The Great Recovery part 4

[TopOfTheCliff]

Time for a new thread. Welcome aboard!

You may have finished active treatment for cancer, be in remission or NED. You want to look forward not dwell on the past. You know you ought to be eating well, exercising more and picking up the threads of your old life. Join us and share the ups and downs of recovery. We understand!
Here are some resources we found helpful:
The Mountain Lion
https://www.cancerpal.co.uk/post/what-it-s-really-like-to-receive-a-cancer-diagnosis
Peter Harvey on Psychology of recovery:
https://workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf
Resources from Penny Brohn:
https://pennybrohn.org.uk/our-approach/resources/
Breast Cancer Now Moving Forward:
https://breastcancernow.org/information-support/support-you/moving-forward
Get your Oomph Back with Carolyn Garritt
http://www.oomph.london/home.html
Charity providing treats for cancer patients:
https://somethingtolookforwardto.org.uk/
Exercise is good for you:
https://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/exercise-cancer-patients
Any more suggestions? Post them below
There is also a thread for those suspected to have cancer, or newly diagnosed and facing treatment, and also a thread for those with Stage IV cancer who want to talk to others in the same boat.

Hope everyone has had a nice Sunday.

We have had Sunday roast dinner and then DH and I went gardening for 3.5 hours and got a fair amount done and both green bins are now full. We also found and cleared about 10 banana skins in the garden which will be DS, looks like we have a small pet monkey. Cleaned all the floors as well. Continuing to dry out carpets upstairs, they are nearly there and not that different to before. Downstairs bathroom is fine and kitchen is fine apart from the ceiling and we also need to reoil the worktop. Watched Race Around the World and Below Deck and will now restart Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, which is quite addictive but the way to give yourself an eating disorder.

Have plumber coming tomorrow and a nhs keyworker for DS who he will ignore.

@MsPenguins My DH can't understand my fascination with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading programme. Those women are the most amazing athletes and they have such drive and determination.

Hello - just another graduate from the cancer support thread.
I was diagnosed end of August 2024 with breast cancer. Surgeries (including an implant reconstruction, which got infected and then removed!), chemotherapy, and now I'm finishing off RT (I have number 13/15 later today, and will have the last one on Wednesday).

I am now on anastrazole for 10 years, which I've started, and it seems okay. I have hot flushes which wake me up in the night, but i think that is my only side-effect. And I have the bisphonate infusions to come... every 6 months for 3 years. I have a dentist appointment today in preparation for that.

So I guess I'd say that I'm very near the end of active treatment. I'm moving over from the cancer support thread because I'm kind of in a recovery frame of mind. I was pretty floored by the treatment - and especially the chemotherapy - but I'm approaching recovery with a lot more enthusiasm! I'm really enjoying trying to get vaguely fit again, am enjoying being partially back at work... but where is my hair and eyelash regrowth?!

Hi @breastcancerpanic . Welcome to one of the most supportive threads on mumsnet.

Waving to @breastcancerpanic Thankyou for starting that amazing thread which is now giving support to others going through the rollercoaster of active treatment.

We are on our first minibreak away to relax post chemo - I seem to have the whole sitting room in a country house hotel to myself, with a roaring fire going (yay for British Summertime!). Ds is holding the fort and dog back home. It will have been a year on Thursday since my diagnosis at the ultrasound appointment. It’s been awful, but I’ve “met” some fantastic people along the way online.

Welcome @breastcancerpanic and congratulations on getting through treatment and being on the recovery and finding a new normal path.

@MissMarplesNiece Yes they are amazing athletes and very talented and its lovely to see some succeed after failing the first time. Its a bit brutal judgement on their figures at times and I worry for their hips but great experience for them.

Break looks wonderful @dancingwhilstfacingthemusic enjoy it and hope the fine British weather improves.

Just back from the liver clinic and it was good news! Despite the infections, antibiotics and lack of exercise that could all have messed up my liver function, all my levels have continued to improve and are sitting just outside the normal range, as opposed to 2-3 x the normal range which is where I started 18 months ago. Hooray!

I have the same thoughts as most of you about food and supplements. One of my friends has become obsessed with her diet as the secret to healthy ageing. I’m ok with tweaking things but I don’t want to take all the pleasure out of my life.

@breastcancerpanic welcome to the light! You have come a long way since August 24. I understand your enthusiasm. Getting through treatment just seems like an awful endurance test that goes on and on, but recovery is somehow a positive process giving you back your life and energy. How much hair have you got now? It does grow quickly once it starts.

Great news @Remaker you must be relieved!

I’ve just cycled 30 miles leading a ride to a friend’s house for a surprise birthday celebration. What a fun day!

I agree with @TopOfTheCliff that hair does grow quickly @breastcancerpanic- my eyelashes came back pretty quickly - but also - mullets 😭😭😭.

Hi everyone
Just had my 1st annual mammogram results post treatment and all OK!
So pleased and relieved.

That’s great news @Zoopet- I think we all know how stressful scans et cetera are!

Great scan results @Remaker and @Zoopet.

I don't think I lost eyelashes, hair I found quite painful, kept getting chemo curls and only 3 years on from chemo it's back to same as before.

DD has given us a date for her return. Or rather her luggage returning and she's off to rowing camp at end of June. 😂Had job interview today and had to do a presentation.

@Zoopet congratulations, it’s such a relief to get the right results.

@MsPengiuns you will hardly see her over the summer, she will have so many things lined up to keep her busy. I have had my DD1 visiting me for a few days and she has been a joy but is far to busy to stay around her old mum for long 😂
Now I am staying at DD2s house to mind my granddog. This is an imposition but I am being trained up to be ready for childcare emergencies once my GBaby arrives. I shall do lots of long walks which will be good for me and the doggo.

I had a shock tonight. Out on the river my friend tripped and fell on a boat. She has fractured her humerus and that’s her summer gone. Just a trivial slip! Yikes.

Just got bone scan results in and says no evidence of bone mets and says there is uptake within the shoulders and sternoclavicular joints consistent with degenerative arthropathy. No further areas of increased uptake. Which seems to be osteoarthritis. Bit odd as no pain there but pain in ribs and hips and sternum. Very happy with that result. I don't get anything for bones currently, the pain isn't that bad, more slightly annoying than painful and reminds me I am not 20 any more.

Enjoy time with your DDs Top I am sure my DD will be very busy. We are slowly getting small bits of information. Plants arriving today. The end is getting in sight. Obviously it won't be the end as it's like painting the Forth Bridge but everywhere done once should be done by end of June. I have lots of daisy like flowers coming as they always used to be DSs favourite when he came to pick plants with us. And DH requested a fig tree so one of those. Can just hear DS in the garden.

That is great news @MsPengiuns, I'm glad you didn't have to wait too long.

That’s great news @MsPengiuns 🥳🥳🥳

I bought a little arbour seat for the garden in a sale at the garden centre. It was half price but a bit battered. I’ve dismantled it and am repainting and repairing it which is quite fun. DH has been helping. Nice to do something together too.
DD has her 20 week scan today so we should know what flavour GC she is brewing.
I am aware that five years ago I was waiting for my first biopsy results and the diagnosis of BC. What a lot has happened since then!

Fab news @MsPengiuns- particularly as it has been going on for a while.

I’ve got a bit of a dull weekend, my friends all seem to be doing something else. Not sure whether to take myself off somewhere, or just spend the time pottering at home (or at the pool if it stays hot). Sometimes I like being on my own, sometimes I just feel a bit sad.

Thanks @Demivolte Yes was really good how quick results came back and very kind of them.

Thanks @TopOfTheCliff Hope 20 week scan went well. So exciting to have a GC on the way.

Thanks @SierraSapphire Hope you found something nice to do. I am the same with being alone, sometimes I am fine and other times I find it sad. I guess it might be adjusting to a new routine now your DD has moved. David Lloyd is always a great option.

Just been gardening with DH today. I didn't realise how long we had been out there until DH said 4.5 hours. Love gardening with DH and the silkies and got a fair amount done. I had ordered some plants from RHS including daisies which are DSs favourite, a fig tree DH had requested and some carnations and got all those planted. Pruned a few things and a lot of sweeping up leaves. The robin and silkies were particularly impressed with my sweeping as that revealed new worms. And threw out some old bricks. We are nearly there, its mainly the lawn now and the lane to do but that's separate from the garden. Found 2 banana skins from DS and lots of sticks, also DS.

Tomorrow its Father's Day so have ordered cakes from the bakers for an afternoon tea for us all. DD is still at university at the moment and has exams imminently but will be back on 27 / 28th. Just about to have a kebab and will watch more Below Deck and / or Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

@breastcancerpanic welcome to the thread. It’s not an easy road. But we are all getting there.
Sounds as if we’ve had a similar issue with breast implant infection.

I’ve got another check up at the clinic this week and think I have some fluid building up on my right side so that will need to be sorted out.

I went back to work this week and am trying to complete my training in this new role. I’m still very sore where the drains were and obviously the multiple surgeries have irritated my right side in particular as that was the side where the expander felt really foreign and where my lymph nodes had all been removed. It’s also my dominant arm - so it’s the one I use most of the time.

To be honest I feel quite low in mood. The thought that I’m not going to have any form of reconstruction is weighing quite heavily on me. I was hoping to go to my father’s 80th birthday in a ‘fixed’ condition and now that’s not going to be the case. It feels very ugly and unfeminine.
So I have some work to do around this I think.

For reasons unknown the website is not loading properly a lot of the time so I’m struggling to access it.

Glad about the positive test results @remaker.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I’m not at all surprised @FairyWren7 that you are feeling low. You have been through a very disappointing and damaging experience. Be kind to yourself while you heal.
@MsPengiuns all is well with DD and the bump. It’s a little boy! We are going shopping next week to start looking at baby things. Very exciting.
Meanwhile I jumped on the early train yesterday and went racing on a friend’s boat. Six hours of slogging to windward and I am aching today. My upper body strength is still poor but a couple of weeks on my boat will help that. I am still being treated as a minor celebrity which is a bit weird. An article came out about DH and my tour of Britain which is fun but a bit embarrassing. I am pondering what adventure we can have next.

@TopOfTheCliff how lovely to have a gc brewing. I hope all went well either way the scan.

Sorry to hear things are so challenging still, @FairyWren7 You’re at the stage where people say “it’s all behind you now” when it really isn’t.

My mammogram came back clear, thank goodness. I think they must have expedited the result as they had told me three weeks and it came back in under a week, first class post.

Trying to focus on dh today, our eldest is doing a meal at his place. It’s my first Father’s Day without my dad, who died shortly after my first op. I’ve booked a short break overseas over the anniversary of all that, hopefully will be a decent distraction.

Have a good day, all.

Just got back from a lovely weekend away with friends. My friends husband had bladder cancer last year and our chemo was often on the same day (different hospital!) so we were chemo buddies for a while. We’re both now clear but dealing with the after math of it all. As we all are!

One of those things for me is weight gain. I was already a bit overweight before I was diagnosed - and now I’m even more overweight - I was size 14 before and now I’m pushing an 18, which I am unhappy about.

So any ideas for a post chemo weight loss programme - not anything injectable - no judgement whatsoever but it’s just not for me at the moment - I’m walking 10k steps a day easy and swimming twice a week. I’ve done slimming world in the past which I actually found worked well.

@Littlecaf I have concluded that as my weight was stable before cancer, and I put on weight due to steroids and inertia and comfort eating, that now I am active again and eating healthily it will correct itself. This is happening very slowly but I have lost 14kg in 16 months and it’s still dropping. I weigh less than I did on diagnosis and seem to have a smaller appetite. I notice when I am comfort eating too, mostly when bored or fed up. I did the Zoe project for a while and eat mostly plants with some high quality protein like fish or chicken. I am slowly realising that when I eat sugar I feel really unwell afterwards, a bit like when I have alcohol. This is probably a good thing and my body is telling me what to avoid. The issue of UPFs ( ultra processed food) is interesting too. I definitely feel better for avoiding them. But life is too short not to enjoy an occasional takeaway or a piece of cake.
What was helpful about Slimming World? Do they make you accountable for what you eat? I’ve never attended a weight loss group.

Good all is fine with the GC @TopOfTheCliff very exciting to have a grandson on the way. An adventure would be good.

@Littlecaf I put on weight after cancer treatment, first time I had ever gone out of normal BMI, and I wasn't weighing myself so got a shock when I when to hospital after a year and a bit and found needed to lose 14kgs. I have done that now and a bit more and BMI back at 24. It'll vary from person to person what will work but I firstly evaluated my calories in and out, exercise was fine so it wasn't that but I found there were things I could cut like after swimming I'ld been having a KFC as it was late and I thought I had swam a lot and also coffee I had with milk in so could be 200 calories a cup. I went on a 1,200 calorie a day diet and for drinks I just had tea with no sugar and fizzy water with lime juice. I also eat back exercise calories. I did need to cut back on sugar as that makes you crave food. I love sugar so that was hard. I needed to cut it almost cold turkey though not 100% as I feel ill with no sugar and get shaky. Salt also need to be careful with though I don't like that so its easy. I am not sure how long it took me, maybe a year. It was a tough regime but I feel and look so much better for it, walking got much easier, felt healthier. Now I am back on a normal diet but do still weigh myself at least once a month and stick to around 1,400 calories a day plus exercise ones. The right level for you will be trial and error and depends on height, daily activity level etc. 3,500 calories in a pound and think it was 7,700 in a kg. I do still have takeaways and cheese and cake but its being aware of calories for me. Today I was way over with a Sunday roast with roast chicken and chicken sandwich which was fine, just drinking lime juice and fizzy water and tea with no sugar also fine but we had cakes for Father's Day and I have a scone with jam and cream and a lemon drizzle cake which pushed me quite a lot over. I carry over the deficit to the next day - its OK to have days like that occasionally but not say 3 times a week. Sometimes after you have dieted for say 2 months its fine to say take a break for a week then restart. With the sugar I still had fruits and that can be nice with all the different fruits and over summer salads can be good. Gardening can also use a lot of calories.

Great news about mammo @dancingwhilstfacingthemusic

Sorry you are feeling low @FairyWren7 I found it very difficult as well. I think with the better prothesis no-one can tell but its knowing yourself. Hopefully there will be a solution.

@MsPengiuns & @TopOfTheCliff Thank you - I think I need to do something that’s mostly normal food based & exercise and probably involves tracking and being accountable. I’m also realising that sugar makes me feel crap and have been actively avoiding too much processed food. I think being in menopause is not helping my waistline although I’m enjoying swimming again and I walk everyday. I have a good neighbour who is a women’s health PT who said she’d help me but she seems to only train already fit people and that’s not me! I’m still on Phesgo & have radiotherapy starting this week so maybe it’s a job for September once I’m over this bit and the summer!