Give yourself time. Don't push. Going through treatments your body was already pushed to its limits. Weight loss and hair growth will come, energy will come back, maybe not what you had before but you will get back most of yourself. Do fun things, go out with family and friends, forget about cancer and focus on normal things. A positive outlook will bring on positive .❤️

I’m 6 months into a 2 year course of Verzenio. I know taking that is probably a breeze compared to infusion chemo and radiation (I declined a 6 week course of that) but I still battle fatigue and low blood counts. Prior to my diagnosis, I was close to obtaining my 1st black belt in karate so obviously formal training had to come to a halt. One thing I found to work on overcoming my fatigue (I also work full time) is to still practice, just in slow motion, kind of like tai chi even if I only do it for 5-10 minutes. It gets me moving a little and makes me feel accomplished. At least for me, I feel like I become more fatigued being upset about being fatigued. I know it’s probably not for everyone but certainly helps me.

I seem to move forward a few steps, then BAM -- a step or two back. I am learning a lot about patience.

After having radiation 5 times now I have found with radiation alone it takes 2-4 months before I'm not tired all the time and have the energy to do much of anything. The first time I had chemo, which was followed by 3 weeks and 15 sessions of radiation, it took a full year from when I started chemo to reach my new normal. For me the chemo takes way longer to recover from than the radiation. Right now I'm 45 days post radiation and almost 4 months post chemo. I finally managed to get off the nausea pills a few days ago, but I'm still really tired and have low energy from the radiation. My skin is still pink and peeling a bit plus it's super dry in the area I got the radiation boost. As far as chemo, I have been able to taste food since about a month after chemo was finished. My hair is about an inch long now, baby fine, and starting to get chemo curls. Had neuropathy from first time I had chemo which got way worse during second round and there's no improvement yet neuropathy wise. My appetite is poor and that's from both chemo and radiation. Ever since the first time I had radiation in 2020 my appetite has suffered so I force myself to eat most of the time. The bloating from chemo steroids is about 50% gone now. I had a round moon face that started with 3rd or 4th chemo session and now my cheek bones are starting to show and I'm looking more like myself again. It all takes time and patience to get through and then recover once you're done with treatments so you just have to hang in there, listen to your body, give yourself grace, and hurry up and wait while you slowly improve. Don't get down on yourself for not being the you that you were before you got sick.