She explains that the type of fatigue is different than after a long sports session or a night out. “It’s not a logical way of being tired. I have sometimes walked into a supermarket and thought: I will first lie in my cart under a blanket and pay in an hour. It will surprise you. That’s not useful during work, because I can’t say halfway through a flight that I won’t be there for a while.”
Move
In the end, Evelien learns how to learn to fight against fatigue, but she had to figure it out on her own. Apps like Untire Now, where cancer patients can go for a digital program including breathing and relaxation exercises, didn’t exist yet. “But how I would like that. You feel like a loser because you used to do everything ‘normally’ and now some things are no longer possible, so you could use some serious help make a different world. It’s wonderful that he’s here now.”
Movement is important, she knows now. “My oncologist once made a beautiful metaphor,” she says. “If you stay on the couch, the same thing happens to your house: the dust piles up. If you go for a quick walk, you’re really doing a mini-cleanse. Clothes over the table or countertop. And if you go, for example, on a bike and your heart rate rises, you also take the corners carefully. So it always helps, no matter how tired you are. “
Podcast
Evelien can use that knowledge, because in February 2024 it unfortunately became clear that she had breast cancer for the third time. This time it has spread and cannot be treated, so Evelien knows that it will not be cured this time. “There is that understanding the next level“she says. “Suddenly death is at the table. I had to learn to accept that this was the situation, and I started to see what was still possible.” And this is the result of, among other things, a very large bicycle trip. In September and October, Evelien cycled over a thousand kilometers through the Netherlands, with little more than a bicycle caravan full of materials.
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During that visit she talks to healthcare professionals and (former) patients about cancer-related fatigue for her podcast What are you saying? For example, she talks to ally (“I don’t like the word tolerant”) about Maria victory whose partner had cancer and their relationship, but also with a specialist nurse and someone from the Breast Cancer Society. Evelien: “It’s important that more people can share their story, so that it can benefit others – even though I’ve been cycling for a long time since then. These have been wonderful conversations that also show that cancer can produce good things. For example, it shows how resilient we are as humans.”
“The bike ride and the podcast are meant to give hope: to show that you can do more than you think. Also with cancer. Everything will pass, even those bad feelings or that fatigue – that’s the message. And of course it was a great adventure for me to go out with just a sleeping bag, a gas burner, clothes and a bunch of essentials,” she laughs. “Very cheap.”
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No fear
The day after her third diagnosis, Evelien reports to the doctor immediately. She wants to know as much as possible about him die: How does that work? What levels and options does it have? “Everything is now in a document on her computer. Do you know how relaxing that is? I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Evelien is currently receiving hormone therapy to slow the growth of the cancer. “I also study a lot in Eastern medicine. I eat a plant-based diet, meditate twice a day and spend a lot of time outside.” She will have another scan in November to monitor how things are going. “I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, but I’m not afraid to die. Maybe because I was able to live such a privileged life? I especially feel very grateful for that. “
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