Thank you Jan!! Totally nonjudgmental and never put other people down for how they choose to live, but I find it funny that people often put me down and assume that I must be miserable to try to maintain this weight loss. I'm not gonna lie it was like that the first year or so, it often bothered me thinking that I would never again be able to go to a restaurant regularly and just order whatever looks good on the menu without thinking about the fat or calories, or thinking that I would have to keep exercising for the rest of my life (or I got old/senile enough to stop caring) but as time passed that drifted away, and now I am honestly usually blind to the foods that I cannot (gluten intolerance-really!) or choose not to eat and actually crave exercise and activity! It sacrifice at all, my life is infinitely better when I am maintaining a healthy lifestyle

Right now, leaving my regular drinking habits feels hard, often on weekends I crave a glass of wine to relax and feel a bit looser,. But I know in time that will pass!

This question I am sure has been asked before. But, what supplements are you currently taking? I know the supplements allowed can depend on where you are in treatment. I am taking vit d, digestive enzymes (need these because I do not have a gall bladder), and an organic women's once a day multi. I want to add vitamin C daily. Need to research and see if there are any problems with treatment and vitamin C. I was taking Turmeric, but MO said not to take because of Tamoxifen.

Jill - What a fantastic change you made! Shortly after going vegetarian (10 years ago), I started exercising daily + yoga and lost over 50 lbs. I was in the best shape of my life. My before and after pics look similar to yours (minus running a marathon I get what you mean when you say "crave exercise and activity". I miss that. Through the years of being single, I lost the daily exercise/yoga and gained back 30 of those pounds. Being diagnosed was a wake up call. I have cleaned up my vegetarian diet immensely and am going forward with eliminating dairy and gluten. I do not look at it as a sacrifice. I actually was a huge coffee drinker prior to diagnosis. Starbucks took a lot of my $$. I was worried I would crave it, miss it, and have withdrawal symptoms from hell. I do not miss it at all. It was easy to leave it behind. I drink jasmine green pearl tea now. Love it and look forward to the process of making it each morning and my tea kettle whistling. I am struggling with the soy thing too. I don't know if I should avoid completely or just use in moderation. I will absolutely eliminate anything that will higher my chance of reoccurrence. I want to get to the point of eating to live, not living to eat.

moondust: That is the reason my RO gave as well. I will have time to do more research and/or change RO if I feel the need before RADS. I wanted to check out proton therapy as well. My MO is not against it and actually my RO isn't either. They both said that I need whole breast and that proton therapy is more for targeted. I will still continue to do my research on the subject since I have more time before surgery since we are doing the neoadjuvant hormone therapy first.

Edit: to add more!

The only supplements I currently take are a women's multivitamin, and vitamin B 12. I do have my yearly soon, and plan to ask for a full blood testing to make sure I'm not deficient in anything, especially since my diet changed. If I am I will review any supplements I think I should be taking with my oncologist and the pharmacist.

Thank you April! Good luck! Also I have never ran a marathon, I think people that do that might be a little bit insane! I have ran a couple half marathons, 1 15k and many 5K's and 10ks.

Ayr, biggest thing you can do to avoid inflammation is to give up sugar and assess your allergies--whether food, inhaled or tactile. Allergy is an autoimmune, ergo inflammatory response, and avoiding or minimizing exposure to allergens as well as medically treating with antihistamines or leukotriene inhibitors (if ordered by your doc) is key.

As to supplements, I take a women's multi, fiber, D3, calcium citrate (I'm on a PPI for GERD and most calcium supplements like Tums are carbonate, which can't be absorbed with inadequate stomach acid), magnesium, B12, biotin (for hair, skin & nails), probiotic, melatonin (for sleep and recurrence-prevention), Co-Q10, and GTF chromium (picolinate is ineffective) for carb metabolism. I haven't had a gallbladder since 1994, but given my excessive BMI it looks like my naturaldigestive enzymes are working too well.

Sloan, I know little about tamoxifen other than that it can prevent bone loss but leave one susceptible to blood clots and uterine or retro peritoneal cancer (the latter in the absence of a uterus). Sometimes it's given to heart-healthy active postmenopausal patients who can't tolerate AIs-- but both classes of drug share many potential SEs, such as joint pain, skin and vaginal dryness, and sometimes thinning hair.

As to getting sick during rads, I did have some nausea the Sat. after my fifth treatment, but later realized it was probably hypoglycemia and dehydration from being too distracted by the song circles I was running (at an all-day music venue anniversary. celebration) to eat or drink anything for 7 hrs

ChiSandy, you wrote: "...to facilitate resorption of the fluid so my breast will settle down to its eventual post-op "new normal" size."
When I went to my two-week post-lumpectomy surgery appointment with my BS, she commented that there was still some fluid under the incision. (I didn't have any drains.) I didn't think to ask her what that meant. Is it typical to have a small amount of fluid collect within the breast? When does it go away? I Googled it. Is this called a seroma?

Moondust, you mention swelling. Might that also be related to fluid? How common is that? I have not read enough in this discussion to hear about swelling.

I have not really noticed anything, fluid or swelling, myself. Fact is my breasts are not quite the same size, and the lumpectomy was done on the smaller breast, and now it might look closer to the size of my other, larger breast, although I cannot say for sure, because I was not looking closely and comparing their sizes in the past. So, for now, both breasts look about the same size and shape, which is nice, but I know that is temporary. If it's not just temporary swelling or fluid, then radiation will likely reduce it further.

The post-surgery exam done by my BS lasted what seemed to be only 30 seconds. She didn't even give me the chance to ask questions during the exam. She just said: OK, get dressed, and come into my office.

By they way, I hear all this talk about bras. I didn't get any different bras, but just chose to wear those that are more comfortable especially for the first week of wearing them at night. I am avoiding a bra whose edge/seam right over where my incision is (outer quadrant), but other than that, nothing different. The under arm (sentinel node) incision has been a little bothersome, but I then noticed that my skins tends to fold there, so it's not surprising. Now, 17 days out, I mostly don't feel it any more, only on occasion.

Katja, a breast seroma is very common and normal after a lumpectomy (and many other surgeries): nature abhors a vacuum and fluid builds up in the cavity remaining after tissue was removed during lumpectomy. Less common but still normal at the SNB site too. Most seromas resolve w/in a very few weeks and never spontaneously rupture nor need draining (which could lead to infection). My SNB incision popped open due to the weight of my very-large breast, so the seroma beneath it gushed out (sort of self-drained). The surgeon pressed out as much fluid as he could and then sutured it closed and it is now smaller than an almond. The breast seroma was so large (“huge” was what my RO said after seeing my pre-sim-session CT scan) that the only clue I’d even had a lumpectomy was the scar. But beginning with the second radiation session--double-strength, straight to the tumor site--it began enlarging to the point where that breast is a cup size larger than pre-surgery; and the radiation caused fibrosis of the tissue between the skin and seroma. I am one of those rare patients who got breast enlargement, rather than shrinkage, from radiation. And though the fibrosis is softening, that seroma could last a year or more, perhaps permanently. I’m sure I’m keeping at least one DD+ online bra vendor afloat.

I read today that Ben & Jerry's just came out with 4 certified vegan flavors... mmmm.

http://www.syracuse.com/food/index.ssf/2016/02/ben_jerrys_releases_4_new_vegan_ice_cream_flavors.html

LTFly- I saw this article and thought of you. Just wanted to share in case it would be helpful. Hugs!

MENU

This "healthy" food can cause Brain Damage and Breast Cancer- You Should stop eating it IMMEDIATELY

Peachy- that is very cool- love the pink ice. Yes, completely understand the whole "BC is something that happened to me- like a car accident." Recognition for dealing with it...nah!

Exactly Peachy

"I am a person with a disease. The disease does not have me." Fran, I love how you put that.

Knowing what I know now about BC, I do not think I would ever consider myself "cured" or a "survivor" after treatment because of the possibility of reoccurrence. Maybe I will change my mind at some point, but that is how I feel right now. That initial diagnosis is not what is most horrifying. It is the reoccurrence that is. I will always have to be monitored in some way or fashion for the rest of my life. It is what it is. I wish "awareness" was more about real information, not just early detection saves lives. Every single person I have talked to about my breast cancer had NO idea that it could metastasis (actually, most didn't even know what the word metastasis meant) and that if it does spread to the brain, it isn't brain cancer, it is still breast cancer. I can not fault them though, because I had no idea either prior to diagnosis. It is just such a misconception "detect early, get treatment, your done". Your never done. I don't want to be honored for having breast cancer (walking out on the ice), but I would be glad to share invaluable information about what I have learned and/or what I have gone through (or will go through) to help others understand the beast that is breast cancer.

I know Jews don’t confess (well, except collectively on Yom Kippur), but here’s a confession:

I feel hesitant to even walk into a support group--with a full head of hair and two breasts that were there before diagnosis. I breezed through radiation and am okay on endocrine therapy. My problems are trivial: they’re basically inconveniences and potholes, not disabilities or roadblocks. I had great insurance (and now Medicare), a terrific care team that met all my medical needs, and my friends and family have been supportive and understanding. It didn’t disrupt my life as much as I’d feared. Sure, I’m distressed at the prospect of recurrence or even metastases, but who with a bc diagnosis isn’t? I’m afraid that in a room full of women who’ve been to hell and back (or are still struggling to escape it), I’d feel like a fraud. Cancer isn’t something I vanquished--but along the lines of the car-accident metaphor, I wasn’t anywhere near “totaled.” I feel honored to be able to pay it forward, but in contrast to so many awesome women (and men) who have had to face breathtaking adversity, I sure don’t deserve to BE honored. (And I pray I never will).

Fran, I couldn't agree more. ChiSandy, you are not a fraud any more than I am. We were fortunate to not need chemo. Our fears are the same as everyone else. That's what makes this a sisterhood. Interesting article on soy.

Not sure why it seems like I always have to explain myself. Let's see if I can.

I feel, for me, that my job or my mission is breast cancer awareness. I'm not the type to run in a 5K. And I hate the color pink. So I wear my baldness proud. It makes some uncomfortable, I don't care. Cancer is uncomfortable. Maybe if 1 of the 8 women in a crowd were bald or 1 out of 16 or whatever, people could see how many of us suffer from breast cancer. If they see the obvious, outwardly physical effects it might make them more aware, more knowledgeable, more compassionate or more interested in research. They might even talk about it. It might spur someone to get amammogram. Doing this might not help but it surely won't hurt

I'm happy for those of you that don't have to have chemo or other extensive treatment. We all have our own journey. This is mine.