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Time off after surgery

sallyann10
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My husband has had surgery for testicular cancer and is now worrying about going back to work pending chemotherapy starting in April (we know its adjuvant but not the type and lenght of treatment). He is worrying that he should try and go back to work soon before his chemo starts and could still work once it has started for a whil - is this too much, I would prefer him at home resting as he is not recovered properly from surgery yet. Any thoughts or advice?? He gets really cross with the smallest thing at the moment so I am having to handle him very carefully!  Thx

  • Hi Sallyann, 

    I just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the forum as I noticed you hadn't had a reply yet.

    It can be difficult to know when the best time to return to work is whilst having treatment for cancer. Have you and husband been able to discuss this with his medical team? If not maybe you could have a quick chat with them and see what they suggest. Our cancer nurses may be able to give some insight in to this as well. If you want to chat to them about this you can call them on 0808 800 4040 (freephone), Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

    There are a few members on the forum that have been diagnosed with testicular cancer so do use the 'search forum' option above to find previous discussions about this and chat to them as I'm sure they would love to hear from you and help you and your husband as much as they can.

    I hope your husband's chemo goes well Sallyann do come back and let us know how he gets on when he begins.

    All the best, 

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

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    Hi Sallyann,

    I went back to work while I was on chemo, as I thought that I wanted my life to carry on as normally as possible and I used my work as a distraction.

    It was OK at first, but I changed my mind after about three cycles as I found I was becoming much more irritable and intolerant of my colleagues. Things that I would normally accepted as "one of those things" really started to get my back up, especially team members who decided to throw a sicky without good reason! My GP was happy to sign me off and HR seemed relieved that I'd taken time out before I lost it big time at work :-)

    Only he can know what's best for him, it is always worth giving it a try as long as he agrees to take a break if it becomes too much.

    Best wishes

    Dave

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