Chemo, when did you feel normal again?

Momschooling
Momschooling Member Posts: 112 Member
edited April 2023 in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1

Hi,

I am posting this here since the OC board is pretty dead and I also had uterine cancer. For those of you who went through chemo, when did you feel back to your old self again in regard to energy, stomach issues etc...? Did it take weeks or months once treatment had finished? Also, has anyone here been on letrozole afterwards and what were your main side effects? Thanks!

Comments

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,516 Member
    #2

    Momschooling, I did not have letrozole. As for getting back to my 'old self' it took longer than I had hoped. You put your body through a lot and it may not ever be exactly like it was before. I don't know if I woke up one day and said, "wow - today I feel like myself!" After surgery it was at least six months, but I was still in treatment as well and I thought it was like learning to walk all over again. Had to start with the crawl first.

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    #3

    I’ve written how hard I found it to get through my “phase two” chemo. I was okay with starting a new client project about a month after I finished chemo. But I was very grateful that it was with a local company and the onsite meetings were spread out over a few weeks. So I never got too exhausted during that time as I might have if I had traveled to another location and had several full days of meetings within the week(s) as I usually did on other projects.

    I got through all the onsite meetings, then I started five weeks of radiation. Radiation was much easier for me than chemo and I was able to work on my project throughout that time. I finished up radiation in late September and the radiation cystitis I developed late in the radiation process subsided a couple of weeks later.

    I would say that I felt pretty much back to normal by that December, which was a year from when I started treatment, beginning with my cancer surgery the prior December. I did not take letrozole.

  • Momschooling
    Momschooling Member Posts: 112 Member
    #4
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1705402#Comment_1705402

    Thank you, yes I need to take a step back and realize I don't have to do everything as before but it's hard. I find myself pushing and pushing, then reaping the consequences of overdoing.

  • Momschooling
    Momschooling Member Posts: 112 Member
    #5
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1705406#Comment_1705406

    I hope a month out I will feel more normal again. I may very likely be doing radiation in the future, did it make you nauseated?

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    #6
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1705408#Comment_1705408

    I followed the recommended bland, low fiber diet to avoid diarrhea, but I never felt nauseous. The radiation cystitis appeared the last week of radiation and lasted a couple weeks after I stopped radiation. Otherwise, I didn’t have any other noticeable effects from radiation. However, as we say here, experiences can vary by the person. Some women have had a much harder time with radiation than I did.

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,516 Member
    #7
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1705408#Comment_1705408

    Radiation fatigued me like I had never experienced before. I was fortunate to have a desk job so I could just 'stop' and try to get my arms around it. At night I would sit down and pretty much fall over at 7 pm from the feeling of exhaustion. I did have both external beam (IMRT) and brachy, and I was told that radiation continues to work for up to six weeks after the last dose, but it start to improve incrementally after treatment ended.

    Eleven years out and I sometimes experience that "fatigue wall" in the evenings and I wish I knew why. I realize how lucky I am but I think this is what I will be (I am also 11 years older 😜)

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