3 days from finishing treatment

Hi ,

Good luck with these last couple of treatments & we’ll see you through the other side. Keep in touch & keep in the forefront of your mind that this will get better. 

Nicola x

Thanks for this informative post you’ve covered pretty much everything ha ha.

Just one question if you hadn’t already did you enter in to the menopause due to this treatment?

I am 39 as mentioned so hopes of a second baby dashed and a little disappointing to know I might head in to the menopause on top of everything else!

Hi 

I was 47 when diagnosed so probably on the way into menopause anyway. 

Prior to treatment, my oncologist told me there was a 50/50 chance that the treatment would put me into menopause. A year post treatment, I noticed I was putting on weight particularly around my stomach and waist. As I’ve always been roughly the same weight and do a lot of exercise, I asked my GP for a blood test. Sure enough this confirmed that my hormone levels were in keeping with the menopause. Other then weight gain and bloating (which may also be down to radiation side effects) I’ve not had any other obvious menopause symptoms, as yet! I don’t have periods as I have a coil. I suppose I’ll never know for definite if it was the treatment that put me into menopause, but I have a feeling it was.

So you will have to wait and see what happens. I suppose a sure sign that you’re not in menopause will be if your periods return. As you’ve read it can take a while for things to settle down post treatment, your body will be working hard to heal and recover. Like myself though you can easily get a blood test done to find out for sure.

On another note, you mention your concerns about treatment peaking. This to was something I was scared about. Once treatment had finished, every day I would wonder is today the day its all going to happen. Of course there was no definitive day. I only realised when my symptoms had peaked after it had happened, if that makes sense. For me, the fatigue was the main sign. For about 2 weeks, I slept a hell of a lot and didn’t really do much other than sleep, go to the loo, bathe and back to bed again. I was uncomfortable but not in awful pain. After those 2 weeks, things improved week on week. 

Try not to think or worry about whats ahead. Be present and just focus on a day at a time. A little exercise I did every day during treatment was to think/write down '3 Good Things’. Even on bad days you can still find good things in your day however small. This can help you to be present and focus on positive things.

All the best with it all, come on here whenever you like, there’s always someone reading ready to respond.

Sx