Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | John,
I hope what I am about to say isn't what you experience BUT most of us don't even "walk out of our tunnel" so to speak until 2 to 3 weeks post TX and that's when we finally think we will start to get better. Even then we will have a few good days followed by some bad days and I mean BAD DAYS but over time the good days win out over the bad days. Your body has been poisoned and radiated with some of us taken to the brink of death so on average our recovery from this ordeal can take every bit of 2 years. I was weak as a kitten for a good 4 months post Tx. I didn't gain a pound my first year post Tx and I was consuming at least 3000 cals a day so that tells you how much energy your body needs to heal itself. My taste and saliva came back in spurts at 4 months, 5 months, 15 months (the biggest improvement) and 24 months (the last remembered improvement). My first year was pretty dark but the 2nd year was pretty much returning everything to normal.
Please don't expect too much right now. Your body will recovery when it does. I just don't want you to get frustrated thinking that now the rad is over things will pop back to pre Tx normal. Ain't gonna happen...you will reach a new normal over the next 2 years and hopefully it will be close to your old normal.
Re your co workers. Probably scared that it could happen to them. Creaps for sure but that's the only thing I can think of.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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