Hi
I was diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer last summer. It was a bit of a shock to the system as any cancer diagnosis is but also because I'm the opposite of bladder cancers usual demographic (older male, smoker, red meat eater!). Anyway it got me but I was lucky as although aggressive, it hadn't spread beyond my bladder. It was also the worse timing as I'd recently become self employed and so this all got put on the back burner. Luckily my husband is the main wage earner ...so I didn't need to work to keep a roof over our heads.
I had an operation to remove the tumour, followed by chemo then a further operation ( a long one - 10 hours!) to remove my bladder alongside a hysterectomy etc ...and they put in a urinary diversion called a Mitrofanoff, where I pee through a little stoma in my belly button. I'm just having monthly immunotherapy now. I've recovered well physically and adapted to peeing differently now!
Mentally I'm still recovering and my energy levels are still improving ...but I am now starting to think about work. My last role (and my anticipated self employment) was high pressure and in the hot seat ... but I was thinking about stepping down to a less senior role.
I don't know if this would end up driving me insane though. What has been your experience of work after cancer?
I'm 57 now and to be honest my work/career is less of a focus than it was before my diagnosis. 😉