HUGE weight gain after mascetomy..very depressed

purityplus

Hi im writing on behalf of my 70 year old mum. She had stage 1 so pretty much 100% recovery and had that breast removed. She then went onto a drug which had a side effect of making her skin tough and red like a burn reaction. Her Dr then said the drugs only have 1% chance of reducing cancer anyway so she was stopped and they also made her bones ache. When she became unwell before the diagnosis she had dropped in weight significantly and tbh looked terrible. Since then she has progressively put on weight about 1 kg (2.2 lb) per month. She is now about 20 kg (44 lb) increase over the past year. She is very depressed and nothing fits and now focused on her own new diagnosis of ovarian cancer!!! (she probably googled that one). Apart from forcing her to go to her Dr for blood tests etc to confirm, i want to know if other people have gained huge weight. She has stopped smoking HOWEVER also barely eats anyway. So eating wise...nothing has changed. She is physically active. The issue is her mental state. To me she looks fine but she is so stressed about the continuing weight gain. Any thoughts n advice are appreciated..or how to lose weight again.

Anonymous

hi, I assume the drug was an anti hormonal? They do tend to have that effect, although 44 lbs is a lot. I put on 15 almost immediately after going on anastrazole. I still take it and have managed to take off only three pounds since, with low carb eating and a little exercise. I started the drug at age 59 little more than a year ago

Diet and exercise are the way. A half hour walk each day non stop goes is a good way to start. Low carb with portion control is how I lost weight post menopause. A diet plan like weight watchers sometimes makes things a bit easier.

In my own case, I need to go back to a daily workout, I have been very hit or miss with exercise

MinusTwo

Purity - What does her doctor say? Exercise - even just walking - will help both mentally & physically. See if you can find a "Live Strong" class by you. Check out Silver Sneakers - a great national program for seniors.

AliceBastable

If she quit smoking, that'll pack on the pounds. I had lost a ton of weight last year with two cancers. I stopped smoking shortly before the last surgery, and have gained steadily since. I finally leveled off a few months ago, but almost 20 pounds higher than when I'd first started losing. It's frustrating, but my various doctors tell me not to beat myself up over it, that I'm still healthier as a non-smoker.