Tiredness after treatment

Almost every cancer patient who is treated experiences tiredness. In the first year after treatment more than fifty percent of the patients get their energy back. In the second year three-quarters of the patients feel fit again. So about twenty-five percent of the patients who are cured from cancer stay feeling tired or very tired, sometimes for twenty or thirty years. They have less energy than before they fell ill without knowing whether or not they will recover. The possibilities for their bodies are greatly diminished, as if there is no more stretch; the elasticity has gone. Because of this, exhaustion is always around the corner. The book ‘A body of lead – fatigue after cancer and what to do about it’ gives a clear picture how post-cancer fatigue differs from the normal tiredness that everybody experiences. Tiredness after cancer can be extreme and influences one’s whole existence.

Tiredness after cancer seems to come suddenly - not because of some physical exercise; the tiredness is extreme and feels like exhaustion; it takes longer than with normal tiredness to feel well again. Tired people often have problems with their memory. There are therapies but for some people the extreme tiredness will always be part of their life because of the damage the cancer or the treatment has caused.