Okay, this is the last moan from me, as i have finished chemo and i am over the moon about that of course!
But, i am so tired…why am i so tired?
The final TAX (12 days ago) hit me hard, raging sore mouth, cough and all of that stuff (still have it a bit), but the tiredness is overwhelming.
Okay, i have two little ones 2 and 5, but i am meant to be looking for a job since i quit teaching and the only time i get to really think about jobs is the evening when i am bushed!
Help!
Naz xx
Know the feeling Naz. Sadly it doesn’t get any better with rads!
Julia xx
Oh that is horrid you poor thing 
of course you are tired. I have been making the most of the great weather to get out and about to get some exercise and that does help but if you are already up to your ears with the kids it will be difficult.
rest when you can - drink loads of water cauuse that helps tiredness and know that we are all pulling for you xxx
Naz, I am still suffering with tiredness and I finished chemo in November last year! It takes a while. Your body has had a bit of a battering. I am suffering with sleepless nights too due to tamox and chemo induced menopause which doesn’t help. Just take things slow and let your body recovery.
So pleased you are now off the chemo train!
x
tired you say,
well my hat goes off to all you ladies out there going through this rubbish, and having to look after small children, truely I dont know how you manage it, you deserve medals from the queen, and maybe a free holiday ,doing lots of lady pampering things.
take care xx
I was in bed for the best part of 4 months when I was on Taxotere as my side effects were so extreme. 10 days after the last dose I ended up in a hospital isolation room for a week with no immunity; also the last dose I got punctured a vein in the back of my hand and after 7 days I had massive blistering to my hand and wrist as if it had been plunged into boiling fat. I had to have all sorts of tests done as they weren’t sure what the blistering was. Normally if chemo leaks it starts flaring up during the treatment and this was delayed so they thought it might be cellulitis.
It took me about 4 months after this to get any energy back.
Hi Naz
You have done/are doing so brilliantly, please try to stop expecting so much of yourself. You have been through an enormous ordeal physically & mentally, & now that you’ve struggled to the end of chemo, you’ve probably just gone ‘flop’, because now you can. I have learnt that the recovery period is long, it’s not like saying ‘oh well, that’s that over, I’m better now’.
I’m not that far in front of you, having finished chemo in December, & then had rads which took me into February. I’m now feeling a bit better, although now in my 3rd week of phased return to work, working in the morning, so back to having a little nap in the afternoons, talking of which I should be in the shower now.
I also had awful SE’s from tax, each one worse than the one before, did you not feel cheated like me that there were SE’s from the last one ? I don’t think that should be allowed. Also some of these are things I’m still struggling with e.g neuropathy which it seems there is nothing to be done for but hope it improves with time.
So, back to speaking of time again. Try to take your time & give yourself permission to recuperate. It’s so nice that your time’s your own again, not governed by all the appointments, & knowing that you’ll reach a certain point & then people will make you ill again. That will never happen again. Enjoy.
Cherub, I had a chemo burn on my hand also, but it healed quite well on its own luckily.
I had my last FEC on 12th March and I’m still very tired. I am returning to work full time after the easter hols (I work in a school as a teaching assistant) I thought I’d get enough rest over the easter hols but have ended up with my teenage daughter, her friends and my grandson here every day. I’m feeling more tired than I was at the start of the hols now. Perhaps returning to work will be easier!!!
I agree with you truffle shuffle a medal and some pampering would help a lot. We should get something, a certificate or a sticker like the kids get from the dentist at least!!
I agree, the se’s from the last tax lasted longer than any from previous, although they were most severe after the first one.
But i did find that my energy levels did improve after about a fortnight, and werem’t too knocked out again by rads. But everybody is different…
I finished chemo (tax) in Dec and rads in Jan. I also had severe SE’s on tax but no problems with rads. My main problem now is bad joint (and everywhere else) pains which I’ve had now for 3 months and getting worse not better! As for tiredness, I’m back at work on a phased return, now managing 6 hours a day. Every few days I get a really tired, in fact exhausted, day. I know I’m probably doing too much - walking the dog, swimming, gardening etc etc but I want to do these things and get back to normal and if I don’t push the limits I won’t know how far I can go!
When I think how I was feeling, say, 6 months ago, I realise how lucky I am to feel like I do now, and do the things I’m doing and getting out of the house etc etc, in spite of the pains and tiredness. I can’t look at the posts now being written by women currently undergoing treatment, makes me feel sick just thinking about what it was like.
Dae x
Dae I’m with you - finished chemo 5 weeks ago and already feeling much better - just frustrated at the lack of ability - my ambitions far outweigh my capability ! however a good friend of mine is a personal trainer and his advice was on the days you feel like it stress yourself just a little (physically not mentally) and on the days you don’t - don’t just don’t make excuses on the days you can and just “can’t be bothered” !! I have taken that advice and I am starting to see improvements in my walk speed and general ability to get around.
Keep on truckin girls - we will get there xx
Do you think you could be anaemic? I understand that chemo and rads can do that. Maybe your GP could give you an iron tonic.
Ann x
Me as well,!!!I’m working at working at morning ang also at night. .
I’m single but i’m the only person my family can lean on. … I know how it feels. . it’s not easy. . .
Hi Guys
How are you all doing today? It’s lovely and sunny up here in Cheshire today.
Not feeling too bad today, but have still been feeling quite tired and achy. Am hoping that as the weeks go on i will feel more energetic and fitter!
Just gave myself a fright by driving down a dual carriage way the WRONG way…how stupid was that! Nothing to do with being tired and everything to do with being an idiot…(just thought i would write that down, completely irrelevant i know!)
Have a good afternoon .
Naz x
Hi
Naz, I was like that after chemo, not safe to drive but I’m OK now. Lovely and sunny here in Plymouth too but a bit chilly. I hope this volcanic dust clears away as I’m due to fly to Scotland next Wed for a family wedding, really looking forward to it.
Saw my GP today, the monthly meet with him to renew my sick note (though I’ve been working since Jan, part time). I’d had blood tests last month to check if any underlying cause to my aches and pains but all clear. he and I both convinced it’s the chemo after effects (his father had the same) though my oncologist has written to the GP saying that he doesn’t think it’s the chemo. Sorry Onc but I know it’s the chemo!! Now got MORE pills, muscle relaxants to take at night to help the night pains (which are different from the daytime ones!.) I feel pretty low at the moment, it’s almost a year since I was diagnosed and I know I’m one of the lucky ones but I’m just fed up with the continual pain and inability to do what I want to do! I’ve never been good at being ill!
Dae x
Hi Dae
I feel the same, coming up to a year since I was diagnosed & I know I’m lucky, but oh! I don’t feel it. I really didn’t expect this diagnosis, I honestly thought they would laugh at my little lump & send me home. I bounced into hospital for the tests feeling healthy & happy & have never felt that way since. My only concerns that day were the mammograms, which I hated for the discomfort & the fact I had to then wait 3 hours for clinic so that they would have the result. But hey, it was June, warm & sunny, & I had my book & sat out in the sun. Next thing I knew I had big needles stuck in under my arm (& I think I knew then really), & a scoop taken from my boob.
And so ever since it’s been 1 thing after another & it’s never a better thing. And even though the chemo’s over & rads are over, I’ve been left with some cording, & neuropathy & no fingernails, & I HATE IT ALL, sorry for shouting, & somehow can’t seem to feel ‘lucky’.
Diwy1 - poor you I know how you feel totally - we have been there and I empathise I too was never as “well” as the week before diagnosis - I was on holiday - having a laugh, walking for miles, playing 18 holes of golf a day and generally being very very healthy and then bam…
I am now losing hair 12 weeks after Tax !!! I am desparate for hair and it’s falling out in clumps and like you have no finger nails (they only started falling out 2 weeks ago !) guess I’m late with everything … BUT
I am done with the chemo - I have rads and Herceptin to go but I just know it’s not going to be as bad and I am doing everything I can to make sure the cancer doesn’t return and it’s springtime so have to look up and forward - I will be that woman again - with hair , eyebrows, eyelashes and a healthy bod.
Chin up if you can we’re right here with you xxxx
Hi RECS,
I’m slightly behind you, finishing my TAX on March 10th. Having rads at moment. I wondered if you’d used the cold cap as you said your hair was now falling out? I still have no sign of eyelashes returning as I really thought they’d have been back by now. My nails are just starting to change and fall off now! What a bummer!!
I also have to have herceptin. Was really shocked the other day to find out that my pre Herceptin heart scan showed that my LEF was 60. It was 70 before my 3 FEC. I’m so scared that it drops even lower and my treatment will be stopped. Have you started yours yet?
Paula x
Hi RECS
Thanks for the support & on the plus side, I have recently found eyelashes & the hair is coming, but I do worry that I will never be pain-free again.