Hi everyone hope we all are ok
Trying not to worry but wonder how long it took you all to feel well again.
I still have niggly pelvic pain, tired and joint pain . I have a lot of sweats (due to surgery menopause) and still feel tired . Had a lung clot and still taking fragmin daily .
Cant help but worry that is maybe coming back although been given the all clear and that i will ever feel better again . Only 46 but feel soo old
Ally xx
Hi Ally,
It took me 2years post chemo to lose the tendoitis and joint pain - I still have hot flushes 3.5 years later, and I often welcome a rest during the day and an early night too. My GP said to expect not to 'fire on all four cylinders' as you used to, but to adapt to being different. Never underestimate the effects of the menopause which can persist for 10 years.
I don't know when you had your surgery, but I suspect you need to be more patient!
Very best wishes,
Isadora.
Dear Ally
I'm really sorry you're feeling so tired and worried about various pains. I think Isadora is right that we are different people post-chemotherapy and we might need to put our feet up during the day, have an early night or a lie-in in the morning and that's probably not what you expected to do at the age of 46.
I'd imagine you have a lot on your plate with parental responsibilities and your daughter looking at university. I remember that being a very stressful year and I was in good health at the time. It might just be you need a bit of time to yourself and to be pampered. It could be you're getting enough of that.
I didn't have Taxol so don't have the joint pains. I do, however, get abdominal pain most days - well not pain exactly - more discomfort and I worry about it but I've been assured by the oncologist all is well so I try to put it to the back of my mind.
I was told it can take 2 years to get the body back in shape after chemotherapy, and you have had major surgery as well. Don't be hard on yourself.
Lots of love xxx Annie
Hi Ally!
I went through the menopause nearly 20 years ago. I never had hot flushes then but now, 3 years after debulking, I get them all the time. It is over a year since I last had chemo and Almost a year since my last surgery but I still get tired. I have horrendous sciatica and have to pace myself. Mind you, given my age I am not sure how much is just growing old! LOL!
Just hang on in there, give yourself time and pace yourself!
Good luck!
Margaret!
hi Ally. i can totally sympathise.. im 38 and i feel 68. its getting me down. im 12months on from surgery and 10 months on from chemo. but i feel like a bag if crap!! excuse my language.
i have days when im not too bad but then i have days when i can hardly move due to pain ans stiffness. im hoping it will get better soon.
as far as the sweats go i dont take Hrt because it made me feel lousy but a do take a pill called clonidine! its been a life saver i was waking up 4 to 5 times a night wet through. the clonidine stops that. i still get a couple of hot flushes a dat but nothing like i was before taking this. its definately worth a try. i hope you feel bwtter soon.
lots and lots of love
suzanne. xxxxxx
Hi Suzanne and everyone . As always thanks for your replies
I know how you feel suzanne and know you have a daughter round about age of mine . Sometimes its not even a whole day of one or the other but as if periods in the day when suddenly feel like S***. You know what i mean . I think i may be expecting to much and is probably what i thought but helps to know that it does take time . Just need to be patient but thats never been one of my good points
Love as always
Ally
Hi Ally
I am twelve months on from major surgery and 6months from finishing chemo.
I can't believe how rubbish I feel at times. Nobody explained to me how long it
would take to recover from chemo and surgery. Well actually my surgeon told me
i would be back to normal after three months on from op. My oncologist says it
will take up to two years to recover. I also get lots of niggly pains in my stomach
which has been a worry but my onc says all is well so maybe I do too much but
I do find it difficult not being able to do what I used to do. So next time you feel
like S*** just remember you are not on your own...theres lots of us feeling the
same.
Lots of love
Angie.x
Thanks Angelina , i know hard for us all , I have always been a busy bee , Work full time and on various committees and support groups and fundraisers , I am back at work full time ( not by choice) and think i just expect to be back to normal , The other thing i find hard is family act as if nothing has ever happened . Hope you are doing ok now
Love
Ally
I think you are doing amazingly well to cope with working full time, Ally. I finished chemo in August and expected to be somewhere near normal by now, but though I am better in many ways, I still feel far from right - have weakness, tiredness, niggly pains. As Angie says, you are not alone in your feelings!
Monique x
Even an old timer like me still worries as soon as chemo ends!!! WHY?!!!!! Every pain abdo or back, the sometimes debilitating tiredness ( so alien to the old normal me )always scares me. I forget that I have put poison into my body( for a good reason) and that it takes time for my poor old good cells to recover.
I think family and friends often think that once you've had the chemo you are cured and back to normal ( or maybe that is their hope). And how often do we say we are "fine" when we are not, or try and carry on as normal for them and ourselves.,
Luv'n'hugs Suex
Thanks Suex
Yes i think one of the reason they dont ask is that want to forget and be back to pre cancer normal !
Love
Ally
This is really an interesting thread, as I have been concerned about the effects of chemo, reading this I can see it is quite debilitating, the health professionals seem to quote text book recovery and not real time. My oncologist said I'd be back in full working order 6 weeks post op, it's 4 weeks and I'm still not up to walking for long, I'm only just sleeping more comfortably, I actually could lay on my side last night.
I'm not enjoying surgical menopause, I do want to take HRT but am waiting for my consultant to let me know if he okay's it.
Hope you start to feel better, have you tried red clover or black cohosh? You are the same age as me and I look 90 hobbling around right now.
LA xx
Hi Lily-Anne
I havent tried the herbal remedies as yet . Few of the girls i work with have for natural menopause and rate the black cohosh highly . I intend to get some and give a go as cant take the HRT as had blood clot . Have you started chemotherapy yet ? You have had major surgery so think 6 weeks is expecting a bit to much . I have 3 chemo then surgery then 3 chemo again
Love
Ally
Sorry for the long post
Feeling exhausted and emotional
Feel guilty....
