What do you do all day?

Seilien

"Managing" is fine but what do you actually DO. I realized everyone else walks or gardens or cooks.
I really don't have the mental or physical. My mom often comes to cook, clean, get me to eat.
But I would say this is generally what I do:
I try to get up to dress my daughter. Most days I can. We sit together as my husband gets ready for the day. I deal with SE or take my meds. My husband and child go to work/daycare. I stare at the wall for a while, thinking what will ido. This step can last me to lunch. Or I listen to soothing music. Someone will come try to feed me because I don't eat enough. I sit and "watch tv" but really end up napping. My family comes home and I contemplate eating. Then about my daughter's bed time routine I also start mine and go sleep about 8-9. I feel I'm not very productive but my weakness in my limbs, fatigue, lack of appetite, and emotion are so low.
I'm hoping these kinds of days are temporary, its been like a month 😛

illimae

Since brain surgery in January and covid, I mostly watch movies/mysteries, some cleaning and cooking and sorting/packing to sell our house and move. I spent about 6-7 months unable to eat solid food but now that I can, I feel much more strength and energy. I plan to begin short walks soon but haven’t quite made it there yet.

etnasgrl

I am a quitter!
My first diagnosis, I did everything right, everything that I was supposed to do. I stayed on Tamoxifen, even though it almost killed me TWICE. I was the good, little patient. Then, four years later, I was diagnosed AGAIN, with a new primary, in my other breast. First time was Stage 1 ER+-PR+/Her2- in right breast (at age 41, node negative) and second time was Stage 1 ER-/PR-/Her2+ in left breast (at age 45, node negative).
Now, I am no longer the good, little patient. I question everything and refuse to just go with the flow of treatments. Tamoxifen made my quality of life horrible and I will NOT do that to myself again.....especially considering that I followed all the guidelines and STILL the cancer came back. So, I did it all for absolutely nothing. Yea, not going down that road again.
This time around, I had a double mastectomy with immediate DIEP flap reconstruction, Taxol, and Herceptin. I have 6 more months on Herceptin and then I am finished. Done with treatment. No more Tamoxifen or IA's. (I had to have a hysterectomy due to Tamoxifen, so no ovaries anyway.) Quality of life is crazy important to me!

Spookiesmom

Don’t beat yourself up. Do what you can, when you can. You could have some depression or PTSD going on. Talk to your MO, maybe a therapist who specializes with cancer patients.

As for what *I* do? Not much. It’s a good day if I manage a shower and get groceries to make dinner. Bonus if I manage laundry and run dishwasher. I can’t blame all of that on age, almost 72. A lot of it is Ibrance. The highlight of the day is going to dog park with my 2. If I feel like it.

Octoberwind

I hope that you are feeling better. For me, it’s very important to have a routine. I live by myself in a rural area and with COVID, there’s not a lot of places I can go. I get dressed every morning. Granted, some days it’s only PJs to sweats, but it’s a change. I also go outside and walk after breakfast. If I can tolerate, I go along the road. If not, it’s to the mailbox and back. And napping is fine.

WC3

During chemotherapy and many months following I didn't have the energy to do much all. I spent most of my time in bed browsing the internet or streaming videos on my phone between napping or sitting in the livingroom doing much the same. I was simultaneously incredibly bored and too tired to do anything particularly engaging. I would start reading something or replying to a post here and get incredibly sleepy and fall asleep.

nopink2019

I'm no shining example, but I did talk to my MO about the 3rd week on Kisqali cycle when I was so fatigued that I spent 3-4 hours in bed each afternoon. She prescribed Ritalin just for that week. It helps. I'm also on daily Lexapro for depression. Ask MO for suggestions.

mtspacekace

To keep my spirits up, when going thru chemo, I would make myself change clothes, wash my face, and brush teeth every morning. It may be noon before I felt like changing clothes, but I would. Then at some point I made sure my bed was made. The worst days were spent on the couch, watching tv, napping, or listening to podcasts or audio books. My mind was too cloudy to read some days. I would try to eat at least a yogurt, and would make sure my dishes were done and pick up a bit in the afternoons. Try and eat something for dinner, and go to bed. Some days bedtime was at 7, some days earlier. There were days I felt better and would go for short walks, or do a load of laundry. I also started a knitting project and would work on that when I felt like it. The really good days usually right before I went back for more chemo, I wanted to get lots caught up before I felt bad again, and would get frustrated I would get so exhausted...but would take daily naps still! But there were enough good days I would get laundry caught up and linens changed, and the house picked up for the cleaner to come.