@jmhwmt51 Thank you for sharing your story. It’s comforting to know one is not alone in having some of these symptoms. I WAS able to have my hip replacement surgery 3 months after my last R-Chop treatment. By then I had necrosis in the ball of my hip from the chemo and was in absolute agony despite opiods and narcotics that were prescribed in an effort to ease the pain until I could have the surgery. When the surgery was finally done, I was amazed that I could actually straighten my leg and take a step without pain. With a walker, I was able to walk over the hospital’s halls, much to the amazement of the medical staff—it felt so much better than it had.
As I weaned off the many heavy duty drugs I had been on, many side effects showed up like shaking, numbness, aching, restless legs and arms. brain fog, difficulty moving or straightening, back issues and several other minor issues. It was hard to sort out what caused what, and we may never be able to do that. I did have arthritis before chemo and guess that taking the many meds I was taking, probably masked pain I would have had without them. It makes sense that the pain would return when I quit them, and because time has passed, the conditions have worsened so pain is more intense. I’ve always had restless legs, and yes, walking has helped in the past, especially if I walk in the evening. It just got to the point where I have trouble sitting even through a meal, or a movie or traveling any distance or sitting through a church service. I take a low dose if gabapentin at night to help me sleep, but struggle sitting any length of time during the day. I’m not excited about increasing gabapentin but may eventually have to.
I was interested in your acid reflux. I have always had some—even have the head of our bed raised to help-but have had more struggles with it since chemo. I never connected it to chemo, but more the meds I took—could be either, but I’ll add it to my list of questions.
So glad to hear you are considered cancer free—hope you continue to be well and cancer free. I, by the way, love and trust my cancer team. They’ve been awesome every step of the way.