Post Cancer Slim Down

lachingona218

My name is Coco. I am a 36 year old newly single mother of 4. In October 2013, I began experiencing an episode of reduced urine output mixed with blood. When I had not successfully emptied my bladder for 2 days my (now ex) boyfriend took me to the ER. When they did a CT scan they said I was passing a kidney stone but they saw a mass on my left kidney. After a secondary CT scan with dye it was revealed that the mass was solid and it was not one but two masses, most likely cancerous. The larger mass was 8 cm and the smaller one was 3.5 cm in size. I opted for surgery to remove the masses which required a radical nephrectomy (removing the entire kidney). December 11, 2013, I had my left kidney removed in a hand-assisted laproscopic radical nephrectomy. It was cancer after all. Pappilary clear cell renal cell carcinoma, a very rare form of kidney cancer. Luckily, it was stage I and confined to the kidney. I am now cancer free for over a year.

I have since recovered fully from the surgery but my kidney function is not at its best. My nephrologist suggested losing weight. My kidney function will increase by 10% if I can lose 5% of my body weight. I need a 50% increase in kidney function for it to be working at its full potential. So if my math is correct I need to lose 25% of my body weight. That is roughly 56.25 lbs but I would like to get down to 150. That is a 75 lb loss.

As I stated I am newly single and I have virtually no support system in my life other than my kids and sheer will power. I am hoping to make some friends on here to help keep me motivated and maybe learn some more beneficial eating habits.

I am a stress eater. I eat when I am worried. And I am a worrier. I worry a lot. Doing everything alone is really freaking hard. So my eating usually consists of comfort foods. One good thing though is I am not against diving into a salad.

Anyone with some suggestions concerning portion and hunger control, please I am open to almost anything.