I had surgery and radiotherapy between September and November 2021, I am still having so much fatigue and weakness in my arm after a skin graft. I also get a little bit of lymphedema in my neck after removal of lymph nodes which makes my upper body strength weak. Along side this I struggle with long distance walking after a tracheostomy. Is this normal or am I just a complainer. I am back in work full time but shattered on my days off
Hello Scoobydoo,
Thank you for getting in touch with us. My name is Lynsay, I am one of the cancer information nurses with Macmillan Cancer support.
I am sorry to hear you are still experiencing effects following your treatment. Having longer term effects after cancer treatment can and does happen. Please don’t think of yourself as a complainer in any way. You are in recovery from cancer treatment and sometimes this recover can go on over the course of months and in some cases years.
Fatigue especially is commonly experienced after cancer treatment and can go on affecting people for a long time. It can be a difficult to manage, however it may be possible to improve the fatigue you are experiencing, we have a booklet about this which I have attached here.
It can also be helpful to speak with your GP or your specialist nurse about the fatigue you are experiencing. This way anything that may be contributing to this fatigue and possibly making it worse can be identified and treated. For example, things like being anaemic (low level of iron in the blood) or changes to your thyroid can be checked through a simple blood test and if impacting you can be corrected and thus improving the fatigue you are experiencing.
You also mentioned muscle weakness in your arm and some lymphoedema, again this can be assessed by a GP to see if any further support from physiotherapy or a lymphedema specialist nurse may improve how you are feeling. Struggling to walk long distances can relate directly to the fatigue you are experiencing when doing to much activity can make the fatigue you have worse.
Working full time while trying to manage fatigue can be really challenging. We have a work support service available for you to speak with. It may be helpful to have a chat about your options and any reasonable adjustments that could be made at your work to try and help with this.
There can also be a significant emotional impact when recovery happens over a longer period of time, it can sometimes cause people to experience low mood or feel anxious or worried about a recurrence of the cancer. We have cancer specific telephone counselling available if this would be helpful, I have added the information about this here. You are more than welcome to call us, having the chance to talk things through can sometimes help.
I hope this information is useful. Please don’t hesitate to get back in contact by email, webchat or phone, if you need further information or support.
Best wishes
Lynsay,
Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us.
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