The I-can't-believe-I'm-so-tired syndrome. My mom just can't accept the inability to function like before. Can you relate? My mom can...
She has cervical and brain cancer, among other areas we're not sure of yet. Her greatest struggle, going from working 12 hour days, is lack of energy.
When she lost some use of her left side, she was having seizures and needed to have a brain tumor removed. Right away, with bandages wrapped around her head, she began to crochet, purposely manipulating her left hand therapudically. Not only were the doctors impressed, she started resting books on her bent knee to push her foot down flat, thus working the muscles.
Point being - she is insanely strong and determined. Come on, she kept her garden and all her house plants after her operation, through chemo and radiation. She walked back and forth, one by one, tending to her flowers. Yet she wants more!!
Comically, one time she was in the hospital and she ordered Chinese food, showered, dyed what was left of her hair, blow dried it, pulled the curtain closed, and welcomed her boyfriend!
My mother has been down the chemo and radiation path a few times. She never lets you know when she's feeling pain. She had tumors in her colon and I used to hear her moaning in the bathroom above mine (we live in a two family house on the waterfront in the Bronx, NY). When she lost her hair she was outside on the deck tanning, hat on head because of the radiation.
You must accept what you CAN do and just do it in the best way you can. Find new ways, however unusual they may seem. They will be your unique ways to vanish the I-can't-believe-I'm-so-tired syndrome. Discover yourself!
