New here and looking for people who get it and can help

bunnyslippas

Hello everyone, 

I've been reading your posts for the past few days.  I wish I knew about these discussion boards earlier because you all seem to be inspirational and so willing to help others.  Although I'm not quite sure I would have had the energy to post sooner than  this, 

About me - I was diagnosed with Stage IIb in July of 2014.  It was a grade 3 tumor with one lymph node positive for cancer and I am HR pos, pos, neg.  I have just last week finished my aggressive chemo regimen of 4 bi-weekly AC treatments and then 12 weekly taxol treatments.  I have my initial radiation appointment tomorrow, which will lead to 33 radiation treatments.  My mom battled breast and ovarian cancer for 35 years and lost the battle in 2012.  I have a new appreciation for her strength and will to live now that I know what she went through over and over.   I should probably mention that I am now the same exact age as my mom was the first time she was diagnosed with breast cancer, so that is pretty ominous for me.  I am also pre-menopausal as she was, so I am at a higher risk. 

I've had a more difficult time with the Taxol treatments, which the doctors told me would be "more tolerable" than the 4 A C treatments.  I think the weekly schedule had me feeling beat up and battered.  At any rate, I'm done now (YAY!) and had my 6 month follow mammogram showed no signs of cancer.  I should be thrilled, right?  I am happy but I feel like I should be more encouraged and I am not.  I overestimated how good I would feel without a weekly treatment this week, but of course it will take way more than a week for my body to recover from the last 5 months, right?  I probably set myself up for disappointment.  I am also in somewhat of a "funk" as I just found out a favorite cousin has colon cancer with mets to her liver.  It makes me so sad that she will have to go through this too.   I was also my mom's primary caregiver throughout her battles and in retrospect, I feel awful that I didn't have more knowledge and information about what she was feeling or how I could help.  Her doctors were good in a medical sense but not so much in a support sense.  Of course I had no way of knowing or having this first hand experience, but  I feel guilty about things I did or didn't do.

I will say that I feel like this experience has made me a much better person in many ways and for that I am thankful.  I am also thankful for some wonderful friends I've made throughout the last 8 months, who I would have never met had it not been for my cancer.  It's strange how such an awful experience can lead to good things, right?

I'm not sure yet how I'll tolerate radiation, but I am being positive mentally and thinking radiation fatigue will be an improvement from what I've been feeling, that the neuropathy will start to go away, the bone pain I've had will subside and that my muscles will recover, etc.  I'm hoping that as time goes by and I start feeling better the funk will lift, but I guess my questions for you are when did you all start feeling better?  How was radiation for all of you if you had it?  Any sympathizers with this funk I'm in?

Thank you for "listening" and I thank  you for any and all feedback!

 

New Flower

slowly

Welcome to CSN community and I hope you will stay.

Everyone is different. Being a very active person beforeall treatment and 46 at the time of diagnosis, I have had a very slow recovery from Chemo. However I every day I felt stronger that day before. Be gentle to yourself and have a reasonable expectations. radiation will add fatigue and skin discomfort, try eat and sleep well.

Good luck with your treatment 

Puffin2014

I had lumpectomy for IDC stage 1 grade 2 oncotype 27, then 4 rounds of taxotere/cyctoxin/neulasta and then 15 rads, finished treatment Oct 31, 2014. Chemo kicked my butt, I was so short of breath I couldn't bend over and tie my shoes. Radiation was much easier, I had no skin issues, just some zinging type pain in my breast, the fatigue was nothing compared to the fatigue of chemo. By Christmas my hair had grown back enough that I went without my wig even though it was still really really short my scalp was at least covered.

I've found the most helpful thing in getting back to feeling like myself is being as active as possible. I started out walking the treadmill at the gym, even though I had to walk very slowly and hold onto the bar. Check with your cancer center to see if they have anything to offer. Mine offers a free restorative yoga class every Tuesday (very gentle stretching, focus on breathing and relaxing) and also told me about a program called LiveStrong through our YMCA. I'm attending 2 classes a week, along with a family member) and we can use the Y free for the 3 months of classes. All the exercises in the class are individualized for each person's current abilities. As I'm getting stronger I feel more confident. I've also lost 6# in the first month of classes, getting rid of that "steroid bloat" has been a big mood booster too!

I hope radiation goes well for you. Your body is doing a lot of repair work, eat healthy & get lots of protein so it has the material it needs to heal. Your body does most of its healing while you sleep so get as much as you can, take naps if you need to.

Keep in touch.

 

bunnyslippas

New Flower said:

slowly

Welcome to CSN community and I hope you will stay.

Everyone is different. Being a very active person beforeall treatment and 46 at the time of diagnosis, I have had a very slow recovery from Chemo. However I every day I felt stronger that day before. Be gentle to yourself and have a reasonable expectations. radiation will add fatigue and skin discomfort, try eat and sleep well.

Good luck with your treatment 

Thank you

Thanks so much for your feedback!  I definitely feel that each day is better than the day before as well.  I will try not to get too deep into my own  head and stay active

bunnyslippas

Puffin2014 said:

I had lumpectomy for IDC stage 1 grade 2 oncotype 27, then 4 rounds of taxotere/cyctoxin/neulasta and then 15 rads, finished treatment Oct 31, 2014. Chemo kicked my butt, I was so short of breath I couldn't bend over and tie my shoes. Radiation was much easier, I had no skin issues, just some zinging type pain in my breast, the fatigue was nothing compared to the fatigue of chemo. By Christmas my hair had grown back enough that I went without my wig even though it was still really really short my scalp was at least covered.

I've found the most helpful thing in getting back to feeling like myself is being as active as possible. I started out walking the treadmill at the gym, even though I had to walk very slowly and hold onto the bar. Check with your cancer center to see if they have anything to offer. Mine offers a free restorative yoga class every Tuesday (very gentle stretching, focus on breathing and relaxing) and also told me about a program called LiveStrong through our YMCA. I'm attending 2 classes a week, along with a family member) and we can use the Y free for the 3 months of classes. All the exercises in the class are individualized for each person's current abilities. As I'm getting stronger I feel more confident. I've also lost 6# in the first month of classes, getting rid of that "steroid bloat" has been a big mood booster too!

I hope radiation goes well for you. Your body is doing a lot of repair work, eat healthy & get lots of protein so it has the material it needs to heal. Your body does most of its healing while you sleep so get as much as you can, take naps if you need to.

Keep in touch.

 

Thank you!

I appreciate your suggestions so much. I actually have my post-chemo education class today, so I will see what time the restorative yoga classes are and on which days.  I am sure I saw some posters.  I think that will be most helpful for my mind and body   I heard that protein is key - the funny thing is that all through chemo, my body has craved specific foods.  Fresh veggies, citrus  and now lately, it's been meat.  I guess the body knows what it needs.  I have NO problem taking naps at alll lol  Thank you for all of your suggestions and the assurance that the radiation fatigue is not as bad as the chemo fatigue!  

button2

bunnyslippas said:

Thank you!

I appreciate your suggestions so much. I actually have my post-chemo education class today, so I will see what time the restorative yoga classes are and on which days.  I am sure I saw some posters.  I think that will be most helpful for my mind and body   I heard that protein is key - the funny thing is that all through chemo, my body has craved specific foods.  Fresh veggies, citrus  and now lately, it's been meat.  I guess the body knows what it needs.  I have NO problem taking naps at alll lol  Thank you for all of your suggestions and the assurance that the radiation fatigue is not as bad as the chemo fatigue!  

Survivor from 2012

My cancer ordeal began in June 2012 and I had a diagnosis much like yours. I did difficult chemo before my mastectomy in Aug 2012 and afterwards did Taxotere plus a year and a half of Herceptin. The radiation was so easy compared to the rest. I got a sunburn-like reaction which was quickly relieved by various creams and delaying a couple of the treatments. I did not feel tired (compared to chemo) and got my appetite back during the rads. My best advice to you is too stay active like the other commenters mentioned above. I always exercised some, but I started walking long distances during radiation because I was in a strange city far from family (to be near the hospital) and I didn't have anything else to do! I discovered I really liked it. It gets you outside and is like therapy. I did and still do yoga also. So when I got back home, I didn't have as much free time so I decided to get my exercise done faster and started running bits of my walk. I discovered how much I loved running and have not stopped. My doctor approves as it will lessen my chances of osteoporosis which is a side effect of the medication I'm on. Last Sept, I entered my first race which was a 5K Race for the Cure and I finished in 29 minutes and placed third among cancer survivors! Now I am training for a half marathon in May and have NEVER felt this level of good health before. I also spend a lot of time cooking my own foods and eating right. I run about 25 miles a week now and eat no processed food at all. I think improving our lifestyle is a great way to feel in charge and not just waiting around for the cancer to strike again. Feel free to send me a PM if you need any support as I check in here daily. The least I can do is help others feel that there IS life after cancer. Good luck going forward, Anna

bunnyslippas

button2 said:

Survivor from 2012

My cancer ordeal began in June 2012 and I had a diagnosis much like yours. I did difficult chemo before my mastectomy in Aug 2012 and afterwards did Taxotere plus a year and a half of Herceptin. The radiation was so easy compared to the rest. I got a sunburn-like reaction which was quickly relieved by various creams and delaying a couple of the treatments. I did not feel tired (compared to chemo) and got my appetite back during the rads. My best advice to you is too stay active like the other commenters mentioned above. I always exercised some, but I started walking long distances during radiation because I was in a strange city far from family (to be near the hospital) and I didn't have anything else to do! I discovered I really liked it. It gets you outside and is like therapy. I did and still do yoga also. So when I got back home, I didn't have as much free time so I decided to get my exercise done faster and started running bits of my walk. I discovered how much I loved running and have not stopped. My doctor approves as it will lessen my chances of osteoporosis which is a side effect of the medication I'm on. Last Sept, I entered my first race which was a 5K Race for the Cure and I finished in 29 minutes and placed third among cancer survivors! Now I am training for a half marathon in May and have NEVER felt this level of good health before. I also spend a lot of time cooking my own foods and eating right. I run about 25 miles a week now and eat no processed food at all. I think improving our lifestyle is a great way to feel in charge and not just waiting around for the cancer to strike again. Feel free to send me a PM if you need any support as I check in here daily. The least I can do is help others feel that there IS life after cancer. Good luck going forward, Anna

wow!

Wow, that is incredible!  You are an inspiration, Anna.  Thank you for sharing.