Her2/NED since herceptin/Diet

I'm NED and a year and a half out. I really haven't changed my diet much. It's actually been worse for much of the first year: (I'm doing chemo and can eat anything I want attitude). I've started trying to eat somewhat better, but haven't made any significant changes to my diet. What changes I've been trying to make are more related to high cholesterol than anything else.

I try to avoid fast food- but I didn't eat it much before dx.

Haven't really made too many changes-- and enjoying NED for quite some time.

Mary Jo,  Good question and I hope many more reply to it.  I am 2 yrs & one month out from DX & NED. (Knock on wood.)  During chemo trts I ate anything I could get down.  (Wasn't easy!) I was told not to worry about food at that time...just eat when I could.  I lost 36 lbs during chemo, heck of a way to diet. 

But once I finished I *slowly* have *tried* to make changes.  I definitely have added lots of fruits and veggies.  I use to eat both before bc...but not like I do now.  In fact I've been concerned about "how much fruit is too much fruit".  lol  Fruit is full of sugar even though its a natural sugar.  I read labels on everything I buy now which has ONLY added to the confusion of what is ok to eat?  I didn't realize how much sugar and other garbage is in just about everything we eat.  Since I am Er & Pr weakly positive I've been told to stay away from soy.  HA!  Soy is in EVERYTHING.  I'm finding trying to eat right is a major headache I actually overwhelms me at times. 

I use the word "trying" because I am FAR from perfect.  I still cheat and have some of my favorite foods.  We use to eat steak quite a bit but now I eat very little red meat.  I cook more organic chicken and fish for hubby.  I don't put sugar on my cereal or in my tea anymore which I miss.  I put some fruit in my cereal now to replace the sugar.  I still occasionally have a bite of dark chocolate or a small piece of cake if I can't take it anymore.  I notice if I deprive myself too much it ONLY makes things worse and I will get into more crap that I don't need.

But basically...I will say I've made some major changes just by eating twice as much fruits and veggies.  I am really trying hard but a person can only do so much without going crazy.  lol  When I was in a hurry BEFORE my bc DX I would pop in a stoffers entree or Marie Calendar's dinner... but now I never eat any of those types of dinners.  All the processed stuff I try to stay away from. (Keyword again is try!)  I DO give in once in a while...can't help myself.   As to dairy I have cut that down a little bit...but I will still have some mac & cheese on occasion, and I do put milk on my cereal or have a small glass of it now and then.  I've always drank 2% milk so that's not to bad.  My biggest vice I miss is ice cream. 

I'm still reading pages and trying to figure out what's good and not?  All I know is the changes I've made sure leave me HUNGRY all the time.  I don't like it.   Also like MaryAnne said...I too use to skip breakfast. (My entire life almost!)  But now I eat something even if its a *small* something.  So I do eat differently...but I have a long ways to go. 

I do use supplements & vitamins.  I take the Caltrate for calicum and vitamin D.  Also the GNC's Womens Ultra Mega.  I hope more ladies will reply.  Its SO HARD to completely change your diet over night.  Darned near impossible.  But I'm trying is all I can say. 

Chelee

Hi Mary Jo (from another Mary Jo),

What a great thread you've started.  I have wondered the exact same thing about diet changes, etc.  I just finished chemo and will begin rads next Monday, plus Herceptin until November.  Many times, I have freaked out about my bad eating and how if I don't improve it, the bc will come back, so I have to get back on track!  I gained 17 lbs during chemo  and am so very distressed about the weight gain, especially after reading the article on this website about how being overweight increases a woman's chances of dying of BC.  I was very healthy before my diagnosis and had just lost 50 lbs by eliminating junk foods and exercised regularly, my cholesterol was 142, and I thought I was the picture of health-- then BC!   I've just got to get back to doing what I was doing before to get the weight off again.  I would love to eat all organic, but cannot afford to buy all organic foods.  My husband is gluten-sensitive and already my grocery bill is out the roof!  I wish there was a magic formula for eating that would keep BC away forever.  Can anyone recommend a good book on nutrition after breast cancer?

Congratulations to everyone who is NED! 

Hugs from Mary Jo

Hello,

My mom is not NED yet, but she is two teeny spots away from it.  She was dx with mets to liver and bones, and some chest nodes.  She is current on her 6th cycle of weekly Taxol/Herceptin/(Zometa is monthly) and her PET scan went from being widespread and extensive mets to liver and bones and chest nodes, to where did all the cancer go so fast.  Onc was so shocked the nurse said she just just sat in her chair with her mouth open.  Bones have resolved and all the other tumors she had in liver except 2 teeny ones have resolved also.  Onc hopes for NED on next scan. 

My mom dramtically changed her diet after mets dx, one because of the cancer location and two because she started with High Cholestrol after her first round of chemo 3 years back, and because of the mets to liver she had to stop taking cholesterol meds.  So, she cut out all the sugar, except for fresh fruit, she juices her green veggies each day in order to keep the acidity in her body down.  Cancer likes acidic environment.  So, she gets enough chlorophyl from the greens to keep a nice neutral to alkaline balance in her body.  She measures her ph balance from her urine now and then.

She doesn't eat red meat anymore, she eats organic fruits and veggies.  She eats organic oats for breakfast.  Because of her cholesterol she swallows a half clove of garlic a day, the pill form has too many added chemicals in them, so the doc said to cut a garlic clove in half and swallow like a tablet to prevent stinky breath.  She also takes 2 tablespoons of olive oil each day to help her LDL's. 

She eats chicken and Fish only for meat.  And only cetain types of fish because of mercury content.  She drinks 2 cups of green tea a day.  She runs a mile each morning after she takes my 11 year old sister to school.  Chemo day she doesn't run because the steriods and benedryl make her weird.  Her blood work is all normal, as are her tumor markers.  It has a been a big adjustment for her, but she is determined not to let cancer get to her.  So she throws everything she can at it, and so far it is working wonders.  She feels great.  Actually she said she feels better now than she did 5 years ago before cancer entered her life. 

So, I think her diet really helped give her a boost with her treatment.

That was a lot to say....phew :0)

Michelle

Hi!

I have a similar diagnosis/treatment to a lot of you--just finished 12 weekly taxol/heceptin, now on herceptin for a year.

I'm in the process of trying to change my diet, partly for health, partly for weight loss--I gained somewhere btw 12 and 15 pounds on taxol. I've been trying to reduce fat and sugar in my diet, and to eat smaller portions of better food. I'm still working my way up to the organic/hormone-free/etc. issue--mostly because I can't stand the idea of two grocery shopping trips!! I hated grocery shopping even before bc! My parents have done it for me all through chemo, so my big trip to the grocery this week was a (ugh) milestone of sorts.

My biggest problem is getting too hungry and then wolfing too much food that isn't the best for me. So my plan is to eat a good breakfast, make sure to snack on something healthy, and force myself to eat only a reasonable portion and then wait 20 minutes before eating more, so the satiety sets in. I have no idea if that will actually reduce my caloric intake, but I guess it's a good first step to be more aware and have more control over my diet.

Marejo, it's actually comforting to hear your weight gain (about the same as mine) didn't come off til you were done with Herceptin--do you think they were related?  

I'd love to hear if anybody has had doc's recommendations about this.

Amy 

Hello

I thought I ate well and exercised and lived a healthy lifestyle and wammo cancer. So before I started chemo I went to a naturopath who works with cancer patients at an integrative medicine clinic in the same hospital that I got my chemo. He put me on a diet that added smoothies (with extra protien and of other things) an egg a day and other naturopathic medicines to help my gut and it worked well. I was able to go to work throughout my chemo and get to the pool to swim. My weight stayed the same..



Since then I have been following the ideas of a Mediterranean diet. The MD who runs the Integrative Medicine dept says the research shows that women who change their diets to the Mediterranean diet and cut out processed flour and sugar and chemicals in their food have 40% less recurrence of breast cancer.

Those odds sound pretty good to me. He has a cookbook for those just changing their diets and I found it really helpful. Their web site is also informative



http://www.providence.org/oregon/default.hltm



Under programs and services is listed the Integrative medicine program

I'm trying to stick to this diet but still have my mini binges with brownies

Henny

Well, I am not NED, though I am heading in that direction. I had a 6cm lump removed from my right breast on Oct. 4. My entire breast was one big mass though. On Oct 4, I completely changed my diet. no more processed foods, no meat no dairy, just fruits and vegetables. I looked up cancer fighting foods on the internet, a site called the cancer tudor, and foods that cause cancer. Took all of the info and decided to take control. On Oct 10, I was  diagnosed with Stage IV inflamatory ductal carcenoma. When I told my doc what I  was doing as far as diet, he said  "eat whatever you want"...My common sense told me to ignore him...I began an alternative treatment called the Amazon Protocol, added cats claw & Pau d'Arco caps and tea, ground flax, wheatgrass, spirulina, etc...organic, organic, organic...It is proven that organic foods are by far the better choice as the nutrients have not been depleted. Our bodies do not digest animal protein easily, so I stay away from meat. I have mets to the bone, so Dairy is out, as the energy our bodies uses to digest calcium from animals depletes other nutrients. And it sucks! I love cheese....BUT...My docs are scratching their heads. I am rapidly healing. I was told I was going to have to have a masectomy. They said there was no way to shrink the mass in my breast...It's GONE. My doc now says no masectomy. She walks through the chemo room and just smiles at me and shakes her head... My tumor markers are at 17. I am on Herceptin and taxol once a week, and I feel fabulous. I don't know what is working, I am doing so much, but I think that the positive effects of taking charge of my future, with regard to my diet and fighting this thing, (whether my thoughts on meat and dairy are right or wrong) I believe are working. I believe diet is HUGE, It's hard, but it's our lives! I asked about Antioxidants. My chemo nurse and others have told me that antioxicants in regular doses are ok...it's the mega-dosing that interferes with the chemo. Man this makes my head swim. I just want to be done with this by summer...I have plans!  

Bump - This is old - but it is relevant to me now. I would love to hear input from others trying diets or from some of the people who posted on this originally and let us know how it is going.

I will be the third Mary Jo on this thread (Marejo and Blue Willow being one and two; I was diagnosed around the same time as them). Mistyeyes, I also live in Homosassa (Sugarmill Woods).

I have made big diet changes since my diagnosis, not so much because of the breast cancer as because of my metabolic syndrome and strong family history of diabetes.

Interestingly enough, there have been links made between the insulin resistance of metabolic syndrome and diabetes with the increased risk of hormone negative breast cancer.

At the time of diagnosis, I weighed 225 lbs (5 ft 6 in tall). I was frustrated. I had spent years trying to lose weight and nothing worked.

After bilateral mastectomies and chemo, I was down to 160 lbs. I tried again to lose the remaining weight to no avail. And then the lunch with my daughter's college roommate and her mother happened. In college the room mate was overweight and her mother was also over weight and had uncontrolled diabetes.

At the lunch, they were slim and the kicker was that while I was eating a small salad for lunch (trying to lose weight), they were ordering small steaks, sweet potato fries, and a side salad. Mom had not only lost weight, but her diabetes was under control and she was only on a low dose of diabetes medication.

The secret was a way of eating developed for diabetes (and metabolic syndrome patients) by a dietitian in New Jersey. Carbohydrates are our enemy and need to be eaten correctly (low glycemic, amount and timing are key).

Well, I was sold and promptly bought the book (The Metabolism Miracle by Diane Kress) and started my diet life style change that let me lose my remaining weight, reduce my cholesterol, lower my blood pressure and keep my blood glucose levels normal. My doctor credits my way of eating and exercise (yes, you must exercise as part of the lifestyle) for the fact that I am not a full blown diabetic.

I am 11 year out from diagnosis, and am healthy and active.

Mistyeyes, the worst part about the plan is learning to control those carb craving that those of us with metabolic syndrome or those who have progressed to diabetes have. The first few days are hell with your body trying to get you to feed the addiction (horrible headaches, intense cravings).

The way of eating works for us (albeit our weight loss is slower than people without metabolism B as it is labeled in the book). People without metabolic syndrome or diabetes will find it even more effective.