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Post treatment depression

Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Mar 3 2:17pm | Replies (40)

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@gardenlady1116

I was surprised by the post treatment depression. I had a good response to my chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer and went from borderline resectable to resectabal. I had surgery and had no residual cancer detected. Seems like I should be on top of the world. My therapist explained it like this: during treatment everything is focused on making it thru the treatment with a lot of adrenaline. People called often and gave support after treatment was going well, the calls stopped Afterwards, the adrenaline and focus disappeared. A kind of PTSD seemed to set in. I asked myself. "where did my life go anyway?" It was also suggested to me to get busy. I don't want just to be busy, I want to feel like I have a meaningful life. When I was well enough, I started volunteering at a local food pantry for 3 hours a week. I was amazed at the uplift I experienced. Seeing so many struggling just to get by I feel so fortunate. I am glad to hear your story. I thought I was alone.

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Replies to "I was surprised by the post treatment depression. I had a good response to my chemotherapy..."

Whew........I thought the treatment had cooked my brain. Your story is exactly the way mine went. Add the treatment ending to being retired, kids grown, grandkids getting on with their lives and just plain getting older is a recipe for depression. But as I am figuring out, just working to define it is in itself a solution. At least now I know what's wrong. Solving it should be easy. Thanks everyone for their input. Really, I do feel better. It won't be easy, but is doable.