Recovery

Someone asked me the other day, “How long did it take you to recover from having Cancer?”

It took me awhile to respond because it wasn’t just cancer I had to recover from. It was chemotherapy and then the following surgeries. However, if I had to give it a timeline this is what I would say: I endured 3 months of chemotherapy that ended in March of 2023, then I went directly into surgery in April of 2023 after a month break and that was the longest recovery. Not only was my body healing from surgery but it was still trying to recover from chemotherapy which made the healing process from surgery a bit slower. I had a hard time with shortness of breath and fatigue for a long time. I was recovered from surgery in about 8 weeks, however I don’t think I fully recovered from chemotherapy until I was going in for my second surgery about 4 months later in August of 2023. I was hiking, walking and working out every day just trying to get back my health and energy. Going into my second surgery was bitter sweet because I felt like I had finally gotten myself back to “normal” and then had to go back under and recover all over again. Thankfully the second surgery was not nearly as bad and an easier recovery.

So to answer the question. Post chemotherapy and being deemed “cancer free” in March of 2023 and getting through both surgeries, it took about 6-7 months before I started to feel “normal” again. At least from a physical perspective. From a mental health perspective, it is still a work in progress… and cancer will now always be a part of my story and in every decision I make.