Chronic Fatigue Before and After
Cancer
Barbara Henderson
I have faced extreme fatigue for
years. It is basically disabling. I am limited in what I can do. This was actually sort of helpful when cancer
came along because I was already living with the fact that I couldn’t do most of the things
that I wanted to do. Since my treatment
is over doctors have asked how I am coping with not being able to do things I
did before cancer. I have to tell them
that I can do about everything I could do before cancer except walk two
miles. I can walk ½ mile usually
now.
My main issue at this time is
dizziness. I was having unexplained
dizziness prior to the cancer. It has
not improved. I have the feeling that if
I could get the dizziness under control that I would be able to do more than before
cancer.
My oncologist ordered an MRI to check
for horrible things. He isn’t really
looking for anything. He just said we
have to rule out some things before he decides what to do about the
dizziness. He has some sort of IV
therapy in mind. I can’t remember the
name of it.
Results from the MRI are on
Thursday. As I said, since I have had
very bad dizziness for some time I don’t think it is related to the
cancer. Hopefully I will not get a
surprise.
Now, regarding the MRI – it was absolutely
horrible! Remember that I have been
through months of aggressive chemo, life threatening surgery, and more chemo
over the last thirteen months. So when I
say the MRI was horrible, that means it was really horrible. I didn’t know about the noise involved in
getting one done. It is like a PET scan
or a CAT scan in that you have to be very still for however long it takes. There is a tunnel or tube you have to stay in
in all three. All three are difficult
for anyone who is even mildly claustrophobic – which I am. But the difference in the MRI is the noise
factor. Even wearing headphones it
sounds like a fog horn is blasting in your ear the entire time. I didn’t know about that before my MRI. I
have an extreme sensitivity to noise so it was really hard. I might have done better if I had known about
that to begin with. If it ever comes up
again I plan to take some of those Styrofoam ear plugs and at least ask if I
can wear them in addition to the ear-muffs provided. Noise cancellation headsets are not useable
because they won’t work with the high powered magnets.
I will post soon with the results of
the test and possible treatment for dizziness.
I have been surprised at the number of people in my limited world who
are having unexplained dizziness.
If you have a story regarding your
struggle with your health or the health of a loved one I would be pleased to
hear about it. Any treatments or
strategies that have been helpful would be welcome news.
Currently I am trying Ceylon cinnamon
mixed with honey hoping for an energy boost.
This is an easy thing for me to try since I love cinnamon like most
people love chocolate. I swallow enough
pills every day to count as a full meal.
And I am still – waiting on my hair to
grow…….
