later after last Taxol.

We are each so unique that there is no way anyone can know, for an absolute fact, how we will each reach to any TX. For some, A/C (like me) is not bad at all but for others, it is NASTY. The same goes for Taxol, for some of us (like me) it is NASTY but for others it's not all that bad. For a very few, neither A/C nor Taxol are NASTY but for a few others, neither are NASTY.

Something else I just thought about - I was told by my Chemo RNs and Dr that though there is no documented research but that there seems to be a possible relationship with rather or not 'you' had Morning Sickness with pregnancy can sometimes preditict if 'you' will have issues with nausea during chemo. I had no Morning Sickness with either Son and had no nausea with Chemo even though I quite taking the anti-nausea meds (except the IV ones given before each infusion) 1/2 way through Taxol.

You are you and not anyone else so your experiences will not be exactly what anyone else has experienced. Learn from each individual's experiences but do not expect to necessarily have what others have had exactly.

IntegraGirl

Kamalokitty: I'm a lawyer too. I worked throughout my chemo although at approximately 75% capacity. I was doing the Valter Longo fast before and after treatment so I took the treatment day and next day off. I worked from home when I could. I found that working gave me a much needed break from being sick .

Chemo hits everyone differently so do whatever you need to do in order to make it through. Good thoughts for you.

FarAwayToo

I'm very interested in this question as well. My chemo is Taxol for 12 weeks weekly, followed by AC every other week for 8 weeks.

I decided to go back to work as soon as my treatment plan was set. I'm an information system consultant (sedentary job, but lots of stress and some demanding deadlines). I hear Taxol is easier than AC so will try to work as much as I can during Taxol and then see what happens. I'm going back next Monday, at 24hrs/week. I figured one day will be out the window for the treatment: blood work, then doctor's appointment an hour later, infusion at least an hour later, then infusion itself - so far it takes at least 3 hours with pre-meds and half speed on Taxol (I had a reaction my first time). I want to keep a buffer for feeling crummy or doing things I want to do for myself that I never done before, while working 40+ hour weeks, being a mom and running a household. I want to do yoga or other exercise, I think I want to see a therapist or participate in a support group. Therefore, I asked my doctor to release me to work with 24hrs/week restriction. I also preemptively asked my boss for work assignments without 24 hour turnaround requirement (happens a lot in my job). I am a little nervous about asking for special treatment, but I can't be missing deadlines, and it may happen with treatments/appointments/dealing with side effects.

With my company's extended FMLA policy, I'm covered for 16 full weeks, and with 2 days a week, I'm covered until mid-May. This should cover me through chemo, surgery and recovery. I'm well aware I can't plan this far ahead - the treatment plan may change depending on how I respond to chemo, for example.

Oh, also, I can work from home most of the time. I'm planning to go to the office one day a week at this point.

pupmom

First, I have never had chemo, so I can't answer your question.

But, I'm wondering why you are getting chemo with your profile. You seem to be a low risk for re-occurrence. Are you very young? Did you get a high Oncotype score?

Kicks

FarAwayToo - Read my post earlier in this Thread and you will see that A/C is not the worst (at least for me) and that Taxol was BAD (for me). There are others who have been at this site that have also found that Taxol was worse (for them) than A/C.

There is no way to know before starting a TX what you will experience - there is no "One Size Fits All" when it comes to our individual experiences will be. Learn all you can so you can be prepared with knowledge of the possibilities you might experience. That doesn't mean that you will experience all others have or even any of what you have read.

Kicks

FarAwayToo - Read my post earlier in this Thread and you will see that A/C is not the worst (at least for me) and that Taxol was BAD (for me). There are others who have been at this site that have also found that Taxol was worse (for them) than A/C.

There is no way to know before starting a TX what you will experience - there is no "One Size Fits All" when it comes to our individual experiences will be. Learn all you can so you can be prepared with knowledge of the possibilities you might experience. That doesn't mean that you will experience all others have or even any of what you have read.

FarAwayToo

Kicks, thank you for your feedback. I completely agree that is impossible to predict how each of us reacts to chemo. I also understand that effects of chemo are cumulative. So, in your case you were getting Taxol after AC and after surgery, which might have contributed to how you tolerated Taxol.

I'm fully aware of not being able to plan, and am ready for it. So far I had 2 Taxols. First week was not bad at all - some muscle pain two days after treatment, which was almost completely gone after walking 12 thousand steps and planting spring bulbs (I was told to move as much as I could in order to battle post-treatment fatigue and it worked). Had another infusion yesterday. I already feel muscle pain coming on - almost 20 hours earlier than last week. Will see what happens.

kamalokitty

@pupmom. My onco score was 31. Even though "borderline," the oncologist recommended this course of chemo followed by radiation. I'm 52. It was disappointing news considering everything pointed only to radiation therapy. But here I am.

kamalokitty

Today is my first infusion. I sat in the recliner and tried not to cry, but wasn't successful. The pharmacy screwed up and failed to deliver the Emend that I was supposed to take before chemo to combat nausea. I showed up anyway, and they had a sample to give me, so we waited an hour for that to work before starting in. I'm on the last bag of chemo medicine that takes an hour and a half to drip. I had a port placed yesterday. The surgery was fine, but the site is still a bit painful. So this all really sucks big time. I'm not a crier, and I know I should quit being a hero, and just yield to all of it. Instead I'm being weepy in this chair in front of all these other people.