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Recipe for disaster??
Hi HER-2ers,
I'm sitting here in my work cube all day and wondering whether my lifestyle needs to be completely changed. I've been working way too hard, and don't have any time for myself. This whole month has been a continuous fire drill at work and I've had to cut my exercise and sleep time, in addition to eating more sugar as a result of the endless supply of candy in a bowl nearby.
Yesterday marked one year since I started at my new job, and while it has done wonders for my emotional and mental recovery (in addition to boosting my self-esteem and making me feel more normal), I'm starting to think that working like this won't do me any good long term and health-wise.
I wake up at 6:30 every day to get the kids ready for school, go to work and sit all day, getting up only to go to the bathroom, go to meetings, or grab lunch (mostly eaten at my desk), leaving at around 5-6 to go to my kids' soccer practices, gymnastics, etc., make dinner, clean the house, put the kids to bed, and sometimes work late on my computer, all to start over the next day.
I thought that after cancer I should be focusing on what's really important and smelling the roses, but rather I'm back to being a worker bee. Does anyone feel trapped by work? What do you do to make your daily life more manageable?
I know I shouldn't be complaining as I know there are others out there battling for their lives. I should be grateful that I'm being given the opportunity to continue my life as normal. I'm just very burned out with this past month and need a break. Maybe I'll take a day or two off next week.
I wish I could quit work all together, but unfortunately we're not there yet financially. Any suggestions on how to make my cube slavery existence more manageable and less negative affecting on my health?
I'm mad that this month I could only make it to one spinning workout a week. I think I'll stop whining and being afraid of the road and start biking to work...
Sorry for the rant, just feeling very overworked right now...
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ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3
Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding.
March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin
08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy)
08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best!
September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda
02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy
05/27/10 - Bone scan clear
06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found
07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin!
02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial
03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay!
10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found
now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin
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