Managing Fatigue

Do you remember how tired you felt during chemo and at the end of radiation? That ' s how tired I feel every day. As a result, my new word of the year is ' no ' . As in:No, I am not going anywhereNo, I can ' t go there tomorrowNo, the only places I am going are the ones I carefully planned.Nothing else. If you want me to do something with you, we need to plan ahead. (Unless an emergency and then I am happy to help.)I cannot drop things and go to the movies or visit someone. I plan what I am going to do and then I plan how long I have to rest and recover.Yesterday I had a fairly normal day and met a friend for lunch (and gave a neighbor a ride in an emergency) but then didn ' t sleep that well last night so it took me a couple of hours to get my butt out of bed. After I go to the gym and stop by my parent ' s house, it will be a lazy day for me. Nothing more. If I feel energetic I will set up my loom while sitting in front of the TV watching LMN movies...And no, I am not up for any more.Managing fatigue takes a lot of work. It takes planning and thought. I know I have obligations but I work carefully to manage meeting them. Just because I no longer work, it doesn ' t mean I have spare time for fun stuff. Any spare time goes to doctor appointments.I think I sound really negative here but I often feel pressured that I am letting people down and can ' t get together as much as both of us would like. I ' ll just keep practicing the word ' no ' and hope I do not offend.
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: annoyance fatigue tired Source Type: blogs