life after chemo and radiation

peggy65
peggy65 Member Posts: 100
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
hello to all of you who are finished with treatment. it really does happen!!!! as strange as this sounds i often think that after treatment is as difficult as treatment except for different reasons. our identities have changed. i have found so many changes in the way i act, look and approach things.i am certainly not opposed to change, well maybe a little, but all at once it is sometimes overwhelming. i have had difficulty with depression during this period because i think that i am supposed to feel well but i don't. the fatigue is a pain. i hope that i am getting better at assuming my new normal. how about you? love, peggy

Comments

  • jakeca
    jakeca Member Posts: 92
    #2
    Me
    I am also finished with treatment, unless you count the five years of Arimidex and the bi-yearly infusion of Zometa and the bi-yearly mammograms and the appointments every three months with my oncologist. I'm not complaining--I have the hard part behind me. I am fortunate not to be subject to depression, so I haven't noticed any of that. I feel really good and am pretty much going back to my old normal lifestyle. My hair is almost to the point of going without my wig but I will wait until all of the school spring activities are over before I face the world with my short, straight, white hair.

    My plan is to put all of this in my past, but continue to be watching for symptoms of recurrence and to continue my doctor's plan of care.

    I hope your fatigue lessens as your body continues to heal.
  • Jadie
    Jadie Member Posts: 723
    #3
    your new normal
    Hi Peggy as I remember you are just finishing treatment. I agree with you that everything changes and you look at life through different eyes. This is why we call it a new normal. Depression can sure set in when we don't feel good. Perhaps we are feeling sorry for ourselves. That is why it is important to stay busy and to keep surrounded by positive people, family and friends. Get out in the sunshine. Find a hobby, watch a funny movie. Any thing to keep your mind occupied. As you feel better you will settle into your new normal. It is a gradual thing don't expect it to happen overnite.

    I am speaking from experience. Hope it helps a bit.
    Hugs
    Jadie
  • peggy65
    peggy65 Member Posts: 100
    #4
    thanks so much for all of
    thanks so much for all of your good advice. love, peggy
  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #5
    peggy65 said:

    thanks so much for all of
    thanks so much for all of your good advice. love, peggy

    Peggy
    I expected all this nastiness, Crap, neuropathy, hurt, misery, chemo-brain, etc etc......... to end when chemo did.........It didn't, I am now 8 months out of treatment and I am doing great, getting back to my old self and working full time.....and loving it Hugs Jxxxxxxxx
  • lynn1950
    lynn1950 Member Posts: 2,570
    #6
    We each have our own schedule, I guess
    Peggy, I feel as if we are kindred spirits. There are so many reminders: my numbness and lymphedema and drugs that I must take; there are the doctor visits and physical therapy for unkempt shoulders; there is the fatigue and occasional spiritual ennui, then anger, then anomie....So this better NOT be MY "new normal." I want a new normal that's got the full throttle joy that used to be my partner. If it takes drugs, I'm cool, man. Lynn
  • DrSusanHardwicke
    DrSusanHardwicke Member Posts: 15
    #7
    lynn1950 said:

    We each have our own schedule, I guess
    Peggy, I feel as if we are kindred spirits. There are so many reminders: my numbness and lymphedema and drugs that I must take; there are the doctor visits and physical therapy for unkempt shoulders; there is the fatigue and occasional spiritual ennui, then anger, then anomie....So this better NOT be MY "new normal." I want a new normal that's got the full throttle joy that used to be my partner. If it takes drugs, I'm cool, man. Lynn

    I am 6 years out
    To everyone who is finished treatment: I am now almost six years past my cancer dx, so perhaps I can help with a longer-term perspective. I felt let down after all the initial treatments-- I had the plan, the instructions, and followed the directions. Suddenly there was a void! I had to get out of the crisis mode and find a new normal.

    Every year has been a better experience. Every year that I pass the anniversaries (of the dx, the chemo, the mastectomy, and the end of radiation) I emotionally celebrate.

    I do believe that it is easier, even though I live with the memory that at nine years out, a second cancer was discovered in my mother's other breast. So I have my next goal.

    Warm regards to all of you this Mother's Day weekend. I wish mine were still here.
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #8
    (((((HUGS)))))
    Hi Peggy,

    I have dealt with cancer in some form since I was 17 when my mom was first dx. Since then I have had it three times and have been blessed to have been able to battle back from it each time. My personal cancer battles started in 97. I agree we come out changed, more aware of our surroundings and we hear our mortal clock much louder than others do. However, if there was one thing I learned while watching my mom fight her cancer battles it was that life still goes on, we can still enjoy it. We as individuals cannot allow cancer to have more of us then it takes physically. I will not allow it to steal from me my right to enjoy the time I have fought so hard to get. I am still here to see my children marry, watch them have kids, grow older with My Guy and enjoy the other pleasures in life such as the smell of a good rain, the laughter of my grandchildren, a night out with my husband or perhaps just a simple quiet night at home watching t.v. It is hard at times as we all have those gloom and doom thoughts, but lets do our best to kick cancer to the corner of our lives and not the center. I wish you and all here many, many, many good healthy years to come.

    image

    RE

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