It’s interesting Kathryn when you said:
I said the same as you to a friend on the phone this morning and she said it’s a journey and that time will come. I hope the moving on day helps, and I’d like to hear about it. I too saw my Onc last night and she was reassuring. We have been thorugh the mill. Big hugs to you (((Kathryn))).
Hello Ladies
I must be a bit different from all of you - I’m champing at the bit to get on with life. The only way I can explain this is because I had 8 months neo-adjuvant letrozole prior to surgery and rads, so I had a lot of ‘thinking’ time before the really invasive treatment started, whereas you were all thrown in at the deep end. How awful that must be… This DX seems to mean we live on high adrenalin levels, and that is completely exhausting but necessary to keep us focussed on getting well. And then treatment is over, adrenalin levels bottom out, leaving us drained physically and emotionally, we feel like we’ve used up all our reserves and are just empty.
From DX to end of rads was exactly one year for me, and it WAS hard work. Now I just need a bit of corrective surgery to straighten things up: because it seems to be taking so long to organise - nearly 2 years so far - I’m getting frustrated because it’s holding me back from properly getting on with life after BC.
So I reckon we all have the glums at the end of treatment AND it does seem to improve. Of course we still have our breast teams at the end of the phone and this forum to turn to, and I find such support invaluable.
hope this helps a bit
grumpy
further to my recent post .my appointment with the oncologist 2 weeks ago should have been my last check up ,but this was where they found the suspect area near my rib hence todays bone scan ,i having to wait a few weeks for results but having been in this situation before i find im not so anxious as i was . i was really hoping to wave goodbye to the hospital unit after 6 yrs of appointments ,and hopefully if my scan is clear i will do so very soon .ive been thinking of all your posts and feel that the hospitals should give us a wave goodbye session just to put our minds at ease .thrown to the wolves is not a nice place to be in as we feel like our safety blanket has been pulled from us .thank goodnes for forums like these for us to offload ! xxx
Hi Wintersocks and all,
Although I finished chemo in February I am not yet finished active treatment as have 2 more Herceptins to go. I was far too exhausted to feel anything after last chemo. However, I am now feeling a lot better - but nowhere near back to the way I was, and I have, usually, accepted that it will take time.
I started a course run by Maggie’s Centres 3 weeks ago called ‘Where Now?’ It runs once a week for 6 weeks and focuses on building up stamina and strength, nutrition, returning to work and emotional adjustment and is shaping up very well. One of the ladies on the course (not BC) feels cut adrift whereas I am fed up with the constant appointments and look forward to them reducing drastically although I much prefer seeing some 2/3 times a year.
I can also recommend Peter Harvey’s essay - he totally ‘gets it’.
I see my breast surgeon every 6 months for the next 10 years with a mammo every 2 years. Because I am on a trial and still having Herceptin, I have seen my onc nurse every few months since February. I have another appointment with her just before Christmas but have no idea what happens re onc after that, except to say that I expect to see her every time I have a heart scan (because of Herceptin) which will continue for some time.
I also keep up with other BC ladies through Facebook and I am one of RevCat’s ‘GABBIES’ and much appreciate meeting women further on than me at our lunches who offer support and understanding because they have ‘been there’.
Good luck with the new you. Take care, Liz, x
PS I think all our friends and acquaintances think once active treatment is over we should ‘get back to normal’, especially if we look well. I usually say to people it could take years - although I hope it won’t!
Just to say I love your posts. They have made my journey easier. Your comments are so helpful and I just wanted you to know how much I have appreciated you. 