Returning After Cancer

izenzo
izenzo Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

It has been a few years, and due to health issues, I am returning. I apologize for the length.

In July 2023 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The call came the very moment I was being called into pre-op to repair a large hernia. So immediately after hernia surgery I was not focused on healing. I had 2 more surgeries in the following weeks. One to remove the tumor and associated lymph node, and the other for a port. A week after the port, I started the first of 4 rounds of chemo. After chemo came 20 of radiation. My doc said I was NED a year ago this month. I did have to start estrogen blocker that I'll need for the next 5 years. The first 3 they tried had awful side effects (heart palpitations, joint pain, nausea, etc). The one I tolerate is an injected one that is once a month. It's side effects: bloating, weight gain, fatigue, anemia, and hot flashes/night sweats (which I was past for almost 10 years prior after hysterectomy in '09). The anemia lead to 3 iron infusions with steroids, which my body seems to gain weight just hearing the word.

So, all the weight has come back. Now I am focusing on getting healthy again. So I have come back to what worked for me before.

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,862 Member

    Hello, and welcome back!

    I'm also a breast cancer survivor, but my Stage III BC was diagnosed in 2000, after which I had bilateral mastectomies without reconstruction (by choice), tumors on both sides but lymph nodes removed on only one side; 6 months of chemo, 2 types each 4 times on 3 week schedule but all by IV rather than port; and about 6 weeks of every-weekday radiation . . . so somewhat similar history. I did take anti-estrogen drugs, but was more fortunate, able to take the oral versions daily without acute side effects, first Tamoxifen for 2.5 years then Arimidex (anastrozole) for 5 years.

    I've been NED since treatment, fortunately, though there have been a few scares along the way, now age 69.

    Some of these treatments are quite extreme, and responses tend to vary quite widely among individuals . . . at least that was my conclusion after participating in a local in-person support group starting after treatment and continuing up until the recent pandemic. I'm very sorry to hear that you're having so much difficulty with the estrogen blockers!

    Steroids do tend to trigger weight gain, but usually a fair fraction of it is water retention that will dissipate once steroids are no longer needed. Of course, any of these regimens can trigger weight gain through fatigue or appetite effects, including indirect effects caused by impaired sleep quality/quantity that spikes appetite and hinders energy level.

    I won't claim it was the result of a Grand Plan Well Executed, but one thing that really helped me - as I look at it in retrospect - was a decision to become more active post-treatment in order to regain strength and energy. That was a gradual, manageable process over two years or so, starting with some gentle yoga a couple of times a week at a community education program, then gradually increasing in time devoted and type of exercise until I was active with some form of exercise most days of the week, some of it fairly energetic and pretty much all of it things I found enjoyable. Even now, nearly 20-some years past starting that, I feel stronger, fitter, and more physically capable than I did before diagnosis let alone after treatment.

    Silly me, I didn't commit to losing weight until much later, when age 59-60. For me, calorie counting was the perfect approach, and I hope it will be effective again for you. I was able to figure out how many calories I could eat and lose at a sensibly moderate rate, gradually settle into an eating routine that kept me mostly full and happy at that calorie level, and gave me reasonable overall nutrition for positive effects on health and energy level. I've stayed at a healthy weight for almost 9 years since, using the habits I learned during weight loss.

    That weight loss, for me, was also a big quality of life improvement, just as the increased exercise and fitness had been a decade earlier. The combination of both is gangbusters.

    I empathize with what you've been through, and am sorry that the estrogen blockers have been such a difficult ongoing phase. I hope you'll be able to find a routine of both medical treatment and eating/activity that bring you big improvements, and ideally into a new phase of better health and well being.

    I'm cheering for you to succeed!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,862 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48539222#Comment_48539222

    That sounds perfect: Go, you!

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