1. < Cancer: Managing Symptoms

Fatigue and cancer treatment: How do you cope?

Posted by Nancy, Alumna Mentor @1nan, Sep 20, 2019

It seems that fatigue has affected all aspects of life in the years I have had treatment for multiple myeloma. (Into 4th year.)The cancer causes fatigue, and all treatments list fatigue as most common side effect. My greatest challenge has been to manage time so fatigue doesn't rule every day, and I wonder how others deal with it. My greatest strategy comes from recognizing that there is major difference between physical and mental fatigue. I have activities that are doable when physical fatigue limits what I do, like writing, mind games, or reading. But having physical energy doesn't always mean I feel like quilting, baking, etc. I just feel lazy!

How do you deal with your fatigue so you stay productive in a good way that keeps you happy?

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anacreon | @anacreon | Mar 21, 2020
In reply to @anacreon "5CHOP therapy go to play golf and need to sit out every other hole. no energy..." + (show)
@anacreon

5CHOP therapy go to play golf and need to sit out every other hole. no energy to work out had 5 of 6 Rxs. Does it get better

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typo: R-CHOP

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Nancy, Alumna Mentor | @1nan | May 17, 2020
In reply to @anacreon "typo: R-CHOP" + (show)
@anacreon

typo: R-CHOP

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@anacreon Hi again. I have been thinking about you and wondering if changes in treatment has resulted in any changes with your fatigue. It is also true that season changes can present opportunities to address fatigue in new and meaningful ways. With all restrictions being realized during the Pandemic we all need to also be attentive to symptoms that are appearing in response to all happening there. Increased fatigue would not be unusual. Have you met success in new or different ways to address your fatigue? Nancy

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Nancy, Alumna Mentor | @1nan | May 26, 2020

This week I realized another lesson in this beautiful iris. My mother somehow saved some of the iris from the Valley Mills farm in WV where she grew up. They were growing there in the late 1800s. Throughout her life she continued to move some rhizomes with her, continuing to share their beauty with family and friends, and later I did the same. On one of our moves I forgot to take any iris with me and went back to ask the new owner if he would allow me to have a few rhizomes. “No.” Caught off guard I proceeded to explain why it was so important to me. Again, “No”. Not one to give up I pressed on and he finally allowed me one. He supervised my getting that one.
Today I have a large Valley Mills iris bed that has been divided and shared many times over the years since I rescued that one strong family rhizome. Today as I pushed a little extra hard to make some things on my to-do list happen I looked at this beautiful iris bed and realized that I have been like this wonderful family flower. We have to go through many changes in our lives and not all are in friendly familiar places. But we can continue to pursue beauty without losing our own, and we can refuse to accept what may appear to be a dead end. Faith does not make things happen, but it certainly can make them possible. Believing in our own strength can help us be that next generation to pass God’s beauty to others. You can be like that one rhizome and keep your strength and beauty for others.
Faith makes it possible.
Nancy
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