REALITY

the following are just a few references to fatigue as a side effect of chemo....... the more i read the more i realize that a lot of people including doctors don't take it seriously....which some days makes me think i am crazy..... I AM NOT....THIS IS REAL...
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The identification of fatigue as the most frequent severe symptom in people undergoing cancer treatment in the United States occurred in 1997. It was a rude awakening for us because we found that we had not been working at all on the problem that most drove quality of life for cancer patients. A lot of work has been done since then and only a little bit of progress has been made. So maybe we should review that first.
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"What a difference it would have made if my fatigue had been acknowledged! .... What a comfort there would have been ... in knowing that my exhaustion was being monitored." Maureen Gilbert. A Survivor's Journey: One Woman's Experience with Cancer-Related Fatigue The Oncologist, 2003

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Fatigue and “Chemo Brain”
after Cancer Treatment

This article is a summary of the lecture presented on April 9, 2002.

It was not until recently that the problem of fatigue after a cancer diagnosis was taken seriously by the medical profession. Although patients have complained for years of extreme reductions in energy during and after treatment, no one really understood that this was such an important factor in quality of life for patients. A survey of cancer patients several years ago reported that 32% reported debilitating tiredness every day, 21% on most days and 14% at least once a week. Only 20% reported that they hardly ever experienced debilitating tiredness. Twelve percent of the patients sampled in the survey actually said that they would rather be dead than have the severe fatigue that they were experiencing. This is an alarming statement about how disturbing this condition is for patients. Fatigue interferes with work, physical well-being, the ability to enjoy life, emotional well-being, intimacy with partners, caring for family, relationships with friends and increases concerns about survival.