Hi ,finished my rads on dec 20th. I slowly went down hill from there ,got a really bad cold ,felt tired all the time ,felt sad all the time ,scars went really sore.
Now 7 weeks on my breast is quite painful, i feel quite tender .I am also really tired and really scared .I started work (only 2 days a week and 4.5 hours a day) but it makes me feel so tired .I am also more scared than what i have been for a while .It feels so lonely when all treatment is done .Has anyone else experienced this ?
Thanks xxx
Dear lisha. You sound so sad and defeated. I can’t know how I will feel in a few months but finished rads yesterday and although glad it does seem a bit of an anti climax, a sort of what now. I think it takes a lot longer than we think to recover, give yourself time and maybe go see your GP about feeling so low. Despite being upbeat during the day I seem to reflect how scared I am in my dreams. Julia x
Lisha - give the helpline a ring - number at the top of this page. I believe they are very helpful.
It is not unusual to feel deflated once active treatment has finished - I am close to the finishing line having gone through chemo, surgery and now halfway through rads.
I ordered the Moving forward information pack from this site - it’s very good and has a DVD with it. It’s free to order.
Remember you are not on your own. We are all still here, you can ring the help line and ring your bcn.
Please don’t be scared. You are a warrior princess and a survivor. Just like me!
Hi Lisha
So sorry you are feeling so down at the moment.I am sure that many of us have been exactly where you are now.I thought when i had finished rads i would feel so much better but ending treatment left me feeling all alone and very scared. The rads stay in your system for some time and it takes time for your body to recover,hence the tiredness plus starting back to work.I had really sore skin(which recovered after a few weeks) and a painfull breast for a while.
If you are worried could you not contact your BCN?
Do you have any support groups or maggies centres near you, it sometimes just helps to talk to people who understand how you are feeling.
Take care and be kind to yourself.
sending a hug
Lucinda xx
Hi Lisha and Julia
First off - big hugs to you both!!!
What you are both feeling is all too common and absolutely normal. We sometimes forget that BC messes with your head as well as your body. And, once active treatment finishes, we can feel ‘cast adrift’. This chap describes it far better than I ever could.
Having chemo knocks you about and rads is just the icing on the cake. Alot of people say that, compared to chemo, rads is a walk in the park. I found it emotionally and physically draining - certainly no picnic - and, while it’s great at killing cancer cells, it also causes a lot of collateral damage. It all takes time to heal.
Having said all that, hang on in there - it does get better. I finished chemo and rads last Sept and I’m not 100% but getting there - working full time, riding at weekends and just started a zumba class in the week.
Be kind to yourselves and if you think a bit of extra help is needed, whether it’s a bit of counselling or a few months of anti-ds to get you through a rocky patch, ask for it.
Good luck and even more hugs.
Dx
Hi Lisha, julia,
Reading your initial post I can relate to nearly everything you mentioned including the low feeling, sore skin on my mx scar/site, this must be normal I finished my rads on the 25th Jan so its only been 4 weeks since finishing, does the skin on the mx site area itch?? mine’s just starting to itch a bit, I did mention this and was told it was probably the nerves that were damaged during surgery knitting back together. I’m just recovering from catching a terrible head cold luckily it did not go on my chest as i have secondaries on my lungs anything to do with coughing/breathing etc worries me sick. Definitely feel more tired I spent the whole of monday in bed with what I reckon to be hormonal migraine (something I suffered from before I had BC) slept most of monday and monday night so tired and generally whacked out!
I have heard about feeling lonely and scared at the end of all the treatments, I understand that this is a normal reaction to finishing treatments, for sure adjustments have to be made to this new way of living kind of like a new normal.
All of these treatments play on our emotions and surely we can’t expect to be the way we were before the dx, things have changed but you will learn to adapt and gradually as your body recovers from the treatments you will start to feel more like your old self. Remember we are all survivors this is just a stage and like all the other stages we have been through we will get through it. Listen to your body and if your tired then rest, Be kind to yourself.
Sending you lots of hugs love and light
sarahlousie xx
Thanks for all your replies its so good we have this forum.
Sarahlouise ,yes i did get itchy skin .Also i get pains in my breast sometimes quite a lot but i keep poking around and besides my breast feeling hard i can’t feel any lumps.
Don’t know if any of you girls still get periods but mine stopped 4 months ago and i suffer badly with hot sweats ,I hate them they disturb my sleep.They started when i was having radiotherapy,no idea when they will end .
DJ007 i was the same with rads i found them really hard.My shoulders still hurt from putting my arms up.Thanks for the link.It makes sense .
Hope everyone is doing well xxx
Hi Lisha,
My periods went awol last June and have not returned, this could be to do with my age (44) and obviously to do with the chemo putting me into early menopause and now on tamoxifen which seems to make sure I am in menopause, yes I do suffer with the hot flushes and night sweats I would say pretty severe, they got a lot worse through radiotherapy and seem to be calming down at the moment although the weather getting a lot colder could have something to do with this, I went to see my onc. and he said I could try a variety of things to combat this menopausal SE, drinking sage leaf tea was recommended (some women would rather avoid estrogen and I’m not so sure that sage does not have estrogen mimickers in it but thats for another discussion), also a host of anti-depressant drugs I took one tablet and was near suicidal but thats just me you could react differently and it could be a god send for you, for me it just did not work, if its really bothering you then I would recommend going to see your BCN or Onc and asking them what you can take to help with these, I always tell my onc and ask his advice about anything I am taking.
You mentioned your shoulders hurting mine hurt as well I had real problems getting my arm into the position for the rads, eventually I managed it but my arm on the affected side still really hurts, thanks for mentioning this and the fact that your skin is itchy you’ve put my mind at rest that I am not going crazy and that its just a normal occurrence.
sending you all love and light
sarahlouise xx
If itchy skin is a prob, my rads team recommended taking an anti-histamine. Think it’s called cetrizine - the same stuff as Pititeze.
It worked for me
x
Thanks DJ I will try that.
Love to all
sarahlouise xx
Hi Lisha
I am 6 months post rads and STILL feeling tired. In fact I sleep a lot these days, and I find it hard to get up in the mornings. I used to do a lot of walking, back and forth to the shops etc. about a 20 minute walk, but I find it is so tiring for me now and when I get back I feel as if I am going to collapse on the floor, I have to rest up a bit. I know I do too much, but I cant help it, that is me, but yes, radiotherapy does have an effect on you, and it takes some time, maybe a year or more, to get back to normal, whatever that is. It is scary and you do feel down as well. Its hard for other people to notice how you are, because it does not show. A big hug for you as I know how you feel. xx