Hi there.

I'm 6 months past the end of chemo & am really bottoming out emotionally. This forum was recommended by someone with Friend for Life, with whom I spoke today. The fatigue & mental fogginess are quite challenging at this point. I'm finding it helpful to communicate with folks a little farther down the road than I am.

Squamous cell throat cancer diagnosed June 5, 2017. Metastasis to the lymph glands in left jaw. First PET scan appeared to show a different & unrelated cancer in my torso, in addition to the neck tumor. For 9 days I believed I had 2 cancers, and I was ready to pass GO and enroll directly into palliative care. Then the biopsy of my spleen showed I had sarcoidosis instead. I actually said out loud, "Great, I only have one cancer!" And not sarcastically.

Had a melanoma removed from my nose 4 years prior, so this was not my first CA diagnosis. Opted to work w/ Duke Cancer Center, about 200 miles east of home. I began treatment mid-July - 7 weeks of radiation treatment, with daily chemo (cisplatin) in weeks 1 & 5. Last radiation treatment Sept 1.

I apparently tolerated those 7 weeks pretty well medically - no stomach tube, good family support, very pleased with the care @ Duke. Continued to work on the weekends when I was home.

So check-ins with the radiation doc @ 2 months & 4 months were fine - NED.

But now @ 6 months I feel stuck. Taste & saliva production slipping backwards, fatigue & chemobrain really an issue with work. Very discouraged. Check in w/ chemo doc scheduled in 2 days - not worried about the physical part, but eager to get a better idea of recovery from the treatment.

62 year old male, Asheville NC. Lost 25 pounds in 2 months, but am mostly past the weird metabolism effects of that. Working in a gym with trainer 2-3 times / week.

So if you've been this way before: when did you begin to feel like you'd make it back? How long did it take you to have some energy & to think clearly? Some days I feel like I should take a disability retirement immediately, but really want to hold off on a decision like that until June, to give it a year. Don't know if I'll make it. I'm in therapy, and my psychiatrist upped my depression meds today. So I'm doing everything I can think of. What was your recovery like?

Thanks,

Rob