needing a break from treatment...

@mommacandy I hear you. I haven't been in your place and I know there are others here who have. I'm going to tag @jenelleseaman as she is in treatment again after many years of living with and in treatment for High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer. I think these are the key words - living with cancer.

Yes, you want your life back. You want to be out in the woods with the chainsaw (personally, I'm really frightened of the chainsaw...we have two of them and a log splitter. I'll stack wood but cutting, nope, not for me). You want to spend time with your family, your kids, your grandkids without the fatigue and exhaustion. So, yeah, you talked with your oncologist who it sounds really listened to you - is that correct? And you get a break and then will be re-evaluated with CT at the beginning of December.

I don't have the energy capacity I had 10 years ago. Maybe it was the cancer, maybe it's age, maybe it's osteoarthritis. Or all of those. It was a gorgeous Autumn Day and so I spent time in the yard putting a perennial flower bed to "bed". Since this garden had been ignored by me for so long I had a lot of weed pulling to do, on my knees, and oh, was I tired after about an hour. It seemed not all that long ago I could stay at something like that all afternoon. No, this isn't your situation at all and yet I'm sharing this because I have to say to myself that I'm going to accept the reality for what it is. Some days I have more energy than others.

Your treatment regimen has been arduous. It's no wonder you cried in the oncologist's office. Is there a way you can tell yourself that each day will be different and slowly, day by day, your energy will return? You need this break for your own mental health and you can give yourself a break by listening to your body for what you can do each day.

Would you like to go to church tomorrow? Would you like to see friends tomorrow, tell them how you are feeling and ask for their prayers? I will say a healing prayer for you. We may have different religious traditions however I know that our prayers go up to the same divine source.

It is difficult. Although right now you may not be able to do all the things all the time but you probably can do some things some of the time. Gradually, you will be able to do more. It is a difficult journey that is worth taking.
I am with you and hope you feel better day by day.

So sorry for your suffering and difficult time with the doc….sometimes they will give a short break…they can adjust dosages, alter the chemo combo—there are choices…there are premeds and some you can do at home…if your cancer center offers palliative care for side-effects, that can really help…..don’t despair, there are options…if doc is really unresponsive, there’s always the option of another opinion…wishing you the best, so you can feel more like yourself.

I too feel your pain. Not only are we given a devastating diagnosis, then thrown into chemo followed by surgery, full debulking, hysterectomy with hi-pec. Followed by more chemo, and now like you, I can barely enjoy walking around my yard. But walk I do, a mile a day. Some days I need to rest other days I can complete my mile uninterrupted. I was very active before diagnosis, and this has been a life altering event. There will be no skiing for me this winter, but I try and look on the bright side, I am here to see another day. After my diagnosis I made myself a promise to look for something positive in every day. A sunrise, sunset, whatever nature may send your way. I too wanted to stop treatment I had 2 more cycles to go this spring, but I knew it was important and my Dr assured me it's part of the treatment process. It's rough and we are not prepared for how our bodies react.
Hang in there. You have turned to the right place for guidance. I found great comfort from this group and I'm sure you will too.
I have said this before I found acupuncture to be of immense for help me, could be something worth looking into
Hugs & Prayers

I know what it is like to have to say yes once again. I have just completed my 59th cycle. I am up to my 10th chemotherapy treatment. This time I had to plan the start so I could have Christmas off!
I’m now on gemcitabine. The protocol is 3 weekly doses, then a week off! Hence, Christmas Day! I can’t say I’m thrilled that I have to start again, but I’m very conscious of all the people who support me every day, even my students!
I’m continuing to trust that God has an ultimate plan, and He will call me home when the time is right. Until then, I will keep fighting for the sake of those who love me.

Momma Candy, I really appreciate your candor. I’ve been feeling much the same the past week with exhaustion and weakness from anemia in addition to the other side effects from chemo. I’m praying for some relief from a blood transfusion next week. I wish I could always maintain a “good” attitude but sometimes I just can’t. It helps to know I’m not the only one 🙏🙏

@amywells TOTALLY...i can assure you that there's at least one other one who feels this way ME!!!!!.... ask them if you can get 2 units 🙂 i know blood has made a world of difference every single time to me...believe me i'm an old pro at the receiving units thing.... (over this LAST 6 cycles i've received 8 units) when i went in to have labs drawn Thurs morning i asked her if she was doing a type and screen, she said no and i told her to draw another tube to do one and then send a message upstairs to my doc that she needed an order for one to save me some time cause i KNEW i was gonna need blood prob 2 units and it would save me time later ( i was right i got 2 units) ... she laughed and said there's a lot of you patients who know what you need more than the docs ..
Just know you're not alone... and i'm a BIG fan of acupuncture to help with side effects of chemo if you can find a good one... like @ford1929 suggested to me (but i already had learned about it a couple years ago) it can help a lot.... honestly acupuncture made it so i didn't have to have those nasty steroids (the dexamethadone) cause it gave me HORRIBLE hiccups... so something to consider also...
Something else i WISH i had discovered before this past Sat...our local health food store has a supplement called Blood Builder that she told me the local chemo center sent patients over to get from them...so i got one to try ....we'll try...good side to it (according to her) is it not like other iron supplements that cause constipation... so we'll see how it goes...
anyways...hope this helps and don't hesitate to reach out....

@jenelleseaman i can't EVEN imagine that many cycles!!! You're a very strong person!!!