Lost my mojo

Hi Pete, 

I'm 5 Months post Chemo and I'm exactly the same. The consultant said it can take 12 Month's to truly get back to normal. I find some days I have energy but tend to then overdo it which means I'm exhausted for the following week. It's definitely a balancing act. I think the best advise is try to build up gradually with short walks and don't overdo it on your good days!

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Hi Peejerooney and a warm welcome to this corner of the Community although I am always sorry to see folks joining us. I am Mike and I help out around our various Lymphoma groups.

I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare, incurable but treatable type of Low Grade NHL eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ may be different to yours I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.

My Consultant once told me that going through treatments like these is like doing a boxing match and a marathon every day over the months of treatments and this was done without any training.

Think doing the London Marathon without any training and you had to finish it as your life depended on it……. this is the journey you have been on so it most likely will take much longer than you would think to get back to some normality - it took me a good 2 years but I was 60 at the start of my recuperation after my second Stem Cell Transplant.

Some folks are lucky and bounce back quickly post treatment but more than often folks take a considerable amount of time to recover.

I am now over 7.5 years out from my last treatment (you can see my story below) but come 10pm I have to go to bed..... I would suggest that you are still in the process of rebuilding your mojo.

What type of NHL do you have?

What treatment(s) did you have?

Always around to help more or just to chat

Likewise - I can’t seem to help myself! I do hugely overdo it (windsurfing is my Achilles heel). Consultant said 12 months to me too so it shouldn’t come as a surprise, I think I just assumed that meant my energy would gradually come back, not this boom or bust thing where I go from feeling great to feeling like I’ve been hit by a train.

I find it frustrating as Work tends to get given all the best hours of my time, then family and self in the evening get the tired and grumpy me!

So sorry to hear of this. Treatment has the benefit of remission - but carries also a cost to your marrow. Depending on the drugs and regimens used, your bone marrow has sustained differing degrees of damage and suppression. As far as I know, there is no method for restoring or rejuvenating the marrow. It is simply a matter of time. Thus, we are faced with adapting to our new circumstances and rearranging life to suit. You might think of it as the "cost of living." 

I am almost 8 years past a stem cell transplant and waking up and getting going is a challenge to this day. Hitting the wall is not a daily occurrence, but arrives often enough. B vitamins can be of help and I have also resorted to daily energy drinks. Some of us recover almost completely and some, well, must be up to the challenge. Best to ask competent medical authority regarding measure you might take. I do know that an exercise routine seems to be of great help