Pinned Thread About How to Lower Recurrence after Chemo

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  • mesha
    mesha Member Posts: 7
    edited September 2009
    Smithlme,

    Does it really not make a difference if its in your genes? I cant imagine why it cant apply to BRCA+ people too!

    Ps, my mum's skinny too, but I suppose she doesn't eat that healthily and does not exercise. I'm hoping that an adjustment in that department will make a difference, despite her being small regardless.
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  • London-Virginia
    London-Virginia Member Posts: 851
    edited September 2009

    The point of exercise is not just for weight reduction - it is for muscle strength and bone strengthening and also for assisting the lymph system, blood circulation and keeping the body supple..

     Meggy - thanks for the fascinating info.

     Are you aware, that in the 1930s research was looking at iodine in the body/cancer .  And the diets regimes that have become of interest now and things like Gershon therapy have their antecedents from that time too?

     When I have more time I want to look into this a bit more.  I only know about it because my late grandmother was a) a nurse towards the end of WW1   2) was very into food  3) due to a dodgy heart became a vegetarian and was into wholefoods and nutrition from the 1940s onward.  She talkee to me about all these things as a child.

    Lastly, she lived to be 98 so she got something right!!!

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited September 2009

    Hooligoog, thanks for mentioning the bone strengthing drugs as a possible way to avoid bone mets.  I had that on my list of things to ask my former oncologist about.    She's super smart and involved in a lot of studies (at Stanford) but my insurance changed so now I have pay out of pocket to see her. I had read a summary about a study about that.  Sounds good to me.

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited November 2009

    Bump

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  • Morgan513
    Morgan513 Member Posts: 664
    edited November 2009

    Thank you for bumping!

    Lorrie 

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  • tamlyn110
    tamlyn110 Member Posts: 195
    edited November 2009

    Thanks for all the info. I did not know about the D3. I will have to ask onc about it. I wonder why he did'nt mention anything about it to me?

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  • rinna40
    rinna40 Member Posts: 357
    edited November 2009

    Thanks for the bump. I just started working out last week - hope I can keep it up during rads. The low fat thing will take a lot of work - no more brie cheese?

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  • vbabey
    vbabey Member Posts: 48
    edited November 2009

    Holligoog, my onc said the same, but told to avoid sugar also.  I lost 10 pounds from stress initially and have dropped another 10 since starting chemo, but was am happy right where I am now so I will keep it here. Eat lots of beans and veggies and whole grain, and some fruit. Do take the Vitamin D with the magnesium and calcium something or other. Try to walk when i can. Hardly any sugar, alcohol and caffeine. I will probably be looking into the wheat grass when I am done with chemo. Hope it all works.

    Hugs to all

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  • vbabey
    vbabey Member Posts: 48
    edited November 2009

    meggy, great thread by the way.

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited November 2009

    Ladies some hot off the press news.  I paid out of pocket to go back to my brilliant Stanford oncologist just to ask her questions.  I asked about the osteoperosis drug and the thought that it might lessen bones mets.  She siad that the original study was done in a European country where they did not give the women chemo at all. She said that with such a difference in the standard of care, it was not a sufficient study. 

    I had read a new study will be presented at San Antonio in December 2009 and my oncologist said she already knew the result was to NOT recommend the osteoperosis drug for BC.  She also mentioned that there are serious side effects with the drug (I think potentional liver or kidney issues).  I'm going to let go of this one. 

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  • weety
    weety Member Posts: 1,163
    edited November 2009

    Meggy, you might want to post your new info over on the zometa threads.  There are a LOT of women currently debating whether or not to enter this study.

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  • hope2
    hope2 Member Posts: 73
    edited November 2009

    ladies first of all i just wanted to say that i enjoyed this thread and found it very good. I am currently on the avastin trial, take it every three weeks by iv for a 12 month period to lessen chances of recurrance. i find the staging thing confusing, when i was first diagnosed the breast care nurse told me it was grade 3 and stage 3, the scans showed node envolement. thankfully when the oncolgist gave me the results of the histolgy report i had one large tumour that was just over 8 cm that had grown on the chest wall, they got a clear margin behing it but it was too small to measure, i asked the registrar what stage i was and he did not know. i had two lumps on both th ultrasound and mammogram but it was actually only one lump.

    i have never been overweight, eat oceans of fruit and vegatbles and had been taken wheat grass capsules for a long time before being diagnosed, i also exercise frequently, i wonder is that study for postmenopausal women or for all women even in there 30's or younger. i put on weight on chemo and am now offically 2lbs overweight but the extra stone is not staying anyway. i must increase my exercise as have been very bad since being diagnosed. any tips for losing the chemo weight welcome as seems to be coming off very slowly.

    i think all of us are looking for answers and solutions and cures. My oncoligist said that their am is to get us to 80 plus and that every 10 years the cancer treatment is unrecognisable from the previous so there is good hope and tn cancer is getting a lot of funding at the minute. take care and be positive, we have this beast beaten.

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  • bf2009
    bf2009 Member Posts: 40
    edited November 2009

    Hello, I'm Beth and also triple negative, diagnosis was made fri 13th of Nov 2009. I've not begun chemo yet but starting next week.

    On the subject matter to prevent reoccurance and self care/ diet issues... I've done a lot of reading and here is the list of what I have found WE CAN DO to help lower reoccurance.

    LOW FAT, HIGH FIBER DIET

    EXCERCISE AT LEAST 30 minutes A DAY< walking is great.

    Increase foods for vit D3 ( 2,000-3,000 IU a day is reccomended ) This includes foods high in Vit D3:

    beef liver, egg yolks, sardines, cod liver oil, sardines, salmon, mackrel, fortified milk ( check your milks label as I checked mine and it said it was fortified with vitamin D3)

    and SUNSHINE each day for 20-30 minutes to at least 60 % of your body ( which I do not believe is possible DURING CHEMO< but afterwords, check with your doctor)

     I'm not sure of serving size of these foods to equal 2000-3000 IU a day but guess that info can be found on google in nutritional info searches.

    Beth

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited December 2009

    I've got to exercise more.  It really worsens my lymphedema but it doesn't have that effect on everyone.  I've really got to exercise more.  Also, I think we should all limit our alchohol.  It has a lot of sugar and we know it increases the chance of getting BC in the first place.  I try to drink only one glass of wine per week....but I must admit it's hard.  Such a shame we can't drown our sorrows in booze and junk food.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited December 2009

    Beth - thanks for the info/reminder of the fuel our bodies need to fight this.  When I'm in a hurry and don't feel like cooking Amy's frozen dinners are great - they're organic, loaded with protien and dietary fibers.  After eating one of those dinners I'm not hungry, nor do I crave anything for 5-6 hours.  Even though there isn't anything sweet in the dinners it even kills my sweet tooth craving for a while. 

    Meggy - There are days I wish I could just eat a huge bag of chips, candy bar and soft drinks and not have to worry about what happens.  And ........ what I wouldn't do for a big glass of wine or a good stiff drink right now.   But in all reality, when I do eat bad I feel so much more tired and sluggish.  Funny how in tune I've become to my body and the fuel that goes in now............. 

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited December 2009

    Holy crap!!!!!!!!!   My mom and dad told me tonight that a new study came out saying that drinkers of 3 glasses of alchohol (wine, etc) per week had a 34% greater chance of recurrance of breast cancer.  I had been allowing my self a glass a week and for a few months maybe 2 glasses a week.  I am quitting alchohol totally.  I'll have a bit on Christmas and on New Years....well and during my wedding in Feb. but other than that alchohol can kiss my #$#%%.  

    They already knew that consuming alchohol greatly increased the chance of getting BC in the first place but this is new news that it also triggers recurrance.  The scientists are talking about the relationship of recurrance and insulin.  Many of the things discussed in this thread relate to insulin.  I don't understand it all but apparently exercise, low fat and weight loss all effect insulin in a good way, sugar and alchohol in a bad way.  There's been alot of talk about insulin so I really need to view sweets and just as bad as fat and alchohol.

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  • Morgan513
    Morgan513 Member Posts: 664
    edited December 2009

    Meggy--

    I'm with you regarding the alchohol.  I just read the study and I'm not going to do anything to help this thing return!  I also enjoy a glass of wine when we are out to dinner or out with friends.  But, I'll limit mine to occasional at best.  Yikes!  I knew there was a correlation between alchohol and breast cancer but not the risk of recurrence!  

    Now I just need to get off the junk food.  I don't eat a lot of it but sometimes I drown my sorrows in a nice bag of potato chips!  Foolish I know!

    Congratulations on your wedding!  What a great way to celebrate your two year anniversary too!

    Lorrie 

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited December 2009

    I just wrote a long post in the TriNeg thread about this study.  Sound like they did not analyse triple negatives at all....so we don't know what the impact is on us.  It could be like the low fat study...didn't make that big of a difference for ERPR possitive BC (I think) but made a very big difference for triple negatives.  We don't have time to wait around for a new study about us...and alchohol.  I'm skippping the alchohol. 

    If they did a little short study of just 3 years they could probably get real answers for us. 

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  • PauldingMom
    PauldingMom Member Posts: 927
    edited December 2009

    could you please point me in the right direction to this study. I enjoy a very, very small glass of red wine about 3 times a week. I'm talking shot glass size small. Told my onc. and rad. doc this and they saw no problem with it. They told me the study was for women who drank 5 glasses of wine a DAY!  

    I don't want something like a glass of wine to bring this back, but also really enjoy my Merlot at night.  

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  • 5andcounting
    5andcounting Member Posts: 232
    edited December 2009

    Hi, I was just diagnosed in November, will start chemo on 12/30. 

    My mother was triple negative,six years ago, and is doing very well.  She eats very low fat, little sugar, moderate exercise, and no alcohol.

    I am about 20 pounds overweight, sugar laden diet, moderate exercise, and lots of stress.I will be following my mothers lifestyle and eliminate the factors I can so I can be here in six more years as I'm sure she will be.

    Positive thinking and stubborness help too. :)

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  • Jane_Stevenson
    Jane_Stevenson Member Posts: 7
    edited December 2009

    This is a great thread for triple negatives......please let it continue...

    Gramma Jane

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  • PauldingMom
    PauldingMom Member Posts: 927
    edited December 2009

    I found an interesting article on this web site. I can't paste it here but if you search. "Is alcohol safe for triple negative patients" you will find it. 

    I am going to check my multi-vitamin and make sure I am getting 600 micrograms of folic acid.  

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  • 11tyBillion
    11tyBillion Member Posts: 96
    edited December 2009

    I dont know how much Turmeric the study suggest could lend to these benefits, BUT this would be a very interesting, and cost effective addition to our TN living well plan!

     Check this out! 

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19809577

    If you go to the natural and holistic boards, there are more discussions what other BC folks are taking, and how much!

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  • Scoobydoo
    Scoobydoo Member Posts: 499
    edited January 2010

    This is such an interesting thread.  Thanks for all the great information.  I am grossly overweight.  I just finished my last chemo tx on Monday and in a few weeks will start rads.  I have just started South Beach diet today.  My goal is to lose the weight, eat a low fat, low sugar diet for the rest of my life.  I havent started exercising yet because I have been so fatigued and I am still suffering from last tx SEs.  I will however start walking once the bone and joint pain is gone.  I am going to do whatever it takes to fight recurrence.  I am a BC survivor and warrior.

    Anita

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  • PauldingMom
    PauldingMom Member Posts: 927
    edited January 2010

    Anita/Scoobydoo, what about Yoga? I had a hard time getting back on the treadmill but found yoga very helpful for my bone pain and fatigue. Started back on the mill at a slow pace and have worked myself up to a pretty good pace now. You can pick up some cheap yoga CD's on the internet or try CDSwap.com.

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  • 123Donna
    123Donna Member Posts: 49
    edited January 2010

    We have a Wii and bought the Wii Fit, which has a yoga program that is very good.  You use the balance board and it shows you if you're doing the excercises correctly.  I like it because I can do it at home and not be embarrased when I'm trying to do a new routine. 

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited January 2010

    I eat extra lean ground turkey in tacos and spaghetti as a way to keep it low fat a loose weight.  It's only 1.5 grams of fat for 4 ounces of meat.  I eat like a king and don't feel bad.  Just don't add oil....I just add a little water when I brown it and season the heck out of it. 

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  • Maire
    Maire Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2010

    Thank you for the information it is encouraging!

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  • BossyRenee
    BossyRenee Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2010

    Hi! I'm Wanda. Thanks for all of the wonderful info on this thread. I have a question concerning exercise. Due to another health issue I cannot take walks as exercise. In fact, if I go anywhere of distance, I have to use a power chair. Does anyne know of any exercises I could do that would be comparable to walk but would not cause shortness of breath and still help in my battle against this?

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  • carolinachick
    carolinachick Member Posts: 387
    edited January 2010

    Renee - Are you able to swim or do water aerobics?  Another options would be a stationary bicycle.  Any form of exercise counts!

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