Surgery was end of October, strong thru recovery after bilateral mastectomy nd doing reconstruction.

Winnie63
Winnie63 Member Posts: 6
in Breast Cancer #1

Had my BMX    end of Oct. Recovery went real well.  going thru reconstruction with breast expanders.  Great report no chemo needed orradiation.  Started on Femora around first of Dec.  no noticable side effects.  I was strong thru all of that.  Now i feel like everything stresses me out.  Was  on Zoloft for a couple of years and had been off that for about 6 months had slowly weeaned off and doing fine.  wondering if it is common th feel like this after treatment?  any input?  family  thinks i am fine now but i miss my real boobs! and having trouble being interested in sex. I am 64.

Comments

  • button2
    button2 Member Posts: 421
    #2
    Give it time

    We all feel deflated and empty after the major fight is over. Give yourself time to heal mentally, it's more important than the physical. Eat well, drink lots of water, take a short walk every day in nature, take naps if needed and enjoy your hobbies. It takes about a year to get over such a life changing event. Good luck, Anna

  • Lilly9
    Lilly9 Member Posts: 155
    #3
    Hugs.   I really think that

    Hugs.   I really think that it is normal.   You kicked into "survival" mode to get through what you had to do.   Now it's "over" but it is truly far from over.   It's hard for someone who's not been through it to understand that.   I don't think it'll ever be "over" for me but it is easier.   It was 2 yrs ago 1/8 that I was diagnosed and there are times when I still get down about things related to my diagnosis and treatment.

    I think it would be good for you to talk to your Dr and perhaps get back on an anti-depressant.   I am still taking mine and when I spoke to my Dr last month during a routine visit, she felt like I needed to stay on it, simply because of the periods of anxiousness and/or getting down about the cancer.  

    If you still have your expanders in I totally get the missing your boobs thing!   Those things can be so darn uncomfortable.  But when you have your permanent implants I think it helps.  You can also have the nipple reconstruction and tattoo the aerola if you want.   But the thing is - you have to accept that this is the new normal for you.

    My husband was totally supportive and very caring and loving, but it still took a while after all of my treatment to even feel up to sex.  I had chemo & radiation though.  You didn't.  Again I think that perhaps an anti-depressant may help.   

    Hang in there - it does get better!   Keep us posted

  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    #4
    hugs

    hugs

  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #5
    One of the hardest things is
    when you are done with treatment, most people around you thi k that it is done now, you can just be the same as always. But you are not. So much has changed on the inside, the way I think, my priorities. So little about me is the same as it was before my journey with cancer began. I think I am warmer, more empathetic, scared at times, I find happiness in things that I never would have noticed b4, and things that never bothered m now make me nuts... but I am more honest with myself and think I like me better now. (laughing as I wonder if others do, or if this is only my New world)!! :))
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #6
    camul said:

    One of the hardest things is
    when you are done with treatment, most people around you thi k that it is done now, you can just be the same as always. But you are not. So much has changed on the inside, the way I think, my priorities. So little about me is the same as it was before my journey with cancer began. I think I am warmer, more empathetic, scared at times, I find happiness in things that I never would have noticed b4, and things that never bothered m now make me nuts... but I am more honest with myself and think I like me better now. (laughing as I wonder if others do, or if this is only my New world)!! :))

    I refer to my experience = as PTSD

    after, chemo, after non stop doctor visits - difficult side efforts, I was then faced with reconstruction - and what will later become my "new normal" .. 

    We walk a path that few with EVER know - we see co-

    patients leave this earth,  and we are expected to jump back into life before we learned that we had breast cancer - like nothing ever happened.

    it takes time .. allow yourself time to grieve and recover on your own time.

     

    Vicki Sam

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