Feeling after treatment

Hello, and welcome though sad your Dad is finding it a rough recovery.

chemo does have a nasty cumulative effect and weakness is one of them. Oddly enough, one of the best ways of recovering and dealing with the exhaustion is gentle exercise (I know, it seems counter intuitive!) especially walking.

i hope your Dad is in remission now, it might be an idea to see if there are any courses in his area to offer recovering cancer patients a programme of rebuilding stamina and strength. The best place to try is his GP practise.

hugs xxx

Hi CC1980and a second welcome to the Community.

Totally with moomy on this one....... the treatments used are strong and it does take time, more time than you would imagine to rebuild and get back on your feet.

I had Non Hodgkin's lymphoma but do understand this post treatment recovery stage. I was left with a lot of muscle wastage and nerve damage but I found going to our local Maggie’s Centre for a weekly men's circuits class and support group made a lot of difference.... there were those who could only do exercises sitting in a chair along with those who were more mobile. 

Macmillan run various 'Move More' groups around the country - check this link to see what is in your area Local Macmillan Support.

A blood cancer journey is like a marathon, the first 1/3 is the diagnosis, waiting, tests and getting a plan. The second 1/3 is the treatment....... the final 1/3 is the post treatment recovery. Unfortunately most folks are so exhaust that this part can actually be the hardest.

Have a look at this great paper, it will give you an idea as to the milestones to look out for in your dads post treatment recovery.

When you feel up to it try putting some information in your profile. This really helps others when answering. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. Just click on YOUR username, select 'Edit Profile'. Put as much or as little in your profile and you can amend it at any time - you can see members profiles by hitting our forum names.

We are always around to help out.

All the very best.

My 15 year old son had/has side-effects from his chemotherapy for advanced HL.

Tiredness, exhaustion, trembling fingers when trying to hold a bowl (peripheral neuropathy I believe - a common side effect), and most notably knee and joint pain/discomfort.

He is going to the gym and actively trying to improve these issues, and he is doing marvellously well.

The symptoms seem to be going slowly but surely, except the knee discomfort. He takes a hot soak in the bath with salts, this seems to help a lot.

He is a young lad in his prime, so don't be at all surprised if your father is tired, for some time.

Encourage him to undertake gentle regular exercise if you can, just a short walk perhaps. It will do his mental and physical well-being a lot of good.

Just had a further thought, your Dad might benefit from a full blood test including vitamin levels; sometimes the levels are within normal limits but they benefit by being rather higher than ‘normal’. Vitamin B12 is sometimes a culprit which can help to improve neuropathy. 

sometimes GP’s get reluctant to check vitamin levels and might need reasons to do so. 

Hugs xxx

Thank you all.. He is a very active man and worked right the way throughout his chemo which even surprised his consultant, it’s just since it’s finished 3 weeks ago I’ve noticed a change and today he has a temperature which was also the case when he was first diagnosed, he was constantly spiking high temps.

He said he feels ok just knackered we’re his words.

We’re seeing how he goes today and if the temperature is still there tomorrow then I’ll ring Guys and have a chat.

Thank you for your replies, it means a lot.. God this is all so stressful. 

XX

Hi, any temperatures that are not in the safe zone it should always be called in - safety first xx

Hi, 

Mike is right, temps (usually 37.5 upwards) should be phoned in, just in case he’s got an infection that needs checking out. 

hope he picks up very soon

hugs xxx

I agree that every time my son isn't quite well you panic. He was sick the other night after pie and chips from the chip shop.

Their immune systems are somewhat compromised after chemotherapy and it takes about a year to get back to normal, so it sounds like he might have some infection?

You worry if its the HL every time, that's just natural.