paintersteve

[paintersteve]

hi all , just joined and would like to say that I have now gone 3 years since treatment (ivor lewis) and chemo , everything seems to have gone well and have in the last 18 months started my own busness ,mainly because my ex employer wasn't prepared to accept what had happened to me , I manage to work 4 -5 days a week without problem , as a painter -decorator, just riting this to try and be of any help to anyone who may feel that after treatment life stands still , believe me it dosent ,, im now 58 yrs old and enjoying life to the full .

[margie1]

Hi Steve thank you for posting and being so positive I will be 3 years post surgery in August and post treatment chemo in December I recently lost my job due to my manager she Mage it obvious that she wanted me gone as she only wanted staff who were 100% well she didn't give me a chance !

I am now thinking of trying something new but not sure what so am enjoying being at home for the time being lol but you are so right I too am enjoying life I'm pleasing myself what I do each day it's great

Take care

Margie

[paintersteve in reply to margie1]

hi Margie , it sounds like our previous employers were related lol, it s seems we both went through the same hassle ,my gp even rang my ex employer to tell him I could only do 3 days a week to start with , his answer was 5 days or nothing , went back to work for 6 weeks and basically told him where to stick his job ,,, only worked for him as forman for 30 yrs , try something new no matter how small it seems, in my case it has been a huge help for me noing that everything thing I do, I do it myself, I can plan my own life and take as many forieghn hols as we can , with all that is going on in my life I don't have time to worry about anything bad happening ,im sure the change of life circumstances has helped me stay positive regarding this bloody disease,

[haward]

Good luck Steve. I hope the business goes well and as the UK has a shortage of good skilled painters you should do well. I was lucky enough to be able to retire nine months after my operation. First I made sure that I could work a full week and hitting that target was a major boost for me.

[paintersteve in reply to haward]

hi Haward, at the moment it is going well, would have liked to have retired post op , but still needed to earn a living , also I am one of these people who has to be doing something , I was told I could resume work 6 months after op, needed twelve and then it was hard to start with . steve

[Danko]

Hi Steve. I also had my op exactly 3 years ago and it took me a long time to get back to working similar hours to you. I have found that much of the benefit is to our self esteem. It is also important to reach the right balance. Painting sounds good because you can't rush it if you want to do a decent job and it also involves physical exercise. It is therefore beneficial physically and psychologically. You should enjoy this site. It has been a great help to me throughout.

Best of luck

Martin

[paintersteve in reply to Danko]

hi Danko yes I agree I can work as I please some weeks are easy and some a little more challenging , but I get there , as for the exercise bit yes I do go home knackered some nights but it is all worth it thank you for your reply , the only thing I still got to be carefull of is having to much lunch , it still sometimes catches me out even after 3 yrs , havnt touched sugar for 6 months and that certainly has helped me , steve

[Mick]

Well done Steve, one in the eye for your ex employer....lost a good worker.

I took early retirement in 2009 from HMP and started my own locksmith business, but then hit with cancer in 2011, operated on in 2012. Now I just work when I want and if the job entails too much effort I apologise explain why and go to the next job.

At 61 now life is too short to worry about some problems, my motto has been live life one day at a time and enjoy life day to day.

Even now 3 1/2 years post op still running a CUB pack and so far this year I have organised and run 2 Cub Camps.....all under canvas.....

Good luck for the future.

Mick.

[paintersteve in reply to Mick]

hi Mick first of all congratulations on running your cub pack, that must take some sorting out , and as for camps well I hope it stayed dry for you ,totally agree about life being short , we try to make every day special , and every day that goes by is another one towards the magical 5 yrs gonna be a big party when that happens , steve

[hilr]

Great to hear from you Steve, and well done on achieving the three year milestone. Good news stories are always great.

Hilary

[paintersteve in reply to hilr]

thank you Hilary , hopefully it will go on for a lot longer steve

[lucky77]

Well done you . Hope lifes treating you well and all smooth since yourop

[paintersteve in reply to lucky77]

hi lucky 77, yes, life is good, op did take a bit of getting over but now all seems fine , I think its something that needs time and you must go with the flow, two steps forward and one step back

[lucky77]

Hi steve im pauline and like yourself had the ivor lewis along with chemo . I myself am 7 years post op. I took my redundancy from my job in 2008 i decided that it would be nice to do a lottle part time work at my daughters coffee shop. I was then diagnosed with cancer three weeks from starting at the coffee shop in 2008 nov and had the op in 2009 feb ..It certainly changes your outlook on life xp

[gutlesswonder]

Hi Paintersteve

Fantastic.

Whereabouts in the UK are you ---- my house needs painting ?!

[paintersteve]

ha ha ,, hi Gutless wonder, nice to meet you , I'm way down south west , Exeter area , we still eat missionarys down here loll