Coping after treatment

Hi will reply later but do read this paper it will explain a lot and don't worry your feelings are normal

https://www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf

John 

Hi and welcome to the HL Forum but always sorry to see folks finding us.

I am Mike Thehighlander and I help out around the Lymphoma Forums. I was diagnosed with rare type of NHL back in 1999 so do understand the journey you have been on.

Yes, you would think that once treatment is finished that’s it - move on with life, but sometimes it is a challenge to do this.

A good place to start you thinking is to have a look at this great paper, folks will actually come back and say that they think that the paper had been written just about them.

I am sure that some of the HL folks will be along to help you out further.

Thank you John! The paper was almost too close to home but has definitely made me feel like I’m not alone in my experience, so was incredibly helpful!

Thanks Mike!! An incredible paper to read, if not hard at times with its accuracy. It’s made me feel more at ease with what I’m feeling and that maybe I’m trying to do too many things at once

Hi,

yes, yes and yes! You are definitely totally normal!

the HL has taken over your life somewhat and suddenly all that care has gone and you’re left on your own again worrying about each and every little lump and bump! (Been there, done that!) and Peter Harvey’s article helped me loads too. (Breast cancer, sorted by a mastectomy, but I too panic! I post here too as daughter had HL with a very long history) 

you're still in very early stages of learning to trust your body again, it let you down and trust comes back slowly, but it will return and you’ll get to know when to seek help if it’s needed.

Hugs xxx

Good morning , yes, the paper is like someone has looked into your thoughts and unpacked them. The challenge now is to use this as stepping stones to move on with life, to find your new rhythm of life.

You may consider setting a small goal for each of the areas and when you achieve that goal give yourself a reward. Yes you deserve it due to the journey you have been on.

Put each heading on your phone notes and note what you have done already and what the next step can be and tick them off as you go. Its all about small but determined steps in the right direction.

What steps am I taking to regain trusts in my body?

What steps am I taking to regain trust in myself?

What steps am I taking to overcome living with uncertainty?

What steps am I taking to deal with the world?

What steps am I taking to regain mastery and control of my life?

Try it, the future is sitting in front of you - when driving a car. The big windscreen shows the future and the decisions are there to make. The past is in the little mirrors and is getting smaller and more fuzzy as you move forward.....if you concentrate on the past you don’t make progress..... and can even crash.

Hi again, now you have read the paper you understand things a little better and can start to rationalise things, a few things to add. Give yourself time to recover and don't be hard on yourself when you have a bad day, it's normal. Even though your still very young life does change after treatment and all we all wanted was to get back to normal and that's hard as you cannot go back, so looking forward and starting to plan will happen, again, it just takes time and thats been complicated by finishing Uni and wondering what the future now holds. If your degree was a distraction seek out new distractions to keep you busy and your mind occupied, with time things do drift into the dim and distant past.

If it helps continue to chat here as we all understand as we have been there and come out the other side which you can do to.

John