Physically active before dx and annoyed that I still got cancer

I believe there are random cases, but personally I think there are also quite a few concrete factors, because there are pretty good sized differences in rates between countries like the US vs Africa. It's a combination of factors, including lifestyle and things in our environment we don't even know about and things we can't control like age of menarche and genetic predisposition. That's why it's still a good idea to live as healthy of a lifestyle as we can manage - without obsessing, of course! It can't hurt.

Thanks Trvler as you so rightly said, it doesn't mean you wish it on anyone - it's just mind boggling. I sometimes think that perhaps instead of looking at all of us that get stuff may be it's more prudent to study those that never get sick? I know they do but .... My FIL is almost 86, smoked for 60 years, eats the most rubbish food ever, never exercises and has nothing wrong with him, except that he is going deaf - believe me he gets tested for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g, so much that his Dr was like "just go home, you are wasting money here." Study him, what is it that makes him like kevlar?

Now my biggest thing is I feel so misguided: As ashamed as I am to now admit it, I totally bought in to the "do this and you won't get breast/colon etc cancer" thing that Winning is talking about. Every new 'prevention' - I did it, it was easy because I believed there was a benefit so it was barely ever a sacrifice to drop this food or that, workout more etc. Now I am permanently at sixes and sevens with myself especially over diet. I haven't eaten processed sugar in years but my mind spins....should I eat this? should I cut this? dairy? no dairy? raw dairy? vegan? vegetarian? Ketogenic? Paleo? organic? not organic ( Does it really matter or should I save that extra cash?)Gluten, no gluten, grains? no grains? tamoxifen? no tamoxifen? 5 years? 10 years? Excercise: 30 minutes?1 hour? Moderate? hardcore? All of it, none of it - what's the bloody difference anyways??

Does anyone else drive themselves insane with all that stuff? It's not like I don't have enough other things to think about ..... but those thoughts always manage to creep in, after all, my brain says "you tried all of it before and look where you are?" But the reality is at this moment, I am healed, healthy, looking and feeling great and most of my friends have a multitude of problems ranging from heart disease to hypertension to diabetes and everything in between....so maybe my hard work, healthy living and awareness is still all worth it? All my other stats are brilliant - my boobs just went haywire....

Ok, rant over - sorry my musings got so long......

I agree it can drive you crazy trying to figure out what's "worth it" and what isn't. I admit my diet has actually gone downhill some in the last few months because I had those thoughts: I have been SO GOOD but it didn't help, so why keep at it? But then I'm like you, all of my other health stats are great so it really did help in those areas. Also, when you look at behavior-related stats for BC you see that they're talking about reduction in incidence by population (example from a BC stats website: "...about 22% of cases of breast cancer in Brazil can be prevented by not drinking alcohol, being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight"). Statistically that's true, but it wasn't true for us.

I exercise because it makes me feel better. I admit to being a junk food junkie, but I try to limit the frequency and amount. I do think I have been worse lately, but I can't exercise or work and eat junk out of boredom! I plan to continue to eat a balanced diet and have some junk and exercise as before. My BP has always been on the really low side, cholesterol is great, and my blood sugars perfect. When I went in at the beginning of this journey, they were shocked that I had next to no medical history and took no prescription medications. I had both my kids in my early and mid 20s and breastfed both.

I am struggling a bit with this topic. I'm only 35 with BC. No significant family history (one grandmother at 70). Three kids, all breastfed. I'm a little overweight and not as active as most of you and my diet isn't as great as most of you, but in both regards I'm well better than average. Always been conscious of plastics and chemicals, but not super strict.
I've never been sick before. My immune system is awesome: I barely even get a cold once a year! The pharmacist when I started chemo kept asking me if I was sure I wasn't missing anything, because she rarely has patients in who literally take no medicines. I never even used to take panadol!
I told my oncologist that I feel like I've done the wrong thing by not being a vegan marathon runner and she told me that even if I were I might still be sitting there in her office. Diet and exercise reduce the risk in the overall population, and don't specifically prevent cancer.
I had already made a tonne of improvements to my diet last year: more whole foods, less sugar, that sort of thing. Now I don't know how much more strict I need to be on it all. Cut out dairy? No red meat? No sugar ever? No wine??? This just makes life sound depressing.
I'm definitely going to up my activity further once chemo is done, because exercise is generally good for me.
I just feel as though I can't trust my body anymore.

BlueKoala, I don't think there is a thing you could have done to change what fate handed you. Sometimes cancer is a random slip of the genes somewhere. I felt the same way you did at first, like I must have done something wrong to be afflicted by this. But in the past few months I have made peace with my body. The cancer is what it is, and now I'll just keep doing everything I can to keep it from returning. I am the leanest I've ever been in my life, I will continue to lift weights and hike, and avoid known carcinogens like grilled meat. I can say one thing - my healthy diet and lifestyle seems to be helping me get through all these treatments, and it will for you too. We will have fewer side effects and come out strong on the other side! How are you doing with the chemo?

Lunderwood, you look fantastic! We are doing all we can to prevent the recurrence, but it will be what it is. But for sure, being the healthiest we can be means we are able to enjoy each day of our life more so than those who choose to be unhealthy even if they don't have cancer!

I have gone back to my low-carb diet this past week and lost 7 of the 13 lbs. I gained on letrozole (and overall, ofthe 25 I’d gained back due to careless carb-eating both in Europe & NOLA and then my post-dx “pity-party.” Low-carb made me lose 50 lbs. since Jan. 2013--my weight low point was in summer of 2014.

But it’s not out of any attempt to forestall recurrence. I know that letrozole weakens bones, slows metabolism and raises “bad” cholesterol (LDL & triglycerides). My family history on both sides has no bc but is a cardiovascular trainwreck (except high HDLs on my mom’s maternal side--but I’m the only woman thus far who hasn’t developed diabetes). So I want to lessen the stress on my bones & joints, make up somewhat for slow metabolism, and keep off statins (carbs--especially sugar--go to the liver and raise bad blood lipids as well as blood sugar & a1c). I also know that the more tissue one has due to obesity, the higher the lymphedema risk--mine is at stage 0 and I want to keep it that way.

But mostly, I am quite vain and don’t handle pain, discomfort and fatigue very well. The fatter I am, the worse I feel. And I was dismayed by the way I looked last week in a new outfit. I am carefully managing my carbs (only low-carb organic dairy, 1 slice of low-carb, high fiber bread every other day or so, fruit and wine intake--only 1 of my 5 produce portions per day is a fruit, and a lower-sugar one at that; and I’m trying to keep my wine to the equivalent of 2.5 oz/day or less--having a “Coravin” argon-gas wine preserver that lets me enjoy as little of an ounce of a great wine without exposing the contents to air helps immensely. As does extremely dark chocolate--even better if it’s sugar-free).

I am 49 and have always lived a healthy lifestyle, never smoked, maintained a healthy weight, eat well/clean and exercise daily. I believe you can do things that may contribute to the onset of certain cancers but I also think if it's your turn, you're going to get it... Still a little p***ed off that after taking such good care of myself, I still got it....

Jennifer I'm 49 also andwe have similar stats and I feel same way. Prior to dx I weight trained, kickboxing, ran, had an advanced yoga practice, hot Pilates and ate well. Would only have a drink at a family BBQ or on a holiday or vacation, don't smoke. Was extremely diligent with mammos and ultrasounds so I could catch anything early. I was told my tumor was 6-8mm's and it was not seen on mammo, it was found on ultrasound. It ended up being 3 cm's and still wasn't seen on mammo?! I've given up trying to figure it all out. If I had one more doctor say to me oh your so healthy...yeah except for the freaking cancer. So I'm getting back now to trying to do everything I did prior as far as exercise adapting to the tissue expanders and lymphedema risk and I've restricted my diet even moreso than it was. I say a lot of good this all did for me

prior. As Trevler has mentioned with the multiple surgeries, treatments etc the healthier you are all around the better. My recoveries from everything have been good.