Will my partner be able to continue working during radiation therapy and chemotherapy?

87. Will my partner be able to continue
working during radiation therapy and
chemotherapy?

The choice to continue working during treatments is a
personal one. Radiation therapy sometimes requires
being at the hospital or clinic an hour a day, and
chemotherapy can also require regular visits to the
hospital, posing a time constraint. Ideal times for
treatment cannot always be coordinated with a person’s
work schedule. In addition, although the treatments
themselves are usually painless, patients may experience
various side effects because of the toxic nature of
the treatments. In other words, sometimes the substances
or treatments that are given with the intent to
kill the cancer can make a person feel sick as well.

For example, some patients experience diarrhea and
fatigue as treatment side effects. Although these symptoms
can be minor, they can sometimes become more
bothersome, particularly when radiation therapy and
chemotherapy are combined. Your partner’s choice of
how much work she plans to accomplish should be
based on the type of work, the convenience of the hospital
relative to her daily activities, your loved one’s
ability to tolerate treatments, and other issues, such as
financial considerations and her employer’s flexibility.

The truth is that no one knows how your partner will
react to treatments until after starting them. If possible,
she may want to begin with a more limited work
schedule (meaning less than what she thinks she can
handle) and then add hours onto her schedule,
depending on how she feels and how high her energy
level is. Not only will committing to fewer hours prevent
her from falling short of expectations at work, but
it will also be good psychologically. It always feels
good to do more than expected (when possible) rather
then less than expected. With an altered work schedule,
many patients are able to continue working during
treatment. If your partner decides that she cannot
work or chooses not to work for other reasons during
her treatments (such as to spend more time with family
and friends), she may be eligible for short-term disability
through her workplace and/or Social Security
Disability