Hi, your feed popped up as I was asking the same question. I finished chemo 2 1/2 yrs ago.  Every now and then I wonder if I'm just being feeble and should pull myself together! I was told by the consultant that once chemo had left the body the side effects would disappear. However every person I've spoken to who has had chemo still experiences tiredness or fatigue to some degree along with other permanent conditions. I have to keep reminding myself this is 'normal'. I don't think it's at all psychological, in my case anyway. My life has had to change dramatically to adapt to the new normal. Full time work to part time etc. I don't fight it. I do what I can, sometimes I do too much, recognise it and pull back abit. Everyone is different but I find it helpful to chat with fellow survivors. I also tell people I'm absolutely fine, but the bouts of fatigue are ongoing and I have to adapt to it. I want people to know so they understand my decisions. I actually enjoy taking time to enjoy often very simple things instead of tearing round like a mad thing! Those days are gone and I dont mind. I enjoyed reading the other comments. 

Hello Gerbie.  I'm in for round two now.  My cancer has reappeared, but in my bones.  Its not curable but under control.  I have chemo tablets instead.  I have been on quite a journey as I had to see five doctors before anybody would send me for an Xray.  I got proper poorly to the point I could hardly walk.  Then they gave me  a drug my body didnt like.  So I got very sedentary but now I am trying to rebuild my body.  The initial exercise advise I was given by a nurse was frankly incorrect.  You see I have faced incompetence at every turn.  I was told that the only valid exercise to build your bones up was walking which is horsesh1t.  No, you can do strength training, exercises using your own body weight or with weights.  These does strengthen your bones as when your muscles are being used and rebuilt it pulls at your bones it strenghthens them.  I asked a hospital physio why the clinical staff are giving out false information and she reckons that there is only walking is on the leaflets they read.  I get it, strength training takes effort so inconveniences you, but I reckon dead is a bit inconvenient too if you have a child. So Ive moaned until I got on the exercise referal scheme at a subsidised price at my gym.

Now apart from the benefit to bone health there I am hoping this will help with the fatigue again.  I think walking a bit is valid, it is good for bone health and lymphatic drainage amongst other things but overdoing it is just hurting my knee and hip joints.  Also I get to the point I am exhausted but without actually building my muscles back to the strength they used to be.  Lifting weights I find heavy is causing me to exert myself more so thats giving my cardio vascular system a better work out than walking.  I working on my upper body strength not just my lower body.  The pain in my muscles now is good pain as it is not exhaustion, its my muscles getting ripped, rebuilding and getting stronger.  Ive only been at it a few weeks and upping my weights.  

However if you want to stick to walking physio suggested some mods to exercise to give your upper body a work out.  Carry a water bottle or weights in each hand, or learn nordic walking (you have a stick in each hand).  Also you could put something heavy in your ruck sack and walk with that as long as the straps are adjusted to fit you correctly.

Hello, I'm so sorry to hear of your recurrence. It sounds like you have had a battle on your hands. We do get a mixed bag with these hospitals. My own Breast unit has been outstanding and I have built alot of trust in them. But friends under different oncology units in the same hospital have had a very different experience. I was told many years ago by an oncologist for bowel cancer investigations I was undergoing due to family history that I had to take full responsibility for my own conditions. I believe this to be true and do alot of my own research. I feel the NHS can be very behind the times on things like nutrition and exercise. I admire you for doing so much yourself. It helps us feel we have some control in difficult circumstances. Also thanks for sharing your thoughts. All the best with your treatments and efforts for strength building!

Hello, I'm so sorry to hear of your recurrence. It sounds like you have had a battle on your hands. We do get a mixed bag with these hospitals. My own Breast unit has been outstanding and I have built alot of trust in them. But friends under different oncology units in the same hospital have had a very different experience. I was told many years ago by an oncologist for bowel cancer investigations I was undergoing due to family history that I had to take full responsibility for my own conditions. I believe this to be true and do alot of my own research. I feel the NHS can be very behind the times on things like nutrition and exercise. I admire you for doing so much yourself. It helps us feel we have some control in difficult circumstances. Also thanks for sharing your thoughts. All the best with your treatments and efforts for strength building!

True.  In fact I cant fault my treatment first time around but clearly things are going wrong in the same department a decade on. Nationally targets are not being met and have not been met for a while.  Recently we had a man get a pay out as his wife died as she was not getting the correct care.  He would have prefered his wife to be alive to being rich though.

I think I am alive now partly as I am smart, quite logical but intuitive (psychic even) which is a quality we tend to get poo pood and told to repress, and have a good mind body spirit connection.  Its true some departments in the same hospital can be better.  So, I knew before I had any symptoms that the first course of drugs was causing some damage.  I knew the oncologists weren't going to listen as I had no proof then.  Gradually I was noticing signs that my immune system was not happy, as my knee was playing up more, more gut ache, more excema. Also I pointed to a marker in my bloods that could point to an immune reaction like an allergy.  My body is reacting to one of the drugs.  No it was my age I was told.  Then my liver started reacting very badly and I got very ill.  Got referred to liver oncologist, yes my assessment had been 100% accurate.  I am sorry, but they are not all keeping up with the latest research and in fact a few of them seem so dim I dont know how they even qualified.  So I got more ill than necessary.  

So rely on your gut, but also learn the science so you can argue about your care, or the lack of it.