Hi everyone, I’m 6 months past having a donor stem-cell transplant to cure Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). And whilst it won’t happen tomorrow, I’m looking to understand how to decide when I am ready to go back to work in some capacity. So opinions and thoughts on your experiences would be appreciated please. Some info first.
I’m still shielding, weekly visits to post-transplant clinic. Things seem stable, and immune suppressant is getting to a low dose. Not sure when getting all my inoculations again will happen cause I imagine it depends on the patient’s recovery. For reasons I won’t divulge I’m not at a full neutropenic diet yet but slowly moving forward on introducing food items.
I work in IT, so remote-working is possible. And it would be part-time initially. Last time I spoke to my employer about it they were open to it. So that puts aside the waiting-for-inoculations-to-settle to be around more people day-to-day. And I don’t think it would be full-speed IT work initially. I’m doing some ‘geekery’ on my home computers to get me into the mind-frame of IT, starting to do some more tech reading etc soon.
Also aware that any benefits etc I am on will be affected, where I am based they will taper-down depending on how much back-to-work I am.
Been doing chores / walking a bit more to get energy levels tested (as controlled and paced as I can). Energy levels are getting better, and I may start driving again soon. I also realise there is a big point on being mentally ready. My mind has been through a lot.
This is not a rushing to get back thing. I just want to feel comfortable in setting some milestones that can be amended as needed.
Thanks and all the best.