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Back to work after a miserable week

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Posted 3/14/2011 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I got the bad PSA news 11 days ago. I've had this last week off work (break time). It was good as it gave me a chance to think through things and investigate various alternatives for down the road.

It was bad for the same reason. This was an obsessive-compulsive exercise. I've never posted so much on HW. I've also never had such fear/depression/etc.

Thanks goodness I'm back at work. This is my long day. Now is my lunch hour and an additional break. Work remains great. I have not thought about PC all morning and now only briefly as I check my email and type here on HW. It feels good to have some normalcy. It also reinforces my desire to continue working as long as I enjoy it. Work is Therapeutic!!

Mel

Posted 3/14/2011 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I'd have returned with 'tiger blood' and it'd be pop quizzes all around.... wink
Posted 3/14/2011 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
Mel, at least you got your work to help distract and keep your mind busy. That has been one of my problems, snatched out of a very busy business world to sitting around for 2 plus years fighting all this PC nonsense and my endliess complications.

You had a lot to think about during that time, and there are no easy decisions, so I can feel for you on that.

David
Posted 3/14/2011 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
James, what is tiger blood? Dazed and confused in SC.
Posted 3/14/2011 8:47 PM (GMT 0)
Mel:- laughter can be the best medicine but so is WORK - glad you are back doing what you love ! - that is a good key point in any recovery.

David ... it is a reference to Charlie Sheen and his recent activities .... WINNING !! ( another reference) - now where is my porkpie hat for the GFMPH weekend.... will be bringing down some recipes to try out down there... sorry, no cross-border goddesses ( another reference) -

this is so silly I had to share--
culturepopped.blogspot.com/2011/03/where-charlie-sheens-tiger-blood-comes.html

helpful silly hugs,
BRONSON
Posted 3/14/2011 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Mel,

Yeah for work. It really does help to have something else to do. Only 8300 some more posts on HW and you'll catch up with David. I guess you might need several weeks.

Hope you are reaching some point of game readiness for the RT phase. At some point we just have to get it done.

Goodlife
Posted 3/14/2011 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
Goodlife,

Was that intended to be a flame or slander, or an attempt at humor?
Posted 3/14/2011 10:40 PM (GMT 0)
i feel the opposite vis-a-vis work and my cancer.

I could use a year or two off. Work is very stressful and I feel exhausted. I wonder if our bodies need more time after the operaton before we jump back into 12 hour work days ( being connected remotely and having a work issued blackberry we never really stop working these days). I also wonder if the stress from work is bad for us after such a trying time.

My body tells me that it would be a lot healthier if I just relaxed for a while.
Posted 3/14/2011 10:46 PM (GMT 0)
Mel,

You've been thru the wringer lately. I've been following your posts and you have my complete empathy with your medical situation and the resulting emotional difficulties you've experienced. Take care and hang in there!

Tim
Posted 3/14/2011 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Tim:

Thanks. I have never experienced anything like this. This last PSA result was far worse than the biggest previous shock: my original PC dx.

This last result tells me I have an aggressive cancer and the choices get more urgent.

David, I seem to be my old self at work, for whatever reason.

It depends on how you view your work and the inherent stress at work. I happen to work at a great place with great colleagues and minimal stress. I am LUCKY in that regard.

Mel

 

Posted 3/14/2011 11:48 PM (GMT 0)
Mel, two things,

Were you being literal above? Your last PSA increase was a bigger shock than your original PC diagnosis?

Second, in my last position, which was really fast moving and busy, I would feel pressure at times, i.e. deadlines, but never stressed because of it. Being stuck at home, out of the "game" and being the forever PC patient, is far more stressful to me than anytime in my life when I was working. Plus the obvious loss of the largest half of our income isn't any fun either.

David
Posted 3/15/2011 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, I was being literal. I never expected it to double like that in 2 months. That puts my situation in a different category.

Mel

Posted 3/15/2011 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
Andy Grove of Intel said the same thing about work being therapeutic when he had prostate cancer.
Posted 3/15/2011 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
>>Andy Grove of Intel said the same thing about work being therapeutic when he had prostate cancer.<<

grove also took a nap every day when he was undergoing IMRT.  he said he would rent a room just to take a nap if he had to.  work may be therapeutic but stress is a killer.

ed

 

Posted 3/15/2011 6:42 AM (GMT 0)
I lost my work late in my career due to an industrial accident,which resulted in the 3 lower vertebrae in my back rupturing, I went from running a major power station to nothing, in one fell swoop, It took 2 years for me to recuperate, and when I did my employer "retired" me. I nearly went nuts with worry etc. but after 3 years more, I was compensated through the courts.

Many years later I had Pca to face, but because my working life was over it made things so much easier, I feel for all my brothers who have had to go through this at a younger age, and juggling work, finance, family etc.

However, work I feel is an outlet for the emotions and a valuable tool to channel one's mind into other pursuits, I know what it is like to be forcibly deprived of work, and at the time would have given anything to go back.

Just some thoughts on having a job.

Regards Mal.
Posted 3/15/2011 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
well said, mal.
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