Life during Treatment for Lymphoma
Being diagnosed with lymphoma can leave you reeling and with hundreds of questions that you need answered. Some of these questions may centre on money and how you can continue to earn a living while being treated for your illness. Your ability to work while being treated will depend to a large extent on what form of treatment you are prescribed and also how advanced your cancer is when it is initially diagnosed.
Radiotherapy normally involves visiting the hospital four or five times a week for up to eight weeks at a time and this can seriously affect your job. Luckily most managers and companies make allowances for such times and so even though you will need to take time off work you can return in between rounds of treatment providing you feel up to it. Radiotherapy can be very tiring and so anybody with a highly physical job may need to change roles why they are undergoing treatment. Chemotherapy however may cause a number of nasty adverse effects and so it may be that you decide not to return to work in between treatments. When chemotherapy is given orally you can often stay at work although you will need to inform your managers of your illness. Chemotherapy given intravenously however will mean that you are confined to the hospital for 4-5 days each month and you may feel tired and unwell for a few days after the treatment ends.
Many lymphoma patients choose to remain at work even through their treatment phases because not only does it give them something to think about other than their illness, it also provides them with a support network of friends who will help in any way they can. The work environment can also be a fun place and it may be that having a laugh with close friends can reduce stress and anxiety that builds up during lonely times. Friends can also often show lymphoma patients the less serious side of their illness and it may be that the sufferer can finally laugh at their predicament.
It is important however not to overdo things if you do decide to continue working. Lymphoma and the treatments that are commonly used to fight it can leave you tired, fatigued and even short of patience. Chemotherapy can also cause you to feel nauseous and occasionally a bit faint and so you must find out quickly what your physical and emotional limits are. It is also important to eat a healthy diet and to get enough quality rest time and so you need to schedule quiet time into your diary. Continuing to work is beneficial to many lymphoma patients and as long as you set sensible goals and realise when you are starting to suffer then there is no reason why you shouldn't do it. It will also help to ease your mind with regards to your finances and even if you only work part-time you will still have money coming in.
Before a diagnosis of lymphoma many people find excuses not to go to work however as soon as that diagnosis comes through they do anything they can to remain in their job - not the easiest way to find job satisfaction!