Congratulations on finishing your treatment.  That is a great feeling, but for me also brought a good deal of uncertainty worrying about relapse.  But that is probably a subject for another topic.

Can you go back to work?  I think you and your doctor are in the best position to answer that question.  What do you do for a living?  If your counts are stable and you feel physically up to it, then I can't think of a reason that you couldn't.  Would your employer allow you to come back on a reduced schedule, if necessary?

Should you go back to work?  Again, while we can offer anecdotal adivse, I think only you can answer that.  Does your financial situation allow you to remain off work?  Do you have disability?  If you are getting Social Security Disability, they presume you are disabled for 2 and 1/2 years after your diagnosis, so they won't bother you with a disabilty review before then.  (Thats not to say that if you in fact go back to work, they won't end your benefits based on your earnings.

For me, I never really stopped working.  I had my laptop with me throughout my hospital stays and continued to work while my partners picked up the slack.  I was self-employed and couldn't really afford to be off as long as I was able to be productive in some sense.  Obviously not everyone is in the type of occupation which would allow remote work like that, though.

Bottom line is this is a highly personalized decision that you need to make after discussing it with your doctor.

Regards,

Paul

Congrats on concluding your treatment.  May that be all you need from here on.

The questions about work need to go to your doc.  Some of us go back, some of us don't.  Some of us make it back in months, others take a longer time.  Some who can work from their computers never completely stop.  Your doc would be the best one to bounce your specific situation off of.

As for running or exercise in general, again your doc's your best counsel.  Don't do more than you can do.  Don't push yourself except for the occasional small push to get to another level.

Good to see you back, Herm.

Blessings

HI Herm!  Yes, I remember you!  Congrats on finishing your treatment!! hugs, nicole

Hey herm, glad you found your way over here and great that you are done with the treatment. Have you ridden your bike since treatment?

That is all very normal herm. When steven finished his chemo (8 mos) he got out of the hospital and graduated from high school one week later. He attempted to play basketball, ran down the court and fell, his legs were like rubber and gave out. It took a good 9 mos for him to return to normal physically and to somewhat clear his head. But the fears of what he had been through and the fear of possible relapse play games on your mind. That is a hard one to deal with.

I know what you mean about going back to work.  I have been thinking about that myself, what am I going to do now?? That's the question we all ask ourselves.  I could not get disablility but i did get SSI and all I wanted was medicaid for all the medical bills I could never have paid. Well I just got both of them and it is such a relief, and also knowing that it won't affect me getting the treatments I may need. I get paid more than if I were to go back to work, and I probably will be retiring from the work that I have been doing for 22 years and be doing something else for awhile.  I am only through my induction and 1 consolidation and I still have 2 more consolidation treatments to go so I can't go back to work right now anyway but i have been thinking about what to do after my treatments are done and I feel like life is "normal" again!  I hope you find the answers to what you need to do, I believe God will lead you to the path of what you will do next, he has a plan for you.

Hey herm, good to hear from you.

My son was on disability (he had worked enough hours while in highschool to get it). You may want to check into the rules about going back to work. I believe you can collect disability for 9 mos while attempting to work. It is like a trial return to work. They want to see that you can work 9 mos. without problems.  And then if something happens that you are unable to work, you don't get penalized during that time frame and don't lose your disability. You may want to look on the social security website, talk to your disability advisor and make sure you know the rules because i am not positive how it works.

Another thought, what are you interested in doing if you do not return to your present job? Have you considered taking classes? Sounds like you need to be doing something for your own piece of mind.

AML is a difficult journey enough without the mental game it plays on you.