For Informed People Using Alternative Treatments

Here are the links for the pod casts on exercise and nutrition.

http://www.lbbc.org/Event-Archive/2014-01-16-Nutrition-and-Diet

http://www.lbbc.org/Event-Archive/2014-01-22-Exercise-and-Fitness

gary said the other day to eat a handful of nuts daily:  or nut butters, they often contain added sugar though I've found.  almonds, macedemias, walnuts, pecans he mentioned recently.  & brazil nuts.  found some organic brazil nuts w & turns out my spice grinder makes nut butter.

Probably not, but I think it would have a lot to do with how well your body heals after trauma and how well it handles the treatment (s). There's a lot of extra stress placed on vital organs when you're overweight.

Light, I think it is because there actually are some studies that at least hint at what might be a useful diet.

Momine - Thanks for the synopsis! I like that there are guidelines. Especially about the red meat - max 4x a month.  

Nut butters are awesome, especially if you're underweight.  I was always a yo-yo'er when it came to weight.  Now that I don't eat dairy, wheat, or sugar anymore, I've lost a lot of weight. Too much, I think. I think nut butters help keep the weight from going down further.

The breast density is definitely a risk factor. Are You Dense?

Haha on the article title. Mine are Category 4. Only 5-10% of us have them.

lightandwind - lol yes i have dense breast tissue. got a call back on my first mammo bc of my very dense breast tissue. checked out fine...it was my left breast they're looking at. skipped a year and here i am. it's my right breast got the MX. it's kind of ironic and funny...

i read that MRI is less bad but still some kind of bad effects to our body. ultrasound is probably the least worst among all those screening tests.

hipz - 

oh...i am sorry to hear that. but it could be just a benign cyst...

Hi hipz,

I hope you get good news on your test. When I asked my ob/gyn to do the CA 125 test, he told me that this test is not too reliable. I don't know if he just didn't want to do the test to save money for the insurance company or he was telling the truth. You can ask your obgyn also. I think monitoring the ovaries again in a few months by ultrasound is a good idea just to be sure. Your ob/gyn may suggest to come back in a year but be proactive and monitor the size in a few months. I hope everything will be ok. Breast cancer is enough for all of us.   

hipz,

Was the test in August CA 27-29? Was this test normal at the same time you had breast cancer? Wow, if this is the case, I feel more scared for all of us BC sisters. I guess the best thing is to have faith and hope for the best. My hormones are out of wack too. They tested my hormones twice and both times my estradiol hormone is very high. I take indole 3 carbinol, ground flaxseed and some other supplements. What are you doing for hormone balance? I am on Tamoxifen and sometimes I think it is causing the ovaries to keep making more and more estrogens.  

new2bc - since my first BC diagnosis in 2001 I have had regular blood work done.  I used to have it every 3 months but then it went to every year.   In Aug. 2013 I had my blood work done including the CA 15-3 blood test.  My level was 21.3 (anything under 31 is normal).  This is the same time I  found a lump that ended up being cancerous.  My previously mammogram also found nothing so my faith in medical testing is not very high at this point.  

I have been reading about hormone balance a lot and was going to try to really limit my sugar and up my veggies (I am more of a fruit fan but need to eat more veggies). I am also amazed and scared the more I research all of the xenoestrogeons out there!  So many.  I was going to change some products I use to avoid them as much as I can.   Lastly, I am looking into starting a small does of progesterone cream  during the last two weeks of my cycle but haven't done that yet.    I asked my OBGYN if I should have my hormones tested and she did not think it was necessary because I was both estrogen and progesterone positive??  I am not a doctor but something is off with my body IMO.  

If your tumor has progesterone receptors, why would you want to add that hormone?  As far as I can tell, medical science has not figured out how to address PR+.  They test for it, record it, but then just forget about it.  I haven't found any research on how it works, or whether there is any way to block progesterone.  Confusing, and frustrating.  Does your onc have any clarity on this? 

As for your gyn not being concerned about balancing hormones, the theory there is that estrogen receptors are not the least bit concerned about the source of the estrogen they might glom onto.  From their point of view, any estrogen is yummy estrogen.  That said, your tamoxofen should take care of the estrogen issue, but I would guess, if you are premenstrual, balancing estrogen still might be a good thing.  The best way to reduce the estrogen produced by your body fat, is, sadly, to lose its source: body fat.  I did ask my onc about balancing estrogen and he was pretty clear that as I am post menopausal, there is only one source of estrogen in my body and weight loss is the key for me.  I do wish I could just take some herbs and forget about it!