When will I feel normal again?

Can anybody help? Had lumpectomy to left breast and lymph nodes removed on June 1st then 15 sessions of radiotherapy that finished 19th August. I still feel rotten. The pain in my breast is sometimes unbearable and under my arm feels like the skin is getting stretched and it feels really bruised. Some nights I can't bare the duvet on my chest. I've been told by my nurse it's normal but I've been advised not to go back to work until the new year (teaching) . I feel a fraud as I don't seem to have bounced back like I thought I would. Is this normal?

  • Hi Julie, sorry to see that you are feeling so rotten after your treatment. Unfortunately, as your nurse has said and, going by my own experience, this seems to be quite a normal reaction for some of us. I had bilateral lumpectomies followed by radiotherapy and although it finished in early June I am still swollen, sore and tired. Like you, I thought I would have recovered well before now but am told that these things take time and I just have to be patient (not something I am very good at!) I have been back at work since the end of June and although I manage, my evenings and weekends are spent resting ready for the next day/week. It's really a case of taking each day at a time until it starts to settle down... not sure if this has helped but at least you know you aren't alone in having this kind of reaction. Take care and look after yourself. Sue x