After Chemo - recovery?

[Terrin2]

Will have six rounds finished tommorow.  Carbo and Taxol.  Still recovering from the surgery, from December, 05. 27 staples stage 3c.  Can anyone tell me how long after chemo will you start to feel yourself again?

[Barney22]

I would think it depends quite a lot on factors such as age and fitness before you started treatment.  I finished my first rounds of chemo last April 2005 and began to feel better within 6 weeks of the last infusion ie 3 weeks after the last cycle.  I didn't exactly bound back to normal full fitness immediately but had  a  holiday cruise in late May with a fair bit of walking etc.  By July I felt pretty well although not completely fit.  One of the specialist nurses at the clinic said it takes from 6-12 months depending on age etc, but obviously everyone is different.  I'm 65 now and was pretty fit from lots of gardening etc but had 2 lots of surgery before and during the chemo which I also had to recover from.  Hope that helps a bit!   Jenny

[Careylyn]

I finished with my 1st rd of chemo treatments on Dec. 22, 2005.  I slowly began to feel a bit more energy...slowly.  I still have neuropathy in fingers and toes, and my chemo brain is still a bit there. I do go for walks, and exercise (just not like I did and as often as I did prior to the cancer diagnosis). It has been 3 months plus.... and my hair has only grown approx 1/4 inch.  On May 1 I begin my 2nd rd of chemo...I have put it off for a few weeks so that I can travel and enjoy a bit of freedom from the ugliness of the chemo side effects.  I was on the same 2 drugs you have been on. This new drug has the probability for hair loss.  doggone it!  :(  In May I will begin topotecan...5 days a week, 2 wks off, then 5 days a week, 2 wks off, etc for 6 times (18 more weeks).   I was told from the beginning (August 2005 when I was diagnosed and began with the chemo treatments), that it can take a full year to actually fully recover from all the side effects.  My prayers are with you;  it is so terrible, I know.  Know others are out here feeling your pain with you.  God bless you.

[newlifegal]

I finished my 6th round of taxol/carboplatin 11/8/05.  I am 52 y/o and was quite fit before I was diagnosed with 3c.  I had a very rough course of treatment with lots of complications and I am still not feeling that well.  It's been about 5 months for me and I have been surprised at how slow my recovery has been but then I'm not the most patient person, either!  I do think this is very individual and my best advice would be to allow your body plenty of time to recover.  It will let you know when you've overdone it.  But don't get discouraged; you'll get there.  I wish you well.



Christa

[milashka]

Oh darn it, and I thought I would be feeling better end of the month...terrin2, you are just a week or so behind me. I had surgery 3c 11/23 and had my last chemo treatment one week ago. I cruised through the treatments with a fair amount of energy but the last 4 weeks were rough and spent mostly in bed. It's been a week since the last treatment now and I am not coming around at all. Very weak and tired. I can feel this will take a while to get out of my system. Bummer! I am scheduled to go back to work in 10 days but at my current energy level, no way!



How soon after chemo did you ladies go back to working full time?

[newlifegal]

I went back part time in January which was about 8 weeks after my last session.  I was initially very wiped out but then it's a job where I'm on my feet a lot--I work as an RN in a clinic.  I'm doing better now but I have to be honest and say that it's been slow going.  I think that last chemo round just kicked my butt big time.

[Careylyn]

I do not have the energy to work full time.  I put in very little time, and I am not sure what will happen now that I will be starting my 2nd round, another 18 wks of chemo, beginning on May 1st.

[Terrin2]

Thanks for all your replys.

[cinam68]

I am 3 months post chemo and still feel tired some days. I am running three miles a day and have gone back to weight lifting six days a week.  I worry that the pain in my feet and legs will come back, and if I even experience a small itch, I start freaking out!  Does anyone feel this way? I am 39 years old and had ovarian cancer
Cina M

[Schoolmarm]

I am 60 and nearly a year post-chemo after ovarian cancer.  I did six rounds of taxol/cisplatin (IV and IP).  No special complications other than blood pressure related and a low neutrophil count that was counteracted with self-administered shots of Neupogen and Neulasta.

I have to say I was in super shape prior to surgery in February, '07, but took 9 weeks to recover b/c chemo started almost immediately.  That slowed the healing process.  I finished treatment in July '07 and was back on my horses in August and working out again by September.  Having been cut right through my core muscles from breast bone to pubic bone made getting back into shape a real challenge.  The pain from stretching the tight scar tissue was pretty bad.  BUT, it's fine now.  Really.  I can do yoga all day and never feel a tug.

The bad news is that I'm still having tired days, I'm hyper-sensitive to the heat (which is totally destroying my horse-training season), and take days to recover if I overdo.  

The good news is that there are also super days when I feel like my old self, can ride two horses, muck stalls, do the gardening and still do a Pilates routine after dinner.  Wish I could predict which day I'll be having.  

Like Newlifegal, I'm not the most patient person in the world.  I'd like to be fine NOW.  I am tired of the random joint pain that comes and goes.  

Careylyn, I learned to love my wigs so much I hated when my hair came back in!  LOL  If there's anything to be said for medical hair loss it's that you get to go months without a bad hair day.  Wigs always look good!  Buy the ones on sale at Paulayoung.com and have fun with it.  My biggest problem was that my riding helmets were too loose on my bald head and my head got sweaty if I put a wig on under them.  

BTW, my hair was ash brown and curly and came in white and nearly straight. I love it!  I didn't lose my eyebrows and lashes till after chemo was over, but they came back in pretty quickly in their original color.  It's a bizarre experience, this cancer thing, isn't it?

[Jan214]

I HEAR YOU!!!!  I have been back to my normal type A manic self this last month, but I have to make myself go back to chemo for the 3rd time on tues.  That is something no one should have to do without a court order.  I feel like I am being sent to serve a prison sentence. I know I will become my cancer persona and I don't much like her, I HATE the way she treats my husband and I hate the constant feeling of being a vomitous blob of sweat.  I know I have over done it these last couple of days because I am in excruciating bone pain even with Fentanyl patches and hydros.

TO SCHOOLMARM; First off I have the utmost respect for teachers.  They can make or break a child. Fortuneately, I had enough OUTSTANDING teachers to make up for the one HORRIBLE excuse for a human being.  I think she liked to bully people and went into teaching so she could pick on people who could not fight back
You should buy some cotton fabric and put it in your helmet.  I have only ridden 4 times in the last 21 months and that is what I did. I don't usually wear them as I like the feel of the wind in my hair when I am riding, but no hair so....
My hair was going gray when I started this and now it has all come back thick, full, healthy and about 3 gray hairs.  I will probably lose it again this time and hope it does not come back gray. I have said this whole time that you don't get to start over baby fresh too often in your life and I have promised myself I will not damage it again with coloring.  I am sorry you are still having problems.  All I can say is enjoy the heck out of the good days and pretend the bad days don't happen.  
Good luck to you with feeling better and living your life to the fullest.
Jan

[Jan214]

Oh yeah.  God give me patience and right now.  LOL I am sure he has a sense of humor.

[Schoolmarm]

You're a hoot!  

I stopped riding without a helmet after my 3rd concussion.  Wind in my hair is great.  Wind blowing through the cracks in my skull, not so much.  LOL  Live and learn (and live to ride again) is my motto now. I was a barrel racer  Now I'm a dressage rider with body armor.  I look more like a knight heading of to joust!

The hair