Hay, I’m new to this and finally accepted that I still need help after getting the all clear. It’s been over a year and getting back to normality has been so hard. I think I need to speak to people with the same or similar experience to me. Guess this is the best place to start. I can’t do life after cancer on my own, my family and friends have been amazing but no one can truly understand what I’ve been through. Thanks for reading...
Hi and welcome to the Community.
Normality is such a complicated word when it comes to the post treatment journey.
I see you were treated for HL, blood cancer treatment can be full on and often requires a significant recover time.
I was diagnosed with a rare NHL back in 1999 with multiple relapses so I think my life has been years of treatment, recovery and relapse on ‘repeat‘ eventually going on to have two Allo (donor) Stem Cell Transplants......so Ibtotaly get your journey.
I you can see my story in my profile but my last main treatment was October 2015 reaching remission for the first time in 17 years back in Sep 2016..... and au am doing great.
Recover takes time and some determination. Why not start with having a look at this great paper. Once you have had a look do cone back and tell me what you think and we can talk more.
We do actually have a dedicated Stem Cell Transplant group where people who are going through or have been through SCT hang out.
You may find some of our ongoing threads helpful:
Life after a SCT - A Survivor's Guide where we have tried to collect or post treatment experiences.
Late effects and problems where we look at issues further down the line post SCT.
We all have some Amusing stories from our SCT journey to tell - have a look.
Hi and welcome to this little corner of the Community.
First you have to be congratulated in getting through treatment and out the other end. It can not be underestimated what the body and mind goes through before and during treatment, some treatment, like yours do leave left long reminders.
They say time is a healer.....is it? For most yes, but for others the time stands still and no progresses is made.
The ‘new normal’ phrase is used a lot.... and not often used constructively and indeed sometimes not that supportively.
I have been on my cancer journey for over 21 years so ‘normal’ has never much been in my vocabulary but I am now 4 years in remission, I will never hear cure but I am ok with this.
At times, living the post cancer journey is like living in a parallel universe - you can see your old life but regardless what you do you can not get back on that same path.
Following my many years of treatment and now nearly 5 years into my post treatment life, a situation I was unwillingly put into. It did actually make me review life and everything that we once thought important.
So some things from our old life are still in our lives but various aspects of our old life that were once seen as important were put in the bin and we don’t miss them.
I am rambling, but sometimes it good just to talk as it helps unpack the ‘stuff’ we carry in our invisible Cancer rucksack on our backs.
You may want to make a cup-a and have a look at this great paper, folks will actually come back to me and say that they think that the paper had been written just about then.
Always around to listen, may not have answers but that may not be what you need.
((hugs))
