Tearful days

Hi CherishedDays, I totally ‘get’ that feeling when you are not seeing your medical team as much so your security blanket has been taken away. Do remember the Macmillan Support Services on 0808 808 00 00 - most services are open 8am to 8pm is open 7 days a week. This service provides lots of emotional support or just a listening ear.

The post treatment part of the journey can be very challenging. You may find looking through some of the discussions in our Life after cancer group…… it’s a safe place to unpack the journey ((hugs))

Hi there, 

I had my radio treatment just when the first Covid lock down happened. When it finished, I did not see people for weeks and I remember bursting into tears just by watching an advert of puppies and toilet paper on the TV.

I was also sleeping very little, therefore I was not only tired because of the treatment but also from the lack of real rest…. This was a year ago…

I also used the nurses and the doctors as a safety blanket, so when my treatment ended I felt very lost…. I guess is normal but at the time it was a devastating feeling.

I sent you hope and energy… keep in touch!

Hey TheHighlander, things can change quite fast, so you may already have moved on from these particular issues, but I really feel for you. I'm mid-treatment and just started getting very weepy and out-of-control, which is very much not like me! I'm normally a person who is seen as a someone who 'copes well', and is there to help others going through hard times, so this is all feeling very unsettling and concerning. Although I do seem to be sleeping reasonably well, I do think that this strong emotional stuff is to do with feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. I really think pain is exhausting, and uses up a heap of resources (our daily 'spoon' supply, if you use that sort of languaging). I was at the hospital today and had to sit down in the stairwell and sob for a bit before I could pull myself together and get to the next appointment. I think it's all just 'wearing me down'.

Hi Astralita and thank you for your post. I am very very well and living the dream.

My security blanket was pulled away from me back in June 2018 when I was totally discharged from my clinical team although I have an incurable type of blood cancer that may well come back but I have been on my cancer journey since 1999 (hit my community name to see my story) so I know what to look out for and who to call when it’s showed it’s face again…. but the most important thing is I have developed the ability to not let my cancer define my life but am able to live as normal a life that any 66 year old can live.

Sorry to hear you are having to navigate the mid treatment bumps in the journey and exhaustion or more specifically Fatigue has to be worked through.

From my long experience it’s important to remember that on the whole the challenging times (I have had lots) are all temporary and will pass.

I wish you well with your journey.

Thanks Highlander. (NB I live in New Zealand, but have Scottish heritage on both sides of my family and I'm very proud of my Celtic roots ... and a bit of Norse as my people are from the north of Scotland - Caithness, Orkneys and Loch Carron).

Hi Astralita, it’s amazing the amount of people I have talked with over the years helping on this Community who can trace their heritage back to Scotland and specifically the Northern areas.

I am originally from a small fishing town in Aberdeenshire and the Norse connections still run deep in the community, especially in the local dialect.

Take care and a happy New Year when it comes.