Post Treatment Letdown
I am just over a year from my initial diagnosis of breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy and node clearance a week after diagnosis, started 6 months of chemo about 4 weeks later, radiotherapy about 6 week...
Forum Discussion
I can honestly say, having gone through natural menopause (just prior my diagnosis) i felt like this. I didn't feel like me. I was also scared I would never desire sex again. I can't say I ever had the drive return...but with cuddling and a holiday we got our groove back.
Then along came breast cancer. A bilateral mastectomy...expanders in. 6 months chemo. Letrozole. 7 months herceptin. Heart failure. 28 kg weight gain. Then 24 kg weight loss on optifast then changeover surgery.
Only after the changeover did it hit me. No longer focussing on treatments and staying alive I then finally had to deal with what I've lost.
....my breasts, which were a big part of our lovemaking.
....my hair. Although has regrown it is not the colour it was and remains patchy with some areas straight snd some still curly. I've finally accepted 3 years on this is how it will stay.
....my energy. 3 years on it hasn't returned. It took me 6 months to be able to work full time again. I can put in a full work day but little energy for more.
.....my weight is up again and I lack the mental and physical energy to tackle it again.
....oh and let's not forget the big one...the health naivity....feeling healthy and confident of a good long life.
Surviving breast cancer is like running a marathon. It is a mammoth task. Some don't make it. Some do...forever changed.
You have the right to grieve.
You have the right to feel fear.
It does get better (and sometimes worse again at times)
At some point acceptance comes and you go on with life....a different life, forever changed.
Then along came breast cancer. A bilateral mastectomy...expanders in. 6 months chemo. Letrozole. 7 months herceptin. Heart failure. 28 kg weight gain. Then 24 kg weight loss on optifast then changeover surgery.
Only after the changeover did it hit me. No longer focussing on treatments and staying alive I then finally had to deal with what I've lost.
....my breasts, which were a big part of our lovemaking.
....my hair. Although has regrown it is not the colour it was and remains patchy with some areas straight snd some still curly. I've finally accepted 3 years on this is how it will stay.
....my energy. 3 years on it hasn't returned. It took me 6 months to be able to work full time again. I can put in a full work day but little energy for more.
.....my weight is up again and I lack the mental and physical energy to tackle it again.
....oh and let's not forget the big one...the health naivity....feeling healthy and confident of a good long life.
Surviving breast cancer is like running a marathon. It is a mammoth task. Some don't make it. Some do...forever changed.
You have the right to grieve.
You have the right to feel fear.
It does get better (and sometimes worse again at times)
At some point acceptance comes and you go on with life....a different life, forever changed.