{"id":6632,"date":"2021-06-01T16:43:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T14:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/untire.app\/experiences\/marloes\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T11:15:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T09:15:29","slug":"marloes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/untire.app\/en-gb\/experiences\/marloes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Make sure the sun shines as much as possible\u2019 – Marloes"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row bg_type=”image” bg_image=”5507″ bg_image_size=”responsive” padding_top_multiplier=”3x” padding_bottom_multiplier=”3x” equal_column_height=”middle-content”][vc_column vertical_content_position=”bottom” css=”.vc_custom_1612963367668{padding-top: 15% !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″]

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\u2018Make sure the sun shines as much as possible\u2019<\/span><\/h1>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″][vc_column_text text_style=”leader-text” el_class=”groenetekst”]\u2018As a paediatric oncology nurse, I often came into contact with patients who suffered from fatigue. But only now do I know what that really means. Sometimes you are so tired that you completely switch off,\u2019 says Marloes (55) who underwent an intense course of chemotherapy last year.[\/vc_column_text]
<\/div>[vc_column_text]Marloes has an extensive medical history. She put her heart and soul into her job as an oncology nurse. One day, she noticed that her legs started to feel peculiar. \u2018I was losing strength in my legs. It started in my ankles and gradually moved up to my thighs.\u2019<\/p>\n

Appointment after appointment failed to reveal anything. Finally, a neurologist at the university hospital where she worked told her that she had LEMS, an chronic, incurable muscle disease.<\/p>\n

Because of the disease, Marloes has limited energy and trouble walking. \u2018But the fatigue that cancer causes is very different.\u2019[\/vc_column_text]

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LEMS disease<\/span><\/h3>[vc_column_text]Marloes was warned by her neurologist that half of LEMS patients develop lung cancer in the first few years after their diagnosis. He advised her to have a CT scan. \u2018I collected the results during working hours, not suspecting anything was wrong at all… I didn\u2019t have any symptoms.\u2019<\/p>\n

She then had a serious conversation with the lung specialist. \u2018He told me that there were spots in my lungs that shouldn\u2019t be there. He also said that if it was cancer, it would be incurable.\u2019<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t turn out to be lung cancer, but metastases from a myoma, a benign fibroid, in her uterus. \u2018My uterus and ovaries had been removed four years earlier. But the metastases turned out to come from there after all. Thanks to medication, the metastases shrank \u2013 and they\u2019re still shrinking.\u2019<\/p>\n

Lung cancer was suspected again a few years later. \u2018I had a lump in my neck, which was surgically removed. It turned out to be malignant \u2013 a metastasis of lung cancer. But they couldn’t find the lung cancer. Maybe my body had taken care of it already?\u2019[\/vc_column_text]

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\u2018I was used to fatigue and so I thought it wouldn’t be too bad\u2019<\/span><\/h3>[vc_column_text]To be on the safe side, Marloes was treated as a lung cancer patient and given four intensive chemotherapy sessions after the operation. Her oncologist told her that she might get tired. \u2018I was already used to fatigue because of my muscle disease and so I thought it wouldn\u2019t be too bad.\u2019<\/p>\n

She learnt the hard way that there is absolutely no comparison. \u2018My muscle disease mainly gives me fatigue after exercise. On the other hand, the cancer fatigue can be caused by physical and mental exertion as well as lots of other stimuli. Sometimes, you switch off completely. If I talk to someone for an hour, I\u2019m completely exhausted.\u2019<\/p>\n

A friend mentioned the Untire app to her and it has helped her enormously. \u2018The app has a lot of useful information, though I already knew a lot because I had learned to cope with fatigue related to my muscle disease at the rehabilitation centre. Kicking and screaming doesn\u2019t help \u2013 you have to accept it.\u2019[\/vc_column_text]

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Meditation and contact with other cancer patients<\/span><\/h3>[vc_column_text]She benefits from meditation. \u2018I listened to two more today. I\u2019m at my best in the morning and I do everything in stages. I always have a lie down at lunchtime. Meditating makes you consciously relax for a little while. It helps me recharge my batteries a little to get through the second half of the day.\u2019<\/p>\n

Another resource that she finds useful is the Facebook peer group where Untire users share their stories and experiences. \u2018It\u2019s difficult to explain to others what it\u2019s like to be \u2018bone-tired\u2019. It\u2019s nice to meet people who know exactly how you feel. I\u2019m still a long way from where I was before the cancer treatment. I\u2019ve had to give up a lot, but I realise that I need to let go of the idea that I will just wake up one day and my fatigue will have completely disappeared.\u2019<\/p>\n

She writes a lot about herself in her blogs (https:\/\/marloesdewit.blog<\/a>), which she hopes other cancer patients find useful. She usually manages to keep the tone of her blogs light, despite everything she has been through. Marloes laughs, \u2018There are lots of things I can\u2019t do any more, but I\u2019m not unhappy. I try to think about all the things I can still do but in a different way and to make sure that the sun shines as much as possible.\u2019[\/vc_column_text]

<\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=”color” padding_top_multiplier=”2x” padding_bottom_multiplier=”2x” equal_column_height=”middle-content” bg_color=”#44835b”][vc_column width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1613647930245{padding-left: 50px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″]
More experiences<\/span><\/a><\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row bg_type=”image” bg_image=”5507″ bg_image_size=”responsive” padding_top_multiplier=”3x” padding_bottom_multiplier=”3x” equal_column_height=”middle-content”][vc_column vertical_content_position=”bottom” css=”.vc_custom_1612963367668{padding-top: 15% !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″][vc_column_text text_style=”leader-text” el_class=”groenetekst”]\u2018As a paediatric oncology nurse, I often came into contact with patients who suffered from fatigue. But only now do I know what that really means. Sometimes you are so tired that you completely switch off,\u2019 says Marloes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":6625,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Make sure the sun shines as much as possible\u2019 - Marloes - Untire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/untire.app\/en-gb\/experiences\/marloes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Make sure the sun shines as much as possible\u2019 - Marloes - Untire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row bg_type=”image” bg_image=”5507″ bg_image_size=”responsive” padding_top_multiplier=”3x” padding_bottom_multiplier=”3x” equal_column_height=”middle-content”][vc_column vertical_content_position=”bottom” css=”.vc_custom_1612963367668{padding-top: 15% !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/5″][vc_column_text text_style=”leader-text” el_class=”groenetekst”]\u2018As a paediatric oncology nurse, I often came into contact with patients who suffered from fatigue. 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