Kristen, Im so sorry you are starting to struggle with your recovery!!! Just because rads are over, they're still working hard to eliminate the cancer. My doc always told me its one month of recovery for every week of rads.Most patients go thru the worst of rads the last week or 2 and the first 2-3 weeks post rads. Then one day they will wake up and not feel quite so bad as they had been feeling. Usually that happens about the 14th to the 21st day post rads. Im not saying they will feel better, just they wont feel quite as crappy as they had the day before. The recovery phase can be very challenging!!! One day patients will feel a little more like their regular pre-cancer selves then by evening they're back to feeling lousy again. Theres setbacks that can boggle the mind where it can be 3 months post rads and there has been improvements in stamina and less pain then it can all change in an instant and its like they're right back to how they felt when they first finished rads. These setbacks can last for part of a day or several days.

The very best thing you can do is to focus on your intake and then better manage the pain. Your daily intake is the key to this entire adventure. Every single day until at the very least you hit your one year post rads you still will need to take in at least 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. Think back to the past few days and try to remember if after finishing rads if you kept up the increased intake. If you have hit at least 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of fluids then you should up your calories to take in 3000 a day for the next few days to pull you out of this slump. Next time you see your doc ask if its ok to add some high protein whey powder to your diet to help speed your healing. If you have been having trouble getting enough fluids you can call your doc and ask them to send a prescription to the chemo lab to get extra hydration. That usually helps patients to feel much better. This is especially important with the upcoming holiday this week. If you're feeling really bad you can always go to the ER where you should get extra fluids.

Be extra careful with taking pain meds. When feeling lousy it can be hard to remember when you last took meds. Mark it down somewhere near where you take your meds to make certain you arent taking the meds more often than you should. Im very surprised you got thru your treatments without over the counter pain meds, most patients dont. By keeping a list, you can show it to your doc and he should have a better understanding of what you are currently going thru. Taking pain meds to sleep or along with sleeping meds can be a very dangerous combo. Check with your doc about something you can take to help you to sleep. Most patients find they have start having issues with insomnia around the middle or end of their treatments which can last several weeks.

Im sure you must be feeling very upset about your setback. I can still remember my recovery and how much I struggled thru it. I had a couple hospitalizations for malnutrition and dehydration due to sleeping too much and being too tired to set up my feeding formula. It really hits patients hard mentally when they are thinking they should be making progress instead of going backwards. Try to start setting very small daily goals to help you feel a sense of accomplishment. It doesnt have to be running a marathon, maybe just walking to the end of your driveway every day for a week then extending that to the end of the block. By seeing a marked increase in your stamina will help you to feel more positive. I know its not easy right now but you really will begin to feel much better very, very soon. If you have anxiety meds, you may want to consider taking them for a few weeks. Maybe this will help you to think of things in a slightly different way and take your recovery one step and day and a time. Be careful with meds, check for any potential negative drug interactions with your doc or pharmacy. Patients will often feel a sense of abandonment when their treatments end and they dont see or interact with their medical team on a daily basis anymore. Your doctors/nurses are still there 24/7. There is always a doc on call so dont feel isolated like you are completely on your own. Dont hesitate to call (even at 2am) if you are showing any major changes in your condition.

Hang in there and soon you will be back on track and see progress again. If you are struggling, take positive steps to help pull yourself out of it. We're always here to lean on if you need to. We completely understand where you are coming from and the best ways to get back on track.