Hello Secondhandrose,

                                     good to read you are travelling along your road of treatment,We are all different  in our response to treatment and therefore recovery from it,but safe to say that most feel that as soon as their chemo is finished ,their journey is almost over.This overstates the reality somewhat and l would suggest your next waypoint to guage improvement should be six months from the cessation of treatment.

The bowel is a finely tuned piece of equipment that works in a sequence,that sequence has been disrupted by surgery and it needs time to sort out its new way of working,and that only comes after its had time to heal.That healing ability has been affected by the pressures upon your body by the chemo

As you can see you have to give your body a fair chance and a clear run to do its best,relaxing over the recovery time is the best gift you can give it.Stress always targets the mind and the bowel so it does not take much to execerbate your existing symptoms.

The neuropathy will ease in the coming months,which was what happened in my case,but for me it never went completely,My bowel took considerably longer,but l had to also recover from a 60% liver resection.The main thing is to look upon it as a an ongoing work in progress rather than that of something like a cold or flu that has more defined recovery outlook and timing.

Its worth the wait,so in the meantime accept and enjoy your gradual return to full health,in some ways its very much like a rebirth which you will come to discover over time,

                                                                                                                 Take care,

                                                                                                                                       David

I agree with everything that David said. Give yourself time. It is quite normal to be impatient with regard to recovery after treatment. But truthfully it really DOES take time. Don't despair though, take it SLOWLY, so annoying but necessary. I was 66 when I had my procedure and Chemo and SO impatient, yes it really got me down. I was used to racing around with my young Grandchildren, walking at a fast pace etc. You have to be realistic, bloody hard when you've been so active! BE kind to yourself, ask your GP/Oncologist for meds if you have neuropathy or any other side effect. Do NOT be afraid to ask for anything, PRIDE goes in the bin for a while. Yes, it may seem to take a while and certainly takes its toll on your mind BUT as I keep saying, "Still Breathing". Love and hugs, you are stronger than you realise! ️