How long after cancer treatment for bloodwork to go to normal again?

@cris2

Some things do take time to recover. Also certain medication can affect some lab tests.
I watch for trends or big changes. Not sure where you check results, but if a Mayo patient, the portal has option to look at history in graph form. Most online medical portals have something similar. If I see something that is trending away from normal, I ask provider.

I was anemic for awhile and it took awhile to recover and show up in improved blood lab results. I needed to adjust diet to help my body recover. Another time, a medication for one thing, caused some other blood test to become abnormal. Unfortunately, no one told me. I and went to primary to follow up only to find out it was a med the oncologist had put me on that caused it.

Have you talked to your provider about the blood tests results?

Yes oncologist goes over it says it takes time. One thing is his protein level is high in bloodwork, didn’t go over that yet, go in a week. So nervous for the pet scan.

@cris2

Nervous about upcoming scan is expected. In fact someone even came up with term for it, Scanxiety . Almost every support group has discussions on. You can search on the term on Connect and see people discussion.

Been there, can go months without think about cancer, then week before scan, I am filled with "What ifs".

There are so many articles about how to handle, but everyone is different.

I am not a medication type person, so I have to find different way to handle. I keep busy, the week before a scan I get more accomplish then in prior months. Mostly busy work, but I do tasks that I have been putting off for months. Maybe now is time to go through kitchen cabinets and purge , reorganize a closet, try new recipes or cook an old favorite; anything that does not cause more anxiety.

Other thing I do is challenge negative thoughts. Identifying and questioning the negative thoughts that fuel anxiety. If helps, discuss with someone. How true are they. And then I remember what my oncologist told me, if it comes back, we will just treat it again.

Start by picking one thing you can do that will give you positive feelings.

@cris2 Yes, it is normal for us to be nervous, or anxious, especially after treatment and for the subsequent scans and tests.

@roch Laurie was right! It takes time, and we focus on each passing second, don't we?! What are you and your husband doing today to ease the anxiety? Do you journal? If not, now might be a good time to start! Get the nervousness out onto paper.
Ginger

We keep busy, we have a big yard to take care of, garden, my flower beds, swimming pool, so we’re not just sitting around. I know these thoughts are normal.
Thanks