Starting a new career after treatment

bedo,

Funny thing you brought this up.  I just finished 6X TCH and am on Herceptin now.  We decided halfway into treatment when I was done with TCH we would move so my husband would be closer to work. We will keep my Herceptin treatments here where I had treatments and drive down for the weekend. I am quitting my job but cancer treatments are way cheaper than the college tuition we had been paying.  Talk about lifestyle changes, this will be the first time we have lived in an apartment. I am country folk and have never lived in the city.

Cancer has made me and DH look at things differently. It is more important to be together than spend time on the road commuting. We are also going to take a long awaited vacation after we move and get settled.  Who knows, maybe you will see as the new Walmart greeter =;0)

Hey bedo...glad you posted this. I was out from my job for 9 months and came back a month ago. It was really hard in the beginning and I am better now but some days I ask myself why I do this to myself. I deal everyday with cancer patients, I talk to them on the phone and read their reports. I used to do it for breast cancer but my boss thankfully saw that I should not be going back to that because it would be so hard. So now I am in another disease group but it's still hard. Some people go to work to escape their troubles and I am reminded of it every single hour of my work day. I wish I could find another job or another position but my husband stays home to watch the kids while I work.

If a cancer diagnosis does nothing else, it serves to put things into perspective rather starkly. 

If you have the abilitiy to make changes in your life that will allow you to follow your dreams, or to be more true to yourself, then go for it.  Even if you can't make all those changes right now, you can start moving in that direction. 

It has taken more than 3 years for me, but we are finally moving to the next phase of our lives.  It is terrifying and thrilling at the same time, but it is time to start fully living the dream.  Live your dream, whatever you need to do to get there.

Went back to the same job after 11-1/2 months off, but I went in every day wearing a button saying "I didn't survive CANCER just to die of STRESS" -- think it bugged my boss because I didn't jump in to volunteer for overtime, additional tasks, etc.  I was 62 at the time, so I made up a spreadsheet showing how many more work days until I turned 63-1/2 and could quit with COBRA to take me to age 65 and Medicare (mostly working for the insurance -- .)  Now I'm just doing volunteer stuff that interest me ... that's my new career. 

Dear Bedo,

I do not have to work as I was already disabled when diagnosed with cancer.  But I remember when I was 50 years old and I decided I was sick of my work and wanted to try other careers.  Since you mentioned Dog Town, I think that idea is great, as is the organic farm idea, too.  To give you other ideas, what I did was, I also wanted to work with dogs, so I looked into taking an involved course in dog grooming, and I was only going to groom smaller dogs because of my age and the beginnings of my disability.  But just before I made the leap, I heard about a job with Animal Control as dispatcher, and so I did that for a summer and loved every minute of it.  I also worked at a vet clinic on the weekend as a "kennel tech" and looked after the dogs and their kennels and food, etc. But the Animal Control job got to me emotionally after a while and I had to give my notice.  Just wanted to share some of my dog ideas since you mentioned Dog Town.

Now just a few tips on the importance of taking classes when making a career change.  Not only did I want to take classes in dog grooming, I also wanted to take classes to learn to be a vet tech, helping in a vet office with the dogs as they came in for treatment, rather than in the back like I had on weekends.  And I also took classes in becoming a nursing assistant, but after interning in a few retirement homes, I realized my back disability had gotten so bad, I had neuropathy in my feet, that I couldn't do that kind of work even tho I very much wanted to, so I quit the classes.  So, the point of those things is how taking classes can put you in a better-than-entry-level position with whatever type of work you think you can do.  Hope these few things help.  But I already think you've already got your ideas nailed, with the Dog Town or organic farming things, great choices.

GG

Yes, I know about changing careers, after many years in the work world,a financial world, I made the decision to do what I enjoy most. I now share my time with patients in hospitals,as a volunteer,and do children parties for income. Just went on SS. this month.Of course the money isn't as great,but the personal satisfaction makes up for a lot of the stress!

Hi Bedo,



Just found this thread. Looks like it hasn't been active in a while. Am curious about this very topic: lost my job over bc and recon months ago. Won't go back there (home programs for kids 2-6 yo with autism). Had various high-stress careers before that (computer program, systems analyst, classroom special ed teacher), and have no clue where to go from here. Can't think of retiring at this time as DH was out of work for a couple years and has returned to his career field at a fraction of the pay.



Ay suggestions? Thanks!