Please help!!! After my treatment has stopped I can’t help thinking that the dreaded ‘C’ is going to make a re appearance!!! It’s driving me crazy!!! Has anyone got any advise on how to cope with this??? It would be much appreciated.
Hi Emmzie, it’s not until treatment finishes that you have time to stop and think about what you have been through and that’s when the dark thoughts can creep in, how long ago did you finish? I’ve found the anxiety comes in waves but as the weeks went on I found myself thinking less and less about it and just slipping back in to normal life, my treatment finished in June last year but it took a few months for the daily waves of anxiety to stop, I tried to concentrate on how fortunate I was to have come through it rather than how unlucky I was to have got it in the first place, constant worrying is such a waste of our lives and I wasn’t letting it take any more from me than it already had! Some counselling may help you but from my experience it’s just time, I had my first year all clear in April this year and can honestly say I’m back to my normal self now, more vigilant but I don’t let it rule my life Xx
Hi Emmzie,
i finished chemo 8 weeks ago and rads on June 24th so it’s not long, but I understand exactly how you feel! I actually feel really well now and as I did the cold cap nobody would know I had just had chemo. The fear of it coming back, however, lurks at the back of my mind and I am finding it difficult to plan ahead as I’m so scared of tempting fate.
most of the time I am fine, but it’s always there. I have booked on the BCC moving forward course At my local hospital so I’m hoping that will help. I am also very keen to do everything possible to reduce the risk so I’m trying to be the healthiest.i can.
As Jo says, hopefully the fear will get easier over time, but I wanted you to know I understand how you feel.
hugs
Claire xx
Hi Emmzie
I’ll try to help. What you are feeling is only to be expected. I bet every one of us on the forum can empathise with what you are saying. I am approaching my second year check up and doing really well but “what if” occasionally flits through my mind even now. So what can you do? Well I had to contend with a great deal of extra stress (not cancer-related) during my treatment. Upsetting thoughts were going round and round in my mind and they were nearly “driving me crazy”. What finally helped was some advice I read in a book. The author described how we live in a “frenzied society” and basically her advice was that we all need to slow right down because we have got into the habit of rushing as though it is natural. I was a terror for doing everything at top speed - no wonder I used to feel frazzled and tense most of the time! This book made a lot of sense to me and so I decided that from then on I would make a conscious effort to walk slowly, talk quietly, chatter less, do everything as gently as possible and listen only to peaceful music. It sounds so simple but it has made a huge difference to how I feel emotionally. When I slowed down physically, my breathing became slower and that automatically made me feel calmer. I am a much more relaxed and contented person now, in fact I feel that I can cope with almost anything life throws at me.
Hi everyone thank you so much for your replies. I was diagnosed with stage 3 Cancer in Dec 14 I had you sessions of chemo and 20 sessions of radio which finished in July last year. I wasn’t poorly with treatment and the worst thing for me was losing my hair! I have suffered depression for a lot of years and have been through so much in my life it’s untrue. I think a lot about cancer returning and I just hope these thoughts will eventually dissappear…sooner rather than later! It’s just so hard!!!
Evie1 please can you tell me where I can read this??? Thank you xxx
I am 11 years out from finishing BC treatment and have been fine and clear since. I rarely look at this thread now. You find people who have got far away from their DX and treatment tend to have other stuff to think about and as months and years go by you will dwell far less on what you’ve been through.
At first every little twinge and ache will make you panic, but this will go, I promise!
Good luck.