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Health -
Breast Cancer
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Survival rates for breast cancer patients are much higher today than ever before. Surviving the disease carries different emotions for different people. You may simply want to get back to your normal life, the one you had before your breast cancer diagnosis. Life after the disease does mark your return to your familiar life but it marks new choices that need to be made as well.
After the initial diagnosis, breast cancer treatment can last anywhere from six months to more than one year. You may feel the need to get back to your normal life but the end of your treatment does not necessarily mean the beginning of your old life. And, this is definitely not the end of your journey. You are simply beginning a new stage of your journey. During this stage you will begin to adjust to your life as a survivor of breast cancer and although this will strongly resemble your old life before diagnosis, there will be a few differences as well. Simply put, breast cancer changes your life dramatically and these changes last forever. This is not meant to scare you but to make you aware of the changes that will take place and show you various ways of dealing with them.
Once you have finished with your final round of chemotherapy you can begin watching as your hair finally grows back. You should understand however that these may simply not be the same locks you remember from your pre-diagnosis days. Many patients experience differences in their hair after chemotherapy. You may notice that you now have curls where your hair used to be straight. You may notice an astounding amount of gray as well. You will also begin to see your eyebrows growing in and these may change as well from being a bit different in color to being much thinner than you remember.
Note that even though your hair growing back is a good sign, you may still not feel like your normal self. You may experience fatigue and an overwhelming need to rest constantly. This is simply your body’s way of letting you know that you need as much rest as you can possibly get during this transition period. Your body has been through a lot and it will take some time for it to fully recover. You are simply not going to be back to your normal self with your normal energy levels the day or even month after your chemotherapy has ended.
Besides fatigue, you may also notice other effects such as memory loss and the complete inability to focus. These effects are not going to leave you overnight. Most women who have undergone breast cancer treatment experience these and many other symptoms while recovering. The main thing to focus on is getting better. You will gradually begin feeling like your old self again, it simply takes time. In fact, many doctors agree that it could take as long as one year for you to feel fully well again. Of course, each patient is different and your recovery time may take more or less time. You should expect to feel the fatigue and other effects for at least three to six months however.
Above all, you need to continue to take care of yourself. Allow yourself plenty of time to rest, eat right and be certain that you continue with any follow-up appointments with your doctor. A little patience goes a long way so make sure that you allow yourself all the time that it needs to heal properly. Allow family and friends to continue to help you with certain things such as cleaning, driving and anything else that may cause you to become tired. While you can exert yourself a bit and it is often recommended that you begin doing things in a normal routine again, you should remember that this is a gradual change and you need to allow yourself plenty of time to get back to your normal life.
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Health & Beauty 
