“At the age of 28, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went through 18 months of treatment: 2 surgeries, 6 rounds of chemotherapy, 20 sessions of radiotherapy and a year of targeted treatment injections. This left me with debilitating levels of fatigue, making it seem impossible to get back to normal life.
Through my cancer nurse specialist, I was referred to The Hospice of St Francis. I had no idea what an occupational therapist did, and I was unsure how they could help me. In our first meeting, Jerri [the Hospice’s Occupational Therapist] asked me what my goal was. It was to get back and finish my PhD in Computer Science.
There is no magic fix to make fatigue disappear, but working with Jerri has felt close to that. She helped me change my mindset. Instead of comparing myself to pre-diagnosis me and focusing on what I can’t do, I have learnt to really appreciate what I can do. Celebrating little wins made me feel much more positive.
Jerri also helped me learn how to change my daily life to leave me with more energy. Changing habits of a lifetime felt alien to begin with and took a bit of trial and error, but with Jerri’s support and encouragement, I’ve found new ways that work for me.
So much has changed since I started working with Jerri. An occupational therapist can’t make fatigue go away, but they can help you learn to live with it rather than battle against it. My goal at the start of this was to get back to working on my PhD, and I can proudly say that I have achieved it.”
Thank you to Amy for sharing her story showing the impact that occupational therapy can have for patients.
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