Cancer and Losing Weight
Ron_in_NC
Posts: 368 Member
Has anyone in the group been diagnosed with cancer? In the summer of 2014, I had a nodular mole on my right shoulder area that biopsy revealed melanoma. They removed it, and I've been seeing a dermatologist twice a year, and oncologist once a year for body scan. In September of 2017 during my annual oncology visit, I told the doctor that there is a lump underneath the old scar from the first melanoma. She did a biopsy, and it came back as Stage IV metastatic melanoma. In October of 2017, I had surgery at UNC Hospital to remove a tumor off my right lung, as well as the tumor on my shoulder. I'm taking OPDIVO treatments now every two weeks (immunotherapy), and actually having a treatment as I type this. I'm on medical leave from work, as the treatments cause me to lose focus at work, stress, etc. I'm applying for Long Term Disability through work, so been home since the middle of February. That's when I joined Planet Fitness, as well as MFP, and made a decision to work on losing some of this weight. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced having cancer and working on losing weight at the same time, and if it's affecting you in any way, better or worse. For me, I feel it's motivated me to take better care of myself, even if I can't stop the melanoma, other than be more cautious in the sun from now on. Sorry for the long post!
3
Replies
-
I have not, but wanted to send good thoughts your way. I have a dear friend who has had melanoma twice but it was discovered very early. He has to have very frequent check ups. I would think that concentrating on healthy foods and some enjoyable exercise with the advice of your doctors would be good. I would think that easing into exercise if you haven't been active would be advisable. Don't go at it too hard. Listen to your body and your doctors. Good luck to you and maybe you will get responses from people who are experiencing treatment will chime in.0
-
Thank you @23susu23. I'm not going hard core into the exercises, as I don't think my body is ready yet. I was alternating cardio and strengthening, but when doing the strengthening, I felt my surgery wasn't quite healed yet, so backed off on that, and just focused on cardio, as that helped get some calories off. Anyway, life is good, attitude is good. I always look at life, as someone always has it worse, so be thankful for what you have!1
-
No personal experience with cancer here, but I second the "listen to your body and the doctors" advice from @23susu23. Hard for a lot of men to do, as we think we can just tough it out and get through life. I'm getting better at taking it easy or taking a day off when it's needed.
Keep doing the cardio - it builds some endurance that carries over when you are ready to lift some weight.
I'm sure there are some users on here who can share some personal experiences. This is a great community and people are (mostly) supportive to others. Keep us posted on your progress. Best wishes.0 -
I have no e experience in this area but would guess that anything that could improve your health normally can't hurt. I wish you all the best as you go through this difficult time. If a good attitude counts then I would say you were half way there!0
-
I had cancer (stage III breast cancer), but in my case was advised not to lose weight during treatment if at all possible, even though I was obese at the time. The type of chemo I was on was the reason, I expect, as nausea, eating problems, infections and fatigue are possible side effects. If your oncology team supports your losing weight at this point, I'm sure it's fine in your case.
I can't speak to your type of cancer, but know that in the last 10-15 years or so, they've come to find that exercise is hugely beneficial for breast cancer patients, both moderating treatment side effects and minumizing progression/recurrence. During my treatment (17+ years ago now), the more common advice was to rest!
Good nutrition can be a plus, especially lots of nice veggies, if they're compatible with your treatment. (Some of this stuff is surprisingly counterintuitive to people who haven't been through it. During chemo, I was advised to avoid raw fruit or veggies that could not be peeled, because the normal bacterial load, even after washing, could be high enough to challenge a compromised immune system. There was also some fear that antioxidants in supplement levels could potentially interfere with effectiveness of chemo or radiation - I guess they work partly by oxidative stress on tumor cells or something? But all of these limitations are very specific to particular treatment regimes, so I'm not at all suggesting these things would apply to you. Trust your treatment team, obviously!)
Treatment can be a stress and challenge, so I deeply admire your focus and resolve, working on other health improvements in parallel: Good show!
Sending strength and wishes for the very best possible treatment response!4 -
Thanks for the comments. Things seem to be going good for now. Next treatment is this upcoming Tuesday, April 10th. I think the exercise and dieting is actually helping, not hindering. Thankfully, my type of Chemo, OPDIVO, hasn't left me with many negative side effects..just some morning nausea, and tiredness. Its all good. What I didn't care hearing my Oncologist say was that since I had stage IV melanoma, my risks are high that its coming back. Hopefully no time soon.5
-
Glad to hear things are moving along: Thanks for keeping us posted. Kudos to you for doing the best possible things to improve your odds of long term health.
Wishing you strength and continued positive progress!1 -
Thanks Ann! That means a lot!
1
This discussion has been closed.