Working during chemo

Hi Waiting, go ahead and exhale. I worked all the way through chemo, and I had AC/T. What chemo are you having and what is the dose? I did not have a choice I had to work to pay my bills since I am alone. I did not qualify for leave as I worked for a small business. And I did not have enough resources to get by. So having said that, I worked 42 hours per week but I had very little to do when I got home so I could sleep. My chemo was Tuesday morning so I went to work at 3 after chemo and worked 10 hours the day after chemo. I had Thursday and Friday off to crash and burn. Then I worked Saturday and Sunday and back to 10 hour days on Monday. My Neulasta injection was on Wednesday during my lunch hour. I did all of my blood work on Monday morning on my way in before work. It is all a blur now, not too sure how I held it together for so long. My employer put me out on leave the day of my last chemo, no option. I no longer work there.

I would say since it is all unknown before you start chemo, you know yourself the best. You know what your work life and home life require. So once you get through the first infusion you will basically know what to expect from chemo. Everyone is different, and we all react differently to the various cocktails. Some have very few problems during chemo, and others struggle. There is no way to predict how sick you will be until the first infusion. But since working during chemo is not a necessity, you may want to consider the health/work/family balance.

Fighting cancer is a battle, lots of them. But I would consider the chemo cocktail as well. Some of them have harsh side effects, and others can be easier. But there are also appointments to go to for scans, blood work, chemo etc. Once you know the chemo, and have the info I think you will be able to decide what works best for you, your family, your health, and your employment. Good Luck!

I worked FT during chemo. I had Cytoxan and Taxotere, 4 treatments, once every 3 weeks. I didn't have to work, but when I'm hope I obsess about my BC, so it was good to have my mind on something else. I only have one teenage son home, my husband is a chef, and I have house cleaners, so when I came home from work I was able to crash right away. You could always try working to start, and if its too much, go out on leave then

I am a teacher. I worked through my first two treatments, then fortunately the last four came during summer vacation. There is no way I would have been able to do my job. Perhaps I could have made it into school the last week of each cycle, but I don't think I would have done my job well. That said many people are able to work and I hope you are one of them.

I worked throughout 4x TC. I had a very complex set of teaching and administration duties at a university. I missed a couple of days each treatment week, had Christmas break for a few more days, and then the incredibly intense period of registration and start of the new semester during my last infusion. The first two treatments went relatively easy. Then I had a severe allergic reaction to Neulasta and had to be on steroids and benedryl simultaneously for two weeks, benedryl longer. By the end of treatment my memory was shot, my thinking muddled, and I had no energy due to a low red blood count. If I had had a different job, I probably would have taken more days off towards the end of treatment. I was at my worst in the three weeks I was needed most at work.

What helped at work was a wonderful group of caring colleagues, supervisors, and students. They forgave my lapses and loss of memory, which lasted through radiation. Work pulled me out of the BC world and gave some sense of normalcy. I had a friend who supplied me with home cooked soup and bread throughout treatment. I cooked, froze meals, and stocked up the week before the next treatment. My daughter still lived with me at the time, but didn't cook.

Shop when pretreated with steroids and you'll buy enough for the next six weeks.

I did 6 rounds of TAC and made until my 5th round and then went on leave. It really depends on how you handle the SE's and the type of cocktail you have. I also did tx on Thursday and Friday Neulasta shot...the plan being the weekend I could deal with bad SE's, but I would usually take the Monday off or leave early. I was lucky to actually work from home, if I had to drive in to an office I don't know how I would have done it!

I also have a 5 year old at home and that had its own challenges.

kudos to all of you who worked...there is no way I could have.  I was sick as a dog from the E - nausea all day.  I was literally in bed for 3 days after each treatment (we tried every med under the sun)  I think if you are on dose dense (every 2 wks) its even worse.  I felt better by the time I got my next infusion (every 3 wks) but there wasn't enuf good days in between.  I used those days to catch up.  I had 2 young kids at home so I needed to reserve my energy for them.

I hope your experience mirrors that of the other ladies on this thread.  I think that if your treatment does not include A (anthracycline) you have a better chance of being able to work.  I know this is what knocked me off my feet.  Rads was easy and other than it sucked up half a day, I could have probably worked.

Good luck! 

I was a teacher & worked through four rounds of dose dense chemo (AC). I would do my infusions on Friday, lie low on the weekend and be back to school on Monday. I certainly did not feel good, but was able to do everything I needed to do and most of the things I wanted to do too. And it was a distraction from sitting home thinking about cancer all day long too. Everyone is different and there is no way to know how you will respond until you do it. My suggestions would be to hire a cleaning lady, get friends to bring your family meals a couple times a week, have some movies, quiet games etc. for the kids, line up people who could drive them to some activities or invite them over to play once and awhile so you can get a break,. Get any big projects done before you start or delay them until after chemo. Make the day-to-day things as simple as possible. As far as working; if you like your job, then I would suggest to keep working & see how it goes. Maybe full time will be okay, maybe part-time would be even better. Maybe you will find that you can't work at all; but I think that is pretty rare now days with all the good anti-nausea drugs (be sure to drink tons of liquids and take them exactly as directed). Best of luck!

Yes, it is very important to check on the details and know what using long term disability or working part-time would mean for your insurance before you make any decisions! Not knowing can really bring unpleasant surprises and more hassles down the line. Very great point, Oncearunner.

I think planning to work part time is probably a very realistic approach, especially since you have young children.

After a lumpectomy I had 8 weeks of AC chemo then 12 weeks of taxol. Just about to start radiation. I was overly optimistic that I could take off a couple of days for each chemo, and that almost worked at first. The AC was every other week so I would have a whole week in between when I felt like a human. The taxol was every week and by the end of it I was at a point where I never felt good, and I'm still coping with the lingering effects like neuropathy. Fortunately nausea was never a major problem so I felt lucky in that regard.

The support of your employer and co-workers can be invaluable. My HR person badgered me until I filed a short term disability claim, and basically I ended up working part time with the STD filling in the gaps. I've been with the company for a long time so I was eligible for gobs of time.

The working can go a long way to making you feel like at least something in your life is normal when everything else is haywire. Like I told my boss, I'd rather be at the office than malingering on the couch at home watching Law & Order reruns. Even if I was less productive than I would have liked, it was helpful to be even a little productive. I figured if it all got to be too much I could just go on full disability, but I never did hit that wall.

So play it by ear and do what makes you feel good. It's kind of a crappy and long road, but you'll make it. Good luck.