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.

Good idea @FairyWren7 - although I am eating fruit and almonds and the sweet things 😂. I think I'm overdosing on caffeine too. I need to get a grip!

@SierraSapphire I run on coffee!

It’s my one remaining pleasure and I’m not giving it up!

Another coffee addict here! We have a lovely de Longhi machine in the kitchen which keeps me going. I have been resting up a bit today although DH and I went and worked on clearing his parents house for a while and I went to the dentist. She didn’t charge me anything for the visit as she was so embarrassed her last filling attempt fell out. All well happily. She did say chemotherapy patients often have dental issues.
Tomorrow DH is off with a buddy so I am planning some treats after an early exercise class. I will try to make them healthy ones!

I was also told by the dentist that dental issues are common after chemotherapy and I seemed to be a dental medical miracle that I didn't have any. 🤣 I think it was the extra fluoride toothpaste they gave me. I remember being terrified of the people who had multiple teeth fall out but so far so good.

I am also eating a lot though exercising a lot to just been swimming tonight so in theory should be staying same weight but since I got back I have wanted to eat everything. Not sure why, cold maybe or maybe as fresh food was difficult to get over there apart from fish, and a few fruit. Also I could not be bothered to carry shopping up a hill and then cook so had one meal overlooking the ocean all day there. Drinks am not too bad, just drinking the occasional coffee and mainly fizzy water with lime juice or tea with no sugar and the occasional coke. I get plenty of fruit and veg but sweet things I am back on, had meringue and cream today as pavlova picture appeared. Keep getting cakes from the bakers. Also had McDonald's after swimming.

I did 100 lengths again. Just been WFH full time other than that and trying to sort things for DS. DD is back in 2.5 weeks. Cleaners on Saturday. Garden and upstairs are in good shape, well good enough but downstairs needs sorting again, not sure what DH has down there but at least he sorts it pre cleaners normally. Otherwise he hates moving it but does it fine for them.

Just working today, better on food as just the one sweet thing today. DH started clearing things he's left downstairs for when the cleaners come so that's good though I mentioned about moving it into a tiny room we have downstairs and he was erm actually that tiny room is full of useless stuff and there's no space in it so he must have been storing junk there. But at least means after cleaners rest of house apart from that small room and the 2 kids rooms will be sorted and garden is sorted.

I think if I had to choose only one I would go for cheese rather than sweet things. We have some lovely Blackstick blue cheese in the fridge, along with some Baron Bigod brie. They are so addictive! DH loves his "cheesy moment" 😂
I did a good Pilates class this morning, went for coffee with friends, then spent the afternoon working on my boat headlining which involves sniffing a lot of glue 😷My arms are aching a bit which means I did some good resistance training this morning. It is such a slow process making a change!

Hello all I am back from another mini break. DS17’s school cricket team had a game just outside of Canberra so we went along to support him and stayed a couple of nights in Canberra to see DD. She has decided she loves her new Uni life - phew! DS’s team won and I had a call offering me a job interview so it’s been a good week all round.

I’m taking your advice about exercise @TopOfTheCliff and have been doing a fast lap of walking around my favourite park a few times a week. My stiff aching lower back is much improved and the pesky tendonitis in my wrist is finally getting better. I’m hopeful of getting back to resistance training both arms very soon.

Solidarity with everyone trying to resist sweet treats- they are definitely my weakness too.

That sounds like a good week @Remaker and congratulations on the interview.

I'm eating a slice of cake as I type this 🤦

It is the last day of February and I saw some blossom on a tree this morning which was cheering.

@Remaker excellent all round! Good luck for your interview.

I had an interview on Wednesday which I think went well. However there appears to be many stages to it and I think it will take a lot of time. Two weeks for interviews, then other testing and fitness apparently. I’m not holding my breath. There will be many more applicants with better qualifications in the field than me. I’m considering doing a qualification in the area.

Tutoring is suiting me quite well. A couple of other jobs that I might apply for.

But I’m still on the surgery waiting list… Have my appointment in a couple of weeks. I am going to try and get them to give me a date. So I can try and plan the rest of the year!

Glad the British spring is coming. Still hot here. :)

Same here @FairyWren7 . 34 yesterday and 30 today. And more cricket to watch. It’s at a private school so there’s a grandstand with a roof but I prefer DS’s school home ground in a big public park with lots of trees to sit under. Back to mid 20s next week, can’t wait.

I’m excited for spring too. I’ve been having a lot of recurrence anxiety lately and finding work tiring but I had a day off today and a walk in the Yorkshire Dales with my cousin. I am much less fit than her and found it hard to chat on the uphill bits but it was absolutely gorgeous weather and views.

Also love Baron bigod Top and class cheese as good(ish) as I am supposed to have calcium and eat it with fruit as well, that's what I tell myself anyway. My DH loves cheese being French. That sounds like a lovely day Top

So glad your DD loves university Remaker and congratulations on the job interview.

Lovely to see blossom Demivolte We are hopefully going to Wisley tomorrow and they seem to have blossom now. We have a few spring flowers and a bit of blossom in the garden, but mainly green at the moment and looking forward to more appearing.

Glad interview went well Fairywren Hope you can get a surgery plan. I had diep in September and am so happy with the results. There's supposed to be a stage 2 but they didn't put me on list for that and results are already really good and not sure if I can be bothered with another stage just for a nipple basically. It's given me a flat stomach though you need to be careful as weight just seems to go above, I have just lost a tiny bit more since and it's good incentive to stay thin as it feels tight. You can feel it in the stomach, a bit like guitar strings, but doesn't hurt and feel so much more like old me again especially with hair back now. I also got feeling back including under arm again which is great though they said that is unusual and swimming I no longer feel lob sided. It's so good not to have the prothesis and to be able to have normal tops and swimming costumes.

Lovely picture and day Dotty Sorry you are worrying about reoccurrence. I tend to adopt a la-la-la approach so I don't think about it much. I think there's nothing really I can do other things like exercise, so I do that and try to enjoy here and now and if it reoccurs I will deal with it then, I do hope not for all of us though.

Pretty good week in terms of getting things done. Both WFH full time all week, went swimming twice, did gardening last weekend and have had cleaners today and sorted house downstairs. I love it went things are sorted though sure if won't take long before it starts getting unsorted! There are still things left to do but most things are done. Having Sunday roast tonight early as will hopefully be in Wisley tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Hey all - may I join? Thanks @TopOfTheCliff for signing posting me here. I’m 3 months PFC and 2 months post mastectomy - had a full pathological response so I’m supposed to move on - yeah? No idea 🤷‍♀️ Feel totally lost. Not quite over chemo (“you look so well!) and finding out that chemo destroyed my teeth, skin, hair, waistline and mental health. Radiotherapy has been put back until May (no staff, but don’t worry it’s only “preventative for recurrence”) but just feels like the finish line has been moved further away again. Still having Phesgo injections until July, so can’t really move on until that is done. DP wants to book a beach holiday for Easter (so do I!) but I don’t have the confidence to do it….the thought of going back to work excites me and terrifies me at the same time. (Yay I’m back! but I have no confidence to do anything).

i thought this bit would be easy but its not a walk in the park.

Hi @littlecaf
I know how you feel!
Once treatment is finished / nearly finished it feels like the general consensus of friends and family is that you can return to your previous self and "move on."
It feels like living in a parallel world and makes me feel frustrated and guilty!
Personally I've just signed up for a post cancer course called "moving on."
I think it's country wide ( possibly run by Macmillan?)
Mine is 2 consecutive Weds afternoons this month.
Might be worth looking to see if there is a course near you?
Take care x

Welcome @Littlecaf I am glad you made the big leap! I totally relate to your reluctance to commit to the holiday. You might find Peter Harvey’s article in the links above helpful,as it explains exactly what you are describing. He advises rather than trying to book a lovely week away you start small. Just plan an afternoon out locally, or a trip to a nearby venue. That will give you the confidence to build on. Recovery is much slower than we expect it to be, and I have learned to be gentler on myself both physically and mentally. I was pushing too hard and making myself ache physically and causing anxiety by being too ambitious early on. I have found a wonderful programme called the Gentle Recovery which is an online yoga based course run by a physio called India Gooderham. She lives near me too so I can go to her classes in person on Fridays. Her main message is be kind to yourself!
Yesterday was a lovely day. I did an easy bike ride in the morning then went for a spa session and cream tea with some newish friends who are all kind and considerate. We were treating a lady who has been looking after her ungrateful elderly DM for weeks and is exhausted. Many here will relate to that!
Today is another bike ride for pancakes this morning and the installation of full fibre broadband later. I’m living the dream here 😎
What are the rest of you up to? We have glorious sunshine here which is much needed after weeks of grey murk.

Just popping in and catching up. FT job is super-intense just now but contract ends Sep and looking forward to going PT again. This is just a bit too exhausting.

@Remaker Yes trying to have a reasonably anti-inflam diet with some treats! So cutting down processed foods, but lean meat included as similarly dh has condition that precludes a total veg/vegan diet. Condition of microbiome is important - so trying to include e.g. kefir, fermented foods. It's all ruined though by my over-consumption of red wine and cutting that right down is my next project. Exercise is also a miracle drug and great for inflammation (unless you have one of the chronic conditions where exercise has to be more restricted). I get plenty automatically because I cycle to work so I will have to think about that going forward.

@dotty2 I thought a lot about having 'joy' - it's not something I do well. I'm not a good hill walker but I do enjoy a walk - I either go with a friend or listen to a podcast. I don't go with dh so much because I have the opposite problem - he is a much stronger walker than me. Perhaps schedule regular walks with friends? It's a good way to chat too. Music is my other big go to but....

@Zoopet How long post treatment are you? Neuropathy in my hands is my main post-treatment problem. It got worse for about a year post treatment and I got quite miserable about it - especially as I play guitar and I basically just stopped. It did improve after that though - but I still find it kind of comes and goes and I can't quite figure out why it's sometimes more than others. I play -but not as much. I really just have to suck it up - accept that playing is compromised and deal with it - this is a work in progress. It's more than a buzz - can be quite painful. I have trouble doing some other fiddly things. I stopped a random man in the car park the other day to open something for me. Anyway - wondering how long it's been as I am 3 years out now (BC) and things have been changing year on year but generally improving so hoping you might improve over time maybe.

@GrannyGoggles I have a lot of scar tissue due to a glue allergy at surgery - and I just cannot figure out what is normal. It changes over time but there is always a bit of pain and oddness and then I think - is this the same or is it different....? 🙄

@TopOfTheCliff Just a wave. And to everyone and anyone. Great to have a post-treatment place.

Welcome @Littlecaf, and @Zoopet I know exactly what you mean about feeling you're in some kind of parallel universe.

Today is a work day for me but the sun is shining and I can see blue sky out of the window, it makes such a difference.

@Acinonyx2 I am 7 months post final treatment and I also have terrible neuropathy in my fingers and feet.
It's a constant buzzing feeling and my feet (especially at night) are very painful with cramps and aches.
I understand your frustration about playing music as I have similar problems with sewing and Art work.
Onwards and upwards!

Thanks all for the tips and links - I do want to do a “moving on” type course but kinda feel like I can’t commit until I’ve done the radiotherapy bit - so maybe in the summer - my local Macmillan centre run them so I can access that. Just feeling in limbo at the moment. I had my counselling session today and cried a lot - I usually just vent at the counsellor but today she had to work quite hard to get anything out of me I was so teary. Then got a message from a colleague that her daughter has a rare type of cancer - and my heart went out to her - but it selfishly got me out of my own personal fug and put it all in perspective & I calmed down a bit.

@Acinonyx2 my motto for this year is “Bring Joy!” which mostly involves me remembering friends birthday and arranging to catch up with people - but it’s a start.

@TopOfTheCliff Ive just booked some reflexology and maybe some kind of restorative gentle yoga would help, even just being positive and in a positive gentle location (someone’s nice clean yoga studio!) I think would be help. I’m going to look into this. Thank you for the suggestions.

Oh, how have I not seen these threads until now?

I am 5 years post early breast cancer diagnosis. I had clear margins and no lymph involvement so had a therapeutic reduction on the effected breast + RT + 5 years of Tamoxifen. Though, I confess to stopping Tamoxifen 15 months ago due to side effects. My oncologist reluctantly admitted that the much touted 'will reduce your risk of reoccurance by up to 50%' actually translated to 'will reduce your risk from 0.5% to 1%'. It's very misleading how they promote numbers.

Anyways, I've been absolutely fine until I had my 5th and supposedly final mammogram recently. But my BCN rang to say I was being recalled because even though the radiologist had classed my mammogram as BI-RADS 2 (so 'normal') they had seen some 'distorted tissue' they wanted to investigate.

I immediately went to pieces despite the BCN trying to reassure me. Have been riddled with anxiety since, sleeping badly and driving myself mad with fretting.

My recall appointment is this Thursday so just need to get it over with.

Welcome @Arraminta we are your people! Try to block those thoughts out if you can. I hope the time passes quickly before Thursday and all goes well.

@Acinonyx2 <<waves back>> . I get the nighttime neuropathy buzzing pain too. It’s really annoying and hurts a lot. Initially I thought it was arthritis pain but the joints are quiet so I have concluded it’s the nerves. I also had glue allergy in the past, after a gallbladder op and the first lumpectomy. Now I refuse Dermabond and haven’t had a problem at the last three (!) operations.

Ah sorry you're going through this @Arraminta - a few of us have had scares since our original cancer @TopOfTheCliff went through one recently, mine was over a year and a half ago now. We've all been okay, touchwood. It's horrible while you're waiting though, let us know how it goes. I had finding on my pathology that when I looked into it could either have been evidence of the presence of cancer cells, or could just have been someone's hand slipping transferring the cells to the slide 🙄.

I'm going on holiday on Friday, but now I'm just doing that pre-holiday thing of having too much to do. I've got a new staff member at work, there's a viewing on my mum's house at the weekend and there's some stuff I need to sort out for that, and my daughter's car broke down this afternoon. That's why I'm now sat on the sofa with my phone doing none of the things that I need to do!

Thank you @TopOfTheCliff. I've recently retired too (though am only 54) so have been trying to find my feet in this new world of total freedom.

Assuming nothing bad is found on Thursday I'm hoping to find productive ways to spend all this free time.

Thank you @SierraSapphire. The BCN seems to think the distortion might have been caused by incorrect positioning of my boob on the plate? Keeping everything crossed that this is the case!

I think these recalls & scares actually shave months off your life, do you?

You sound like you have plenty on your plate! I'm a huge fan of lists so I have the satisfaction of ticking them off. Lovely that you've a holiday to look forward to this weekend x

"Condition of microbiome is important" I think my gut microbiome is seriously compromised. The surgery that I had means that bile, produced by my liver, goes directly into my jujenum (my duodenum has been removed). I read some research that found that this excess bile has a detrimental effect on gut bacteria. I think the balance of gut bacteria is changed so there are too many "bad" bacteria and not enough "good" bacteria. I do like fermented foods like kimchi and kefir but I don't eat it very regularly. I think that's something I should change.