drinking/eating for survivors

Sue-T

Hello,

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer (IBC stage 3) I decided to eat healthier. Since then I have changed jobs, lowered stress, started working out every day and now...

I have had round 2 of treatment and my awesome eating plan is falling through the cracks a bit. I'm also craving a drink now and then. I'm NOT a big drinker. I often went two or more months without one drink. Usually half a glass of wine was all I wanted at a meal every now and then. But since I am deciding not to have any based on the stuff I've read in pamphlets here and there it seems like I want it BAD.

For the survivors out there, my question is this:

Have you stopped drinking altogether, or how often do you have a drink? What's your opinion about alcohol leading to cancer?

Also, what type of eating habits have you adopted that you feel are super important to your longterm survival?

Sue T

Kicks

I did not change my eating habits. I have always loved and eaten a lot of veggies and fruits anyway - so no reason to change. I do have an occasional adult beverage. I will definitely be having a Mint Julep on May 2 during the Derby. It's something I've done since I was a child with Daddy (back then my 'Julep' was just crushed fresh mint, sugar water and shaved ice). Daddy has been gone many years but continue to have a Mint Julep every year 'with him/memories'.

I was doing Taxol Thanksgiving '09 and asked my Chemo Dr about rather or not I could have a drink or 2. He said a drink or 2 - OK but no getting drunk. That just because on Chemo was no reason to quit living as you would normally for special days/holidays. So yes I do have a drink or 2 at special times.

I can't say I've ever craved a drink - but there are special times that I do have a drink.

Kathleen26

I wanted no part of alcohol when I was on chemo, so if you're feeling well enough to crave a drink, more power to you. Once I was done with treatment, I slowly went back to my normal diet, which included alcohol. Now I probably drink 3-5 drinks a week, this is a mix of beer, wine, and hard liquor. Compared to what I used to drink when I was younger, this is much less, but I find I usually don't really want more than one drink in a given day, occasionally 2 if I started early. Part of that is probably age. I have no idea whether without regard to anything else, alcohol causes cancer. I think if it did, more people would have cancer. I'm an "everything in moderation" person.

I did not really change my diet, but like Kicks, my diet was already pretty good with a lot of vegetables. I eat more vegetables from the cole family (broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage/brussels sprouts) since that is supposedly good to prevent cancer. That's probably the biggest change that I made, just increasing that. I don't know if it's super-important to my long-term survival.

I eat/drink a lot of dairy products, but I've switched to organic (grass-fed when I can find it). I eat meat almost every day, but rarely beef; fish around once a week. I have a weakness for cookies, but try to limit myself to one a day. When someone brings cake into work, I always have a piece. I drink coffee and lots of tea, including green tea. I'm not much for soda, unless it's those Italian San Pelligrino fruit sodas. I allow myself one a week of those.

I think that if your diet is pretty healthy in general, then exercise is more important to survival than restrictive diets.

labelle

"Have you stopped drinking altogether, or how often do you have a drink? What's your opinion about alcohol leading to cancer?"

I seldom drank prior to my BC diagnosis, but don't drink at all now. Not a big deal for me. Studies do seem to show a link between moderate/high alcohol consumption and BC, but given how little I drank before, I don't think alcohol consumption had anything to do with my own personal diagnosis. That said, I'm still not drinking, although I did have a glass of wine at Thanksgiving with friends, so I'm not being militant about it, but no more wine at home in the evening to relax once or twice a week-my previous level of consumption.

Also, what type of eating habits have you adopted that you feel are super important to your longterm survival?

Oddly enough, about 8 months prior to my diagnosis I switched from a standard American diet (SAD) to a Paleo diet. My body just seemed to be telling me I needed to clean things up-and this is odd, because I never paid a lot of attention to my diet previously. A Paleo diet excludes all processed sugars and stresses real, non-processed and organic foods. I think continuing to avoid processed sugars and meats with added hormones, as well as conventional dairy products (also not allowed on a Paleo diet) are important to my longterm survival. That said, I'm glad I made the switch prior to my BC diagnosis. I found a major dietary switch like this to be difficult, not sure I could have implemented it while dealing with treatment. By the time I was diagnosed, Paleo eating and cooking were already the norm at our house, but I slipped a lot during RADS-I was too tired and sore to cook the foods needed. Following a Paleo diet while relying takeout foods just doesn't work. But I'm back to adhering to this diet now.

Kicks

kathleen - my favorite veggie is probably collards followed closely by kale. Actually I love almost all other geens (turnip/mustard/beet/raddish). Love cabbage(and carrots) but only raw - well cabbage is also good as French suarkraut so it's cooked but not just 'cabbage'). Broccoli and cauliflower are good but not Brussels sprouts to me.(Hubby loves corned beef and cabbage so I fix it for him once a year - St Paddy's Day but I love chicken and yellow rice and he doesn't so I make it for me when he gets his cabbage.) I basically never eat any canned veggies - only fresh or frozen except for tomato sauce. Dried beans/peas are OK. But then that's how I grew up. That is store bought 'canned' but home canned is fine though I do prefer fresh (if at all possible) or frozen. That's the 'diet' that our Sons were brought up on too and as adults they have educated their wives as to using fresh ( or frozen) instead of just canned goods with all sorts 'stuff' in them and better flavor/taste. We do have some sort of meat once a day.

I do not like milk - never have - EXCEPT when I can get fresh milk from a licensed fresh milk dairy (some States have them) or my own cow. (No allergies - just don't like it when processed). I do like cheese, yogurt, butter (not fake stuff), ice cream and sour cream for cooking.

I'm not 'sweets' lover - I seldom eat cookies/candy/cakes/pies/soda pops/etc. When I need to use 'sugar' in cooking or 'whatever', it has to be cane sugar. Do not use synthetic sweeteners. I mostly drink water or herb tea - do not like green tea, it tastes like grass to me. I do not drink coffee usually - it is so addictive and if I drink one cup I crave it and will not stop the rest of the day - probably the caffeine - so for the most part I never drink it (no I am not going to try 'decaf' as I'm fine without 'coffee').

I do like most fruit and eat quite a bit - hate pineapple and grapefruit.

Sue-T - I do not believe the amount of adult beverages I have had (or have now) in my life contributed to my IBC (I am 5+ yrs NED as far as I know today). I do believe that many jobs I've had and places I've lived, when combined, did possibly have impact. I was born Army, grew up USAF, was Army, was a Navy wife til Hubby retired (he was Air Navy not boat Navy) and have lived under the flight path for a USAF base for many years so did have a lot of exposure to jet exhaust. I was a Master Cosmetologist for 10 yrs so exposed to chemicals, I have also done screen printing (before the 'kinder' chemicals of today) and upholestry. As a small child, I lived not far from where above ground nuclear testing was done. I had radiation done to my throat area (was fairly common back in the '40's into the 60's) when I was about 1 1/2 after my tonsils were removed to supposedly keep tonsils from growing back (didn't work - they grew back anyway and I still have the second set with no problem. It's been a great life and MINE - no regrets.

I don't know (or will ever know for sure) why I developed IBC but to me that does not matter - I can't change the past but I can live every day and to the utmost. The past is gone and can not be changed - tomorrow is what we make of it.

MartyAZ22

hi Sue,

I guess I would have been considered a moderate to heavier drinker, 1-2 drinks a day and more on weekends. I love wine, my husband and I embarked on wine making last year. Unfortunately now I feel guilty if I have a drink! I had cut back quite a bit the first of the year and started a more intense workout regime to drop weight. I wasn't severely over weight but I lost 13-15 pounds and I am now at my ideal weight with a BMI of about 21/22 now. I had also started eating more organic, and the result of my choosing a healthier lifestyle this new year?... I was diagnosed with IDC mid February! I know, it started long before then, I started my healthier lifestyle too late I guess. Now I eat most everything organic and only meat and poultry with no hormones or antibiotics. I always liked salmon and had started having it more often, about once a week, now we're adding more fish and I am eating less meat and more vegetables. Japanese women have a very low incidence of breast cancer and they eat mostly fish - only 3% of their diet is meat - fresh veggies, rice with every meal, they drink very little alcohol and they are usually more at their ideal weight than American women. My favorite dinner is stir fry mixed veggies with Jasmine rice now! I always was a fruit lover too so the more the merrier there. I also have started a pretty full load of supplements that are cancer fighters, aromatase activity lowering, and contribute to healthy liver function - your liver is where the battle between processing and eliminating hormones takes place and if alcohol is passing through at the same time the alcohol wins out! the result is an excess of the bad hormones. I now drink very little during the week but will indulge on weekends with 1 or 2 glasses of wine with dinner. I think about the one drink a day rule, and it doesn't matter if you have one a day or all seven at once in terms of raising your risk. Remember too, having a drink a day raises your risk 10% from baseline risk, which for a woman is about 12%, so it raises you to a 14.5% risk of getting BC. I guess I'm of the mindset that it isn't just one thing that lead to cancer, it was a perfect storm, a combination of things I'll never really know what they were or why they attacked my body. Now I want to live life like I was prior to cancer, but I do what I can to reduce the risks I can control, what I put in and on my body.