Active treatment (stage 3a ++- IDC BC) is a wrap! next stop: menopause

Post Active Treatment

I rang the bell in radiation oncology today, and I'm officially done with active treatment and feeling all of the feelings: joy, and yet guilt over how easy, relatively speaking, AC-T chemo, surgery, and 20 rounds of radiation were compared to the horror stories I read here and in other forums (I worked through the entire thing, made it through AC without any major side effects, and only experienced some muscle aches, swelling and fatigue at the end of Taxol). Radiation felt easy beyond the breath holds, some skin changes, and muscle tightening behind my shoulder — no fatigue that felt particularly bad, certainly not as bad as the tail end of Taxol.

I guess my experience is an important reminder that no experience is the same for any of us.

Of course, my celebration feels bittersweet as I'll head back to the cancer center on 1/20 for my check-in with my MO and my first Lupron shot/AI script. Is there anything you wish you had known before starting endocrine therapy? And if you had a relatively easy time through all of the treatment so far, did the same hold for medical menopause? FWIW, I do feel I'm already experiencing menopause symptoms with achy joints in the morning.

Posted Jan 7, 2026, 3:04 PM UTC

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