The Great Recovery! After cancer what next?

[TopOfTheCliff]

This thread was suggested on the general Cancer Thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/general_health/4895824-cancer-support-thread-90-still-the-best-threads-no-one-wants-to-be-on?page=15&reply=129923637 as a place to come when you are recovering.

You may feel your treatment is over and you are cured or at least NED, or it may just be a lull between storms, but you want to step away from the daily grind of chemo and radiotherapy and look to the future.
Most of us come out the far side of a cancer diagnosis battered and unfit and probably overweight from the steroids and the comfort eating. Where do you start? How long will it take ? Should you diet to lose weight or try to exercise more? Then there is the huge mental hurdle of putting Cancer behind you and not worrying about recurrence with every twinge.
I am a veteran of the Cancer Thread having had breast cancer twice in two years and I managed the recovery after cancer no 1. Now I have to do it all again but in good company I hope.

Lovely photos on this thread.

@TopOfTheCliff Congratulations finishing treatment!

@SummerCycling yes, I’ll be going back next year. I spent six months there in 2022 after the pandemic and nearly stayed. Came back and was diagnosed with breast cancer straight away. It’s been a very difficult time. It’s going to take a while to get back to normal. Thanks for your reply. :)

Thanks @Makemineadecafplease I am so relieved but having to manage my expectations of instant recovery. I still have to chase up the bone scan result and I am due a mammogram this month but to be honest I am so chilled after my lovely weekend I don’t care. The others on the course were all stage 4 which was sobering but very wonderful. One breast cancer, one primary peritoneal cancer and one prostate cancer and I don’t know what the youngest guy had as he never disclosed the details. Lots of discussion of how to balance honesty with protecting loved ones from hurt.
I explored the estate allotments and vegetable garden and got lots of ideas. I also sampled meditation, guided meditation, mindfulness, guided visualisation and walking mindfulness.
My take home message was all about gentleness and nurturing for body and soul after the battering I have had. I said on the other thread I discovered the raging lion I had caged in my chest for safety turned out to be a moth eaten tabby cat needing some love and care.
I have rashly booked an exercise class tomorrow. I may just lie on the mat and breathe.
Top x

@TopOfTheCliff sounds like a wonderful healing experience and much needed.

I’ve had my blood clot filter thing removed yesterday ( through my neck!) and am now home and ok. Lots of carbs were eaten yesterday so back on the vegetables today!

@FairyWren7 I hope the removal was uneventful and not as frightening as you expected.

I ventured out to the gym for a class this morning followed by some physio and light shopping. I was very breathless in the class which seems likely to be lack of cardio exercise. I will try to do some sessions on my exercise bike.
I have found a new yoga studio that offers Gentle yoga for people with cancer. Lying on the floor doing yoga breathing is very appealing instead of weights! I guess it’s putting together a routine that balances everything rather than overdoing it is the answer.I just wish the blisters would settle.
Cheers my dears!
Top

I am on my last chemo (primary peritoneal cancer) today… so I can officially join!
Although in my case it’s the Great Staving Off (recurrence), rather than the Great Recovery
Need to give it a shot though xx

Hello, may I join you? I was on the cancer thread a few years ago (2019 - 2020) under my old username of toofaroutallmylife. I had a malignant melanoma on my vulva, so have occasionally been “paged” by MrsPnut when someone with vulval issues joins the thread. I think I recognise a number of names, including @TopOfTheCliff

My treatment was surgery and immunotherapy (followed by a long period on steroids to get over the immunotherapy!) because chemo doesn’t do anything for melanoma.

Am still being monitored closely, which has resulted in a number of other minor ops to remove areas of vulval skin that had started to change (most recently last week, so still pretty sore).

It’s a great idea for a thread, because I’m not in the day to day treatment circus, but it never really leaves you.

Ive gradually increased my running over the years, and have just signed up for my first marathon 🙈. I’m running for Cancer Research and was very grumpy when I signed up because when giving my reasons for entering I had to tick a box saying “I’ve beaten cancer”. So many things wrong with that statement!

Monitoring scans next week too. Deep joy.

That sounds a lovely event Top

Congrats on last chemo Rose

Of course you can join Onewild Hope the scans go OK.

DH has just gone to get fish and chips from the fish and chip van. Kitchen is finished. Got cleaners coming on Saturday which is incredibly lazy of me, not had them for ages but the house has got a bit in need of a clean after kitchen guys and outside work in muddy conditions and DS putting things everywhere but a bin. 🤔Then we have a concert in a university church and afternoon tea straight after and more fireworks if its not raining or maybe swimming if it is.

@Onewildandpreciouslife Hello there I remember you from the cancer thread 2019. I was on there from July 2019 to about May 2020. I loved your old username. ( I name changed back to Skap just for this thread, I only ever used this name for cancer posts).

I posted earlier on this thread but have just lurked since, I rather love the chatty minutae on here.

Your weekend sounds very positive Top.
I suddenly have a diary full of hospital appointments again. Not cancer related but I do feel my health in general has gone downhill since. Or maybe it's just age / bad luck.
Anyway after being unable to exercise much for a couple of years due to RA and then slipped discs I am feeling a bit fitter and have just started a line dancing class. Really entertaining, strtching me mentally as well as physically and so much more fun than an hour in the gym.

Welcome @Skap and @Onewildandpreciouslife nice to hear about life after the maelstrom has passed. It seems ages since that summer of 2020. We love to hear from graduates of the main thread it gives us fresh hope.,

@Silkiebunny that is a great idea to get a deep clean done. Good news here is that due to Storm Ciaran DH is housebound and sorting out boxes of bike parts and piles of wheels. He thinks he is making progress in the basement although I haven’t been down to investigate. After todays task of going to storm proof my boat I slept for three hours this afternoon. In all honesty I’m still feeling quite poisoned even though I’ve had no drugs for a week. As soon as I have the energy I shall be decluttering the ground floor completely. Watch out DH!

Stay safe folks it’s a wild night ahead.
Top

Top I hope your DH can sort things better than mine. When I ask him to clear a room of his junk he does but he just moves it to another room or the garden. 🤔That's partly why I get the cleaners in as he has to move it for them. 😂

@Silkiebunny I have zoned the house with public spaces, DH workshop and storage areas and my little sitting room. I don’t care what happens in his basement but he leaks stuff Into the main house and when I am strong I just box it up and deliver it back to him. Currently there is stuff on all surfaces needing sorting. When I am strong enough I will tackle it in time for Christmas.

I love that we have husbands with the same quirks. Every single surface has stuff on it. The knack is to not let it creep in too much. Mine also likes dumping stuff on the dining table and the kitchen workspace as well - that always gets removed straight away! When I’m feeling particularly irritated by this I put it on his computer keyboard! Bound to notice it there!

Neck less sore but bruised. Going to apply for some jobs today. Be lucky!

DH and I are away for our first child-free weekend in about 12 years to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We’re on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland which is living up to its name. Arrived today and have had a long walk along the beach already. DD17 and DS15 are on their own for the first time and have sworn they will behave.

I had quite a mental wobble over the weekend but am feeling a lot calmer now. I’ve been beating myself up about my lack of exercise progress due to being sick for about 3 weeks and feeling guilty in anticipation of my follow up appointment with the exercise physiologist where I will have no progress to report. Suddenly realised I can postpone instead of wasting both of our time! It will also create a free day next week with no medical appointments which I think will be helpful for my mental health. Between the cancer recovery efforts, impending 3-mth follow up and the ongoing liver investigations I spend as much time at hospital as I did when I was having chemo.

@Remaker - lucky you! It’s lovely up there and hopefully nice and warm. I’m still wearing layers in Melbourne and blanket on my lap in the evening with the dog attached to me!

I’ve been dealing with similar feelings of frustration. I’m still coughing and not feeling that brilliant. Maybe the immunotherapy drugs are making me tired.

Just do some nice things, enjoy the space and time with your husband! :)

Thanks @FairyWren7. We are back in our hotel room at 8.30pm, such party animals! Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and your cough will ease.

The messy DHs sound very familiar here too. Mine has an expectation that everything he needs should be available at rye level at any given moment, it's very wearing.
Sorry got those feeling below par, there's plenty of time to get back on the exercise and diet routines but be kind to yourselves. I'm telling myself that as now recovered from my fall pretty much and have done bugger all exercise- I blame the weather and clock changes.
On a positive note I got my genetic testing results back and all negative (for those they have identified so far). Good news for my DSisters and DDs as no increased risks identified.

Yes it's the dining table, infact the entire dining room, all of the kitchen surfaces, the garden and downstairs bathroom. Still I have cleaners in tomorrow and he is currently moving it for them. Otherwise it's I will move it tomorrow I have a headache at the moment or I will sort it and you find it's moved from the dining room to the middle of the garden. 🙄

Hope you had a lovely time Remaker

Glad you got good results Rose.

Just been swimming, sauna and steam room and a coffee in the cafe with DH. Came back to be greeted by Floof in a cardboard box by the front door all curled up. No prizes for guessing who left the cardboard box there.

Off tomorrow to a classical concert and afternoon tea at a university college from the time of Wren it says. Though they have just said photos taken and it's cold and wet tomorrow and I still don't like being photographed after chemo and surgery. Guess I will have to make an effort or hide

That’s great news @myrosehasleftme what a relief.

My DH is currently drilling holes in the ceiling downstairs so he can find a joist and screw in hooks to store things dangling from the ceiling. It’s like a huge 3D puzzle down there.

I had a little spurt of extra energy today and after taking MIL for a Covid jab and coffee then going on a jaunt with DH to source more bike parts I even managed to meet a friend and hatch a ploy to buy another all racing boat. Just possibly my energy is rising… feet and fingers still sore though.

This morning I was the appointed judge for a Freewheeling cycle event. Good fun as they all roll downhill and up again and the winner is the one that gets furthest with no pedalling. I usually take part but am too weary to do that. I found a keen teenager to run around marking up the finishing positions so I just took photos and looked important. It was good fun to be involved in something sporty. Blisters are still raw so can’t do much even after 11 days off treatment. Patience is a virtue!

Well my great recovery has been set back somewhat. I have just spent 10 days in hospital with a rare and nasty type of pneumonia. I am on industrial stength antibiotics and strict instructions from my consultant to take it easy. Says it will take 6 to 8 weeks to recover. Just Great.
I am so breathless on exertion but I do try and walk a circuit of the family room every half hour or so. When I am sitting I feel like there is nothing wrong with me.
Today was beautiful so my lovely husband packed a car picnic and we went for a trip to the coast and admired the view and Autumnal colours.
I will have to just be a patient patient!

Hello it is nice to meet you. I am struggling to lose cancer related weight, and am having bad side effects from letrozole

Being a judge sounds fun Top but blisters are difficult, hope they improve soon.

So sorry about pneumonia worn out

I think there's a few of us trying to get rid of cancer treatment weight Red I was fine all through main treatment and normal bmi then 14kgs on Tamoxifen in first year though did not weigh myself regularly or at all then so no idea how that happened. But found out end September and lost about 4.5kgs now though on a 6 week break from Tamoxifen and scared some of it will go straight back on,was 6kgs down at one point but think that was an error or maybe it's my cake eating the past week or two after my initial very strict diet.😂

Yesterday cleaners in though DS blocked one room and DH put stuff in another but much better and then classical concert afternoon tea, Thai takeaway and could see fireworks from house. Bit of decluttering today, roast dinner and swimming. Found lost swim prothesis.

welcome @Reddishraddish do you have a plan? I have signed up to the Zoe project and am enjoying a very colourful fart producing plant rich diet which seems to be helping. Saying no to comfort cake is the hardest thing for me.I’ve got about 15kg to lose in the next year.

@Alittlewornout that sounds really tough! Was your pneumonia linked to poor immunity or just bad luck? I hope your breathing improves with the daily strolling. Being patient is infuriating isn’t it?

@Silkiebunny it is two steps forward one step back isn’t it? Yay to the cleaners! I zone out of certain rooms and just ignore them as I can’t do much about them. Selective blindness is the way forward. I am sorting out the kitchen table piles at the moment. My sister calls them Pygmy Piles for some reason. She suffers from the same affliction.

Resting up here but feeling quite cheerful despite the blisters.
Top xx

I'm just trying to lose weight on my own at the moment, but I have got booked into a gym by my GP for half price, and have an appointment coming up with them soon, so that might help