I was fortunate in that I had a lot of accumulated sick leave and vacation time. I ended up basically taking the whole summer off, and coming back part time in October, then back to full time in November. It was really hard, but I also think it made me be more engaged and gave me something to think about other than my illness. I still have a lot of "eating" issues and get very tired, but I was glad to be able to return to work.

Female, nonsmoker, 70, diag. 5/09 after tongue biopsy: stage IV. Left hemi-gloss. and left selec. neck disec. 30 lymph nodes removed May 20. Over 7 weeks daily rads. with three chemo. PEG removed 12/4/09 Am eating mostly soft foods. Back to work 11/09 Retired 4/1/11. 7 clear scans! Port out 9/11. 2/13. It's back: base of tongue, very invasive
surgery involving lifestyle changes. 2/14: Now speaking w/Passey-Muir valve. Considering a swallow study. Grateful to be alive.