Breast Cancer and Your Job

Scripture of the Day:

Job 29:3

            By His light I walked through the darkness

Breast Cancer and Your Job

Breast cancer can and will effect your job. I was diagnosed on March 3 and in that month following the diagnosis, I had 2 doctor's appointments or MRIs or blood work per week. I had my mastectomy on March 28th. After that surgery, I was out for 6 weeks. When I came back to work, I had my chemo therapy treatments. Fortunately, I was a school teacher and school ended and I could finish those treatments without effecting my job. I was also very fortunate in the high school where I worked, Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach. They bent over backwards for me. It effect my position non what-so-ever. Not all are so fortunate. 

How will you balance your disease and your job? The following article should give you some insight.

The impact of a breast cancer diagnosis on work life can vary from person to person. For some people, the effect is minimal. You may have an understanding supervisor, a flexible schedule, and an encouraging team to support you through treatment. For others, there might be some questions about how to manage work and treatment: What do I tell my boss? Should I take time off from work for treatment? How will I pay the bills?

This section offers ways to manage the emotional, physical, and legal aspects of balancing your job and your treatment:

• Telling Your Boss and Co-Workers About Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis
• The first question you may want to ask yourself when thinking about talking to your boss or coworkers about your breast cancer diagnosis is “Should I tell?” You don’t have to tell anyone at work, unless it is apparent that your diagnosis or treatment will interfere with your ability to work or your work schedule. Keep in mind that if you decide not to discuss your health at work, some questions may be raised if your productivity level is affected, or if you miss a lot of time at work due to treatment appointments.
  You might decide to just tell some people — your supervisor, your closest colleagues, or someone with whom you share responsibilities. Or, you could decide to tell everything to everyone, depending on how comfortable you feel. So how do you tell them, and what do you tell them? Keep in mind that people may react differently; you may receive great amounts of support from some coworkers, while others might not be as comfortable with the conversation.
  Your comfort is the most important, so do what feels right for you. Here are some things you might want to try to make the discussion a little easier:
  • Have the conversation in a comfortable, yet private area.
  • Talk to your co-workers in smaller groups of one to three people, to make conversation easier.
  • Assure your team of your commitment to your job. Explain that you will do everything in your power to do the best job you can. For example, you can ask someone to handle your duties when you’re not at work and you’ll follow up when you return.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask your co-workers for help and understanding.Explain that you may need some flexibility in your schedule and support in some projects.
  • Explain that you will keep everyone posted on your health as needed.Allow coworkers to ask some questions about your situation — most likely, they care and want to help. At the same time, if they seem to be asking too many questions, let them know that you appreciate their concern, but that you’d like to focus on work.
  • Discuss a possible change in your appearance. You may experiencehair loss, for example, if you’ll be having chemotherapy treatments.
• Working During Treatment
• While some people choose to take some time off from work during treatment for breast cancer, others decide to work through treatment. If you’ve chosen to work during your treatment, let your doctor know. Your doctor may be able to scheduletreatments around your working hours or give you suggestions on dealing with work stress while in treatment. Also, you can ask your doctor if any of your treatments have side effects that could affect your daily routine. Side effects such as nausea and fatigue may have an influence on daily work routines. Learn how to manage side effects associated with some breast cancer treatments.
  Sometimes, people undergoing breast cancer treatment experience thinking and memory problems, or “cognitive” effects. Cognitive effects such as memory lossand lack of concentration can have an impact on work. If you’re finding that it’s hard to stay focused, or you’re forgetting important things, it may be helpful to keep a work journal. In your journal, you may want to:
  • Record meetings and appointments on paper with time and date, who the appointment was with, and what was discussed. You can keep track of work meetings and doctor’s appointments.
  • Jot down important conversations. Make notes that include ideas you want to remember and decisions made during the conversation. If you have regular meetings at work, bring your journal for note-taking.
  • Track deadlines. List when things are due, and keep a timeline of goals met along the way.
  • Make a to-do list and add to it each time you think of something new. Check off items as you accomplish them.
  • Set realistic goals for tasks to be completed. Try to stick to your goals if you can, but don’t push yourself too hard.
  • Keep a written schedule to help you remember your work days and days off.
  If you have health insurance, it’s also a good idea to keep track of certain medical information. You may want to write down the dates of doctor’s visits and any hospitalizations, as well as names and dosages of medications. Keep copies of insurance claims and correspondence, in case any questions come up about what’s covered. Keep all of this information in a safe place, along with the rest of your medical records and any financial or legal information. If you don’t have health insurance, you can learn about other ways to manage treatment costs in our section on Paying for Your Care.
• Taking Time Off Work for Treatment
• Self-Employed and In Treatment
• Looking for a New Job
• Recognizing and Responding to Discrimination at Work

The last four bullets can be found at the following website:
Your Job

I just wanted to put a few things on this site and encourage to look at the website for yourself. I hope that you are as fortunate as I am when it came to my work environment.

If you are making this journey as I am, may God bless you with His healing touch. I know He loves you,.

It's supposed to happen to me not someone close to me.

Scripture of the Day:

Isaiah 58: 8

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy health shall spring for the speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward

The Four Musketeers

I know this is a breast cancer blog. But it's not the only cancer on the block and it's not the only one that effects me. I'm sure any number of you can name someone you know with a cancer as debilitating as breast cancer. These boys are my son, my nephew and their two friends. I found out this morning that one of the friends has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It is not supposed to happen to a child of my heart. I know that this cancer is also survivable and that he will. But this one knocked me flat. He's been added to my prayer list page, but please add him to your prayer list. Let's show him the power of God.

If  you are making this journey as "we" are, may God bless you with His healing touch. I know He loves you.

Care Package for a Chemo Patient

Scripture of the Day:

Psalm 97:1

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice

Care Package for a Chemo Patient

I never received a care package per se. I didn't know I could use one. But I really could and if you know someone that is going through chemo treatments, you may consider putting together a care package for them. 

I can tell you that I spent at least 5 hours sitting while the chemo treatment was being administered. I know that other stages and types of cancer can sit a whole lot longer. My treatment center had a television and I brought a book. I was able to sleep some. But you might consider books, magazines, crossword puzzles or something like that for you friend or loved one. 

It didn't take me long to start losing my hair. Not all chemo therapy causes hair loss, but if you friend or loved one is going to lose their hair, scarves or beanies may be a good purchase. I did have several give me those and I loved every one of them. (You may want to have the patient check with their insurance company. One wig was covered under my insurance).

There will be occasions when they will be sick. You may not want to leave them alone during that time. I could hardly make it to the bathroom and back. 

Another thing that happened to me is I developed burns on the palms of my hands and the bottoms of my feet. I put on heavy lotion and wore gloves and socks to bed so I wouldn't make a mess. So your care package could include gloves and socks and heavy lotions. I used lanolin. 

You can also buy ready made care packages. 
The Big Queasy Crap I looked at several. I particularly like this one. There also some for men. Kids Activity Gift Basket
This one has things for a child to do while sitting through the chemo administration. These ready-made can be quite expensive. But maybe you could look for them to get ideas. 
There are also links out there just with ideas for a care package. 

This is not going to be an easy time for cancer patients to go through. I would suggest just be there often and listen to what they say, their complaints. You may get another idea how to ease the event. 

If you are making this journey as I am, may God bless you with His healing touch. I know He loves you. 

Breast Reconstruction.

Scripture of the Day:

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

I had several choices about what to do after my double mastectomy. A quick note...I chose the double even though only one side was affected. The first choice I was given was to do nothing. I would just be flat chested and then use prosthetics to add to my bra. They showed me the prosthetic and let me hold it. I was surprised at how heavy it was. I spoke with a relative that said it was always an effort to get them in the bra right and even. So I decided that wasn't for me. I have to say now 5 years later, if just being flat chested and not worrying about a bra at all is what I should have done. I really hate wearing one and always have. 

My second choice was implants. This is actually what I chose to do. But then there are a choice of implants. Those made with saline and those made of silicon. If there are more types, I wasn't told of them. I was bound and determined that I wanted the saline. In my mind that is the most natural. However, my plastic surgeon finally convinced me that I would not be happy using those. He said the silicon would feel more natural. My original fear was if the implant sprang a leak all that stuff would go into my body. I felt saline would be more natural if it sprung a leak. But, so far, so good with the silicon choice.

Going for the implants started with my original surgery. The general surgeon removed the breast and the plastic surgeon installed tissue expanders. So after surgery, I was not completely flat chested. Once that was done, I would visit my plastic surgeon once a month and he would pump fluid into the expanders to stretch my skin. Once the skin was stretched to his satisfaction, I went in to surgery again and the implants were put in. This evolution took approximately 8 months. 

The third choice was complete breast reconstruction. They would take skin and tissue from your stomach and mold into a breast.They would have to spend time to attach blood vessels so that the blood would circulate as a normal vein in the breast. Although, this may have been the best option, because I would've gotten a tummy-tuck at the same time, it would have been 12 hours in surgery. I didn't feel like I wanted to do that or put my family through it for that long a time. 

This topic came up when I found a website  discussing this issue or step in the breast cancer recovery. 

Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy/Lumpectomy

This site goes into the options in depth and offers links to sites with more information. 

Again, if you have a name that you would like me to add to my prayer list just leave me a message. Please include the ones that are already there on yours. 

If you are making this journey as I am, may God bless you with His healing touch. I know  He loves you.