Whether to work during treatment is a very personal decision that depends on a number of factors, including your financial and work situation, how you experience treatments and their side effects, your privacy preferences, and, perhaps, a desire or not to keep your daily routine going.
Facing breast cancer treatment during holidays or when you have a vacation planned can also be tough. Should you cancel the family vacation you planned months ago, even before you were diagnosed? Do you have to schedule appointments around family get-togethers and celebrations?
Before you take medical leave, cancel any plans, or decide not to make new plans, talk to your doctor. You may be able to postpone the start of your treatment or adjust your treatment schedule so you can continue working or have the freedom to enjoy vacations and holidays.
If you're receiving treatment as part of a clinical trial, the treatment schedule can be somewhat rigid. Ask your doctor how much wiggle room is in the schedule, and work around it.
Surgery: Most people will need to take time off from work when they undergo surgery, whether the surgery is a lumpectomy or a mastectomy with reconstruction. The amount of time you take will depend on what type of surgery you receive and how your recovery goes.
Your doctors and nurses can help give you a general idea of how long you will be in the hospital for your specific surgery and when you can expect to resume your normal activities. If you have a lumpectomy, you will usually be able to go home within a day or two, and full recovery can take up to a week or two. If you have a mastectomy, your hospital stay may be longer. Recovery time after mastectomy may take several weeks, but it depends on a number of factors including what type of mastectomy you have and whether you have reconstruction at the same time.
If you have an important project at work or a vacation already planned, it's often possible to delay surgery up to several weeks if the cancer is not very aggressive.
After surgery, it may be difficult, but not impossible, to travel and stay elsewhere while surgical drains are in place. Keep in mind that the time immediately after a big surgery will be a time of recovery. If you're planning to go away, stick to a familiar place where you know you'll be comfortable and near medical help if you need it. Read more about breast cancer surgery.
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Chemotherapy: Whether or not you will be able to sustain your regular work routine will depend on how you tolerate chemotherapy. Some women will continue to work with minimal interruption, and some women will need time off.
From treatment cycle to treatment cycle, your healthcare team will be able to predict, with some regularity, when you'll be having good days and bad days. They can help you map out how you are going to feel -- and how much you may or may not be able to do -- during your chemotherapy regimen.
Breastcancer.org's mission is to help women and their loved ones make sense of the complex medical and personal information about breast health and breast cancer, so they can make the best decisions for their lives. Medical information on the Breastcancer.org web site and in our printed materials is reviewed by members of our Professional Advisory Board, which includes over 60 practicing medical professionals from around the world who are leaders in their fields. We are a nonprofit organization supported by individuals, foundations, and corporations. Find more about us here.
