Angelia,

I was like you, very eager to return to work after treatment and resume my life as I knew it. I had radiation and chemo first and had a few months in between before I had my surgery. Two weeks after radiation/chemo I showed up at my job to work and was planning on working up to my surgery date.

The first day, I made it 7 hours and it was brutal. I was sweating uncontrollably, very weak and I'm sure I looked pathetic. My staff was continually running to get water for me and by the end of the day was really concerned that I was going to drop from exhaustion. The second day I only made it 4 hours and by the end of the week the owners of the hospitality company asked me to wait to comeback until after I recovered from the surgery.

The point is that the body will tell you when it's ready to go back to work, not your mind or heart. As I shared with you in a previous conversation, there is no "return date" stamped anywhere on you, so you really have to be realistic and listen to your body...rushing back to work can set you back and cause safefy and liability concerns for your employer.

I understand and relate that it's hard to be patient when you want to get back to your life...but you are fortunate in the fact that you get to return to it soon. Others like myself have been forcibly "retired" and have had that part of our lives ripped away. The last is shared only for perspective.

keep your chin up,

Eric