Forum Discussion
Janny54
8 years agoMember
This might seem silly.
Hi ladies.
This might seem daft but it has been on my mind for quite some time.
I was chatting to my daughter this morning and we were talking about something that happened last year and I said when I was sick. Then I said I wasn't really sick.
So I was just wondering how do you lovely ladies refer to yourself after you had the operation but went through chemo and radiation.
Hugs to you all
Jan xx
This might seem daft but it has been on my mind for quite some time.
I was chatting to my daughter this morning and we were talking about something that happened last year and I said when I was sick. Then I said I wasn't really sick.
So I was just wondering how do you lovely ladies refer to yourself after you had the operation but went through chemo and radiation.
Hugs to you all
Jan xx
51 Replies
- Janny54Member
Thank you lovely ladies.
I have realised why I am thinking about it. I now know that I can talk about it now. And when I was having the treatment I couldn't. Sunday I went to lunch with a bunch of girls that I used to work with and one of them said OMG you are back. You are making daft jokes about last year.....
And like you @viking1 I refuse to call it a Journey. A journey I choose to take but I didn't choose this.
I do remember Sunday not saying last year when I was SICK. It was when I was having treatment.
Thanks Ladies.
Jan xxx
- AnonymousNot applicableHey there Janny, I just called it chemo, and called my at home solitary confinement. When I lost my hair, I called it low maintenance. Have to keep your sense of humour.
And remember, there are no silly questions here, just support, advice and fellowship.
Cuddles, Trace - kmakmMemberThat rings very true for me @viking1. Well said.
- viking1MemberI didn't have vomiting or nausea during chemo, but was hospitalised twice for neutropenia and a PE and pneunomia. Even then I didn't feel "sick", just in pain - which still exists from my axillary clearance scar. I still have 2 rads to go and herceptin till September. I equate being sick with something like the flu. Even with severe diarrhoea during neutropenia I still saw it as a side effect. I don't know what I will say if anyone asks as I think of it as having an operation and then preventative treatment. I might just say I had an op and treatment. I'm not in denial ... I don't think! It just feels as though I had stuff 'done to me' that wasn't particularly pleasant, with a few stuff ups thrown in for good measure. My lumpectomy was last June and I think I said elsewhere that I recall women saying that during birth, it was awful, but later on they started to forget the pain. I feel like I am already forgetting what I know was a horrible interlude. I don't call it my 'journey', no offense to those who do. I just imagine a journey as something nice! During the whole thing, I would say that I suffered most miserably and psychologically with immediate family members. That was the most sickening part of the experience. I found out very late in the piece that if you are having problems in this area, you need to get help asap from a counsellor or social worker, and your good friends. You may have to take time out from negative family dynamic however you can. I live with extended family so had to keep myself fairly isolated from them, not engage in any conflict, put myself first and even give up or give in to things that were not worth fighting for because of the emotional backlash. I think in retrospect your self care psychologically is paramount...people probably cause more pain than the disease. Thank God we have sites like this and other kind people out there and good friends.xxx
- wendy55MemberExactly, if you dont laugh you cry and I would much rather laugh -
wendy55 - HITMemberOh yeah onemargie - roundup - that is a good one.
- wendy_h67Member@onemargie I think you have to have a sense of humor, or how else can we get through this. I think it helps. By the way, I think it is the white wine they are giving me and having another top up today.
- onemargieMemberHi there @wendy_h67 you know me too well and I bloody hope they do put wine through your veins instead lol. Got to be better than the roundup they use now dont you think lol
- HITMemberHi Jan, I remember after treatment had finished in the Breast Clinic organizing my op to remove my port - filled the form out and sat down while receptionist did all the bookings etce - and suddenly said to her, hey the part when it asks if you have been previously sick (ie diabetes, blood pressure or other) should I of put cancer??? Don't know if she changed it or not. I just say what my grandkids say - when you were bald Granny.
- RomlaMemberI agree with the others - I just simply and matter of factly say “when I had cancer treatment”. It’s part of life and part of my life .