Interesting New York Times Article about Recovery and Psychology

Hatshepsut

Here is an interesting article about one person's experience after cancer treatment.

NYTimes

Although I am only the caregiver, my experience with my husband's illness has been that dealing with post-treatment recovery (even after the wonderful diagnosis of NED) is fraught with emotional traps.

Hatshepsut

Kathleen808

great article
Thanks for sharing the article. I am also a caregiver and my husband is currently in treatment. He has #9 out of 12 on Tuesday. We have talked about when he finishes chemo next month. He is looking forward to it but also nervous at "flying with out a net." He (We) also have really slowed down and taking joy in the small things. I hope we can remember out lessons.
Aloha,
Kathleen

PGLGreg

Dana's experiences with the
Dana's experiences with the radiation oncology staff and the daily ritual of changing to apron, getting positioned in the machine, and so on, all seems very familiar to me, but I don't understand his reaction to its ending, at all. I understand that it's not unusual to have such a reaction, but I certainly never did. I had no regrets when my treatment ended. The radiation staff were very nice people, and I really appreciated the diploma they gave me after my last treatment, but I certainly don't want to see them ever again.
--Greg

Julie 44

PGLGreg said:

Dana's experiences with the
Dana's experiences with the radiation oncology staff and the daily ritual of changing to apron, getting positioned in the machine, and so on, all seems very familiar to me, but I don't understand his reaction to its ending, at all. I understand that it's not unusual to have such a reaction, but I certainly never did. I had no regrets when my treatment ended. The radiation staff were very nice people, and I really appreciated the diploma they gave me after my last treatment, but I certainly don't want to see them ever again.
--Greg

Same boat
I AM 2 1/2 months NED....I also had some problems after treatment....I was depressed, felt like something was missing....Buzzard told me that almost everyone feels this way..You get so used to to all the "attention" (so to speak) and so used to that every thought and action is geared toward treatment and getting NED that it takes sometime getting used to. You have a new "normal" to get used to and it does take some patience and time but it does all fall into place.....So know that you are not alone in this journey........ JULIE

PhillieG

Great Article
I can understand and relate to his experience. I went through my first round of chemo at one facility and my chemo was "over" and they had a party and all. It wasn't over by any means, but I missed (and still do) the oncologist I had there and one nurse in particular. When/if I get to the end of this chapter of my life, I can certainly see myself going into the city to pay a visit to many of the nurses who got me through this whole journey. I certainly would have had a much rougher time if not for the kindness, caring and understanding of them. We all handle things in our own way, but I don't understand how someone would not want to ever see any of the people who helped save their life again. It sounds to me like a grudge against the people who helped instead of against cancer.
Thanks for the article and I liked how you linked it, nice job.

lesvanb

Great article
I've been following Dana Jennings blog since around Christmas when I started chemo. Often I would read them at work and it gave me a boost to just keep on keeping on.
Thanks for the reminder!

Leslie