3 weeks post treatments update: how long did it take for you to really start feeling better?

33 rads and 3 chemos, finished 1 week ago and though I'd like to say getting better, I cant. Neck burn getting worse and although the mouth / taste isnt getting worse it isnt improving either.

Cant wait for the day when a hunk of cow and a glass of red is edible and tastes good....heck, ill take tastes ok.

Roger, I didn't eat for quite some time after treatments.  I was drinking my meals and I'm sure that delayed my recovery.  I don't *know* that, but it feels right.  When I finished my last radiation my doctor said, "Now you can go home and curse me for the next two weeks." 

I had NO idea what she was talking about, but I learned.

Yeow!

My last radiation was the day before Thanksgiving (2016) and I didn't "feel better" until the end of December or early January.

I couldn't climb steps or balance on one leg for months.

I was "recovering" by April 2017, but didn't feel "good."

By New Year's Eve 2017 (yes, the next day being 2018) I was feeling REALLY much better.

I had heard from others it would take about a year to feel "normal" again and they were right.

NOW - having said that, there are people here who jogged (exercised) through their entire course of treatment.

I guess we all heal at our own pace <no pun intended> with that pace depending on many variables.

Really *enjoying* food took months for me.  Eating food - I was back on almost entirely solid real food by sometime in June of 2017.  Dry foods (white meat chicken, pork loin) were almost impossible for a long time.  What I enjoyed, though was all the stuff that's "bad" for you.  Fried fish, fried dark meat chicken, sausage (particularly spicy).   Mostly, early on, I was eating for maintenance instead of pleasure.  About the only two things I really liked were typical: sugar and salt.

Drinking for pleasure was faster.  Coffee, tea, green tea, seriously sweet lemonade, Pellegrino fizzy water - those were pretty fast.  Really acidic things (real fruit juices, for instance) took much longer.

DON'T DISPAIR – It’ll happen when it happens and you will barely remember what “now” was like.

I understand the depression settling in.  A lot has changed.  I know.  People changed while you were "busy" and the things you did for fun have changed and the combination of this pandemic and cancer treatments, too.  It's horrible.  It IS horrible.  It would be STRANGE and UNUSUAL for you to feel "good" about anything.  I'd worry about you if you weren't a little down.

Making things better --- gosh, I didn't recover in a pandemic, so I had options, but I guess I remember going for walks with my wife and daughter helped lift my spirits just by getting out of my chair and out of the house (I worked on the computer from home, so I *really* needed to escape). I enjoyed jigsaw puzzles with my family, but I couldn't concentrate for very long.

<chuckle> my son took me to an Alice Cooper concert to try to lift my spirits <smile>  That really did happen.  I hadn't been to an Alice Cooper concert since "Welcome To My Nightmare."

I could look back at it as "fun" now, but at the time I didn't know if I could make it through a concert.

I chose a new pair of headphones and a new music service subscription and an Audible audiobook membership and I went for drives.  I know this sounds morbid, but it wasn't; my wife and I went to graveyards and looked-up long dead relatives in about a three hour radius.  It was something to do together when I couldn't do much.

If I can think of something else, I'll be back to add it.

tbret said:

Roger, I didn't eat for quite some time after treatments.  I was drinking my meals and I'm sure that delayed my recovery.  I don't *know* that, but it feels right.  When I finished my last radiation my doctor said, "Now you can go home and curse me for the next two weeks." 

I had NO idea what she was talking about, but I learned.

Yeow!

My last radiation was the day before Thanksgiving (2016) and I didn't "feel better" until the end of December or early January.

I couldn't climb steps or balance on one leg for months.

I was "recovering" by April 2017, but didn't feel "good."

By New Year's Eve 2017 (yes, the next day being 2018) I was feeling REALLY much better.

I had heard from others it would take about a year to feel "normal" again and they were right.

NOW - having said that, there are people here who jogged (exercised) through their entire course of treatment.

I guess we all heal at our own pace <no pun intended> with that pace depending on many variables.

Really *enjoying* food took months for me.  Eating food - I was back on almost entirely solid real food by sometime in June of 2017.  Dry foods (white meat chicken, pork loin) were almost impossible for a long time.  What I enjoyed, though was all the stuff that's "bad" for you.  Fried fish, fried dark meat chicken, sausage (particularly spicy).   Mostly, early on, I was eating for maintenance instead of pleasure.  About the only two things I really liked were typical: sugar and salt.

Drinking for pleasure was faster.  Coffee, tea, green tea, seriously sweet lemonade, Pellegrino fizzy water - those were pretty fast.  Really acidic things (real fruit juices, for instance) took much longer.

DON'T DISPAIR – It’ll happen when it happens and you will barely remember what “now” was like.

I understand the depression settling in.  A lot has changed.  I know.  People changed while you were "busy" and the things you did for fun have changed and the combination of this pandemic and cancer treatments, too.  It's horrible.  It IS horrible.  It would be STRANGE and UNUSUAL for you to feel "good" about anything.  I'd worry about you if you weren't a little down.

Making things better --- gosh, I didn't recover in a pandemic, so I had options, but I guess I remember going for walks with my wife and daughter helped lift my spirits just by getting out of my chair and out of the house (I worked on the computer from home, so I *really* needed to escape). I enjoyed jigsaw puzzles with my family, but I couldn't concentrate for very long.

<chuckle> my son took me to an Alice Cooper concert to try to lift my spirits <smile>  That really did happen.  I hadn't been to an Alice Cooper concert since "Welcome To My Nightmare."

I could look back at it as "fun" now, but at the time I didn't know if I could make it through a concert.

I chose a new pair of headphones and a new music service subscription and an Audible audiobook membership and I went for drives.  I know this sounds morbid, but it wasn't; my wife and I went to graveyards and looked-up long dead relatives in about a three hour radius.  It was something to do together when I couldn't do much.

If I can think of something else, I'll be back to add it.

 

 

 

Your description of recovery I can relate to much of it as my recovery was similar. It does really beat some of us up more and it takes a couple of months to feel decently in shape again. I finally did start eating but as you say your taste is off and slowly comes back to some percent of taste of course varying per individual. I was eating pretty good for a while and then suddenly got a piece of turkey from a sandwich caught in my throat and had to go to the hospital to have it removed. I got a total of 4 dilations after that which helped my swallowing a lot. Take Care-God Bless-Russ

It's a tough time, because you've gone through ALL of that treatment process, and you want nothing else, but to get back to a sense of NORMAL!

The good news is that you will get there .... the bad news is that it takes a bit of time.

I could eat very limited food a week or two after treatment. I remember when I could FINALLY eat some normal food (chicken wings and beer) ... about 3 months later.

When you're going through it, it feels like the challenge will last forever. Then, it starts to come back - pieces at a time.

Suddenly, you realize you're normal again, and enjoying simple things that you once took for granted!

I wish you the best!...

mg