Ended radiation...now what?

Tess1962

I ended radiation on Friday. It was very emotional. Now here it Sunday and I've slept since Friday it seems. I'm going to cancer survivorship class Monday and starting Femara for 5 years. I am so fatigued I can barely get thru the days. What is next for me? I'm anxious and nervous and I should feel happy and excited. Anyone else feel this way at the end? Here is my bell ringing:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=102119...

ColleenS80

Hi Tess,

I don’t have much advice for you on what’s next as you are a bit ahead of me in treatment, but I did want to tell you that I have read that many many women experience that feeling when they finish active treatment. I myself started feeling it when I finished chemo. You imagine yourself feeling happy and relieved, but it seems that a lot of us feel scared and worried now that treatment is over, that we just kind of have to sit and wait and pray that everything works. Again, I’m sorry I don’t have any real advice, I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and I am really struggling with the worry and anxiety right now as well. Hugs to you from the same place!

Runrcrb

Congratulations! Finishing what I call the invasive treatment is a milestone. I finished radiation 15 months ago. It took a couple of months to recover from radiation so do what you did this weekend - rest. If you don't already, start exercising. Walking is a great start. Pay attention to how you feel once you start femara. Talk to you doctor about anything you notice as side effects. Sometimes you'll want to try a different AI; sometimes simply changing when you take the medicine can fix an issue (insomnia cleared up when I switched to AM).

Yes, you will feel emotionally drained. You've been through a lot. Don't expect to be your old self right away. I'm still not my old self (mitigating factors aside) but I am continuing to work through it all. It's been two years since diagnosis; I had my second mammagram (on the healthy breast) last week and worried about it more than I did a year ago despite knowing deep in my head that it would be clear (it was).

Be kind to yourself.

Ingerp

Didn't your BS and RO tell you what follow-up would be? Probably check in with them every six months for five years? Other than that I'd be getting on with the rest of my life. Distraction is good!

MexicoHeather

You've done everything you could. Now, it's going to take some time to process the whole thing.

When I finished 33 rounds of radiation, I got in the car and went on a trip! But I was tired for a long time.

Later, I put together my new doctor team for life post treatment.

I am pretty close to going back to work!

AnxietyGirl85

I finished radiation 12 days ago. While I'm feeling a bit more balanced now, the first week afterwards, I was an anxious mess, made worse by the fact that I'm triple-negative and therefore have no other treatment options to ward off recurrence. The anxiety is certainly still there, but it's becoming more bearable.

I'm trying to spend less time focusing on cancer and more time trying to get my life back in order, though it's all a bit challenging right now, I feel completely off-kilter still. Not unwell (still fatigued most days, but otherwise totally fine, physically), just a bit tangled up in my new reality and working on managing my anxiety, it's all still very fresh. Getting pressure from my employer to come back to work ASAP isn't helping right now, either, I can't even think about that right now. I have a doctor's note to keep me off work for a couple more weeks, then I'll have to go back, but I really don't feel ready yet.

All part of the process, I guess. I feel better knowing it's not just me, and I hope it helps you to know that you're not alone in feeling this way, either.

Tess1962

Thank you ladies! All of you! I'm having my hardest day since my surgery ....today was my cancer survivorship class. It was long and intense and I am so fatigued that I'm over tired and can't sleep.

I'm starting the paleo diet soon and getting back to a regular gym routine. I know that will help. I start Femara next week for 10 years. It's important to get my bones strong and my weight down. I need to lose about 40 lbs. I'd never had a weight problem before hitting menopause and the lbs jumped on me even though I was eating healthy and exercising regularly. I am hoping that starting paleo along with the gym will help me drop a few or at least keep the femara from packing on more.

Thank you again everyone for your kind words and understanding. I appreciate you.

T.