Coping with life post treatment

[Tania76]

I am on the rest and recover phase of breast cancer. Since active treatment has been completed, I'm now in a frustrating and lost phase. I feel like no one gets my life, everyone is so busy and I'm sad and depressed a lot. I can't do the things I used to enjoy and I'm alone most of the time. I miss being a Mum and having my kids around but I don't have the strength to have them more than 2 nights a week yet. I'm at an age where all my friends are busy with kids, any that don't have kids are busy with work or parties. My life has been tipped upside down for the last year, I'm hanging on by a thread, so is my ex-husband who is bearing the family load so I can recover. It feels like the end is never coming, and our family life will never get back to some type of normality. I haven't had a carer and I'm really feeling it now. Where do I turn for support, my family don't know how to help and I'm lost for answers.

[Susana_CCNSW]

Hi Tania,

Thank you for reaching out, I can see you are feeling overwhelmed and frustated, a cancer diagnosis and treatment is not easy, life does change and everything  turns upside down.

I am glad to hear that you have completed your treatment and now are in recover phase.  At the moment life is not the same for you, but I am sure that with a bit of patience and the love and support of your loved ones you will be able to catch up with life.  Just take one day at a time although it sounds like a boring cliche but it is a good option to cope with the anxiety of getting back to the life you had before. 

Keep looking after yourself, avoiding anxiety and stress if possible, so you can be the mum you want to be for your beautiful children.

I hope someone else in this community could share their own experience of recovery and trying to get their life back.

If you are an Australian resident, please call 131120 to talk to one of our nurses about your experience, perhaps you would like to talk to one of our counsellors.

Kind regards

Susana

Cancer Council

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