Its been almost 11 months since I finished radiation and I'm still only about 75% functional - maybe slightly less. I am vastly improved from where I was 6 months ago. Many friends who've had various cancers all unanimously agree that it takes at least a year to feel "yourself" again. I still don't feel like a put in a full day of work by my standards although today was 7-8 hours in the office and 1-2 hours of work at home (the joys of being a business owner). Its rare that I can do that much in one day and I expect to be really exhausted tomorrow. I was at a 2 day conference last week and the day after I could only handle 1/2 a day of work. Part of my problem is probably that all my nutritional values are low because of the difficulty I have eating. I'm working on it. It has been very hard for me to accept that my strength of will isn't enough to make me completely better. I had surgery (1/4 tongue removed and neck dissection) 14 years ago and was back at work 2 weeks after surgery and pretty much back to a full schedule within 2 months. The two surgeries and radiation last year on my somewhat older body have been more difficult to recover from. Its hard to see progress day to day but when I look back I can see how much I've improved. I've also had to come to terms with not being able to control everything (hard for a control freak) and that there are somethings that I think need to get done that just aren't going to get done. Funny how some previously "important" things have turned out not to be the really important things.
ilene