Hi
My husband is three and a half years post chemo/surgery for Stage 2 Oesophageal Cancer .Everything seems to be looking good up to now regarding the success of the treatment for the OC .
Once treatment was over and he ws strong enough we sold our house ,moved to a smaller easier to manage house and were making plans for the future .However he seems to have lost his confidence in eating out or even going for a beer with his friends .Of course I understand that eating out can be a bit of a challenge with finding the right food he can eat on the menu .The types of food he can comfortably eat and the portion sizes etc .To make matters worse on a rare occasion we were at a family celebration, he had a dumping! .He found it very embarrassing in public with everyone fussing around him , So promptly decided to tell the family and friends not to invite him out for a meal or drink again as he couldn’t trust his body to behave and he would be eating all his meals at home from then on !
He gave up golf after his treatment as he said he doesn’t have the energy to play two holes never mind 18. He has developed osteoarthritis since his treatment , it’s in his knees , hips and the top of his spine .This causes weakness and stiffness in the joints and he takes regular pain relief for the pain .
So as a result he has little or no social life .He says home is the safest place for him to be , although he does enjoy watching the village cricket matches from our sons garden .
On a positive note he is otherwise happy .He enjoys a beer at home or in our sons garden .He adheres to his eating regime and his weight has been stable now for well over a year .He knows how fortunate he’s been up to now regarding the OC too and appreciates everything that has been done for him .
I have mentioned all this to his CNS and they suggested a chat with a phycologist .He point blankly refused and said he is happy the way he is .
I fully understand that you can’t expect to be the same person after going through the experience but without sounding selfish and uncaring I do miss the spontaneity of life we used to have .
Am I wrong to feel this way?
Apologies to those on here who I know have more serious issues than this but I thought I’d post to see if anyone post treatment has any similar issues ?
regards
J x
