Looks like both people on this post have been put through the ringer. It's important to remember that recovering from cancer takes time and each day can sometimes seem like a chore but if you both stay the course putting in the work to get healthier day in and day out it will happen. You both can do it. Stay strong and keep with it!

Hello! :0) Lisa here. I am a colon cancer survivor, stage 3. I was diagnosed at age 38, with no cancer in my family at all. Leave it to me to want to be different, lol. Happy to say my last check up showed things are still going good and I'm determined to get back in shape.

Just joined and wanted to introduce myself.

I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in Aug. 2009, had two courses of chemo, bilateral mastectomy with lymph node removal in Nov. 2009, radiation in 2010, 13 courses of Herceptin lasting until Nov. 2010. I started developing lymphedema in both arms in 2010 but it seems to have stabilized with treatment (compression sleeves, manual lymphatic drainage).

I weighed 235 when I started chemo and went down to 205 within a month of starting treatment; gained back 20 pounds, lost 10, now trying to work on developing healthy self-care habits in general.

I was just diagnosed with Graves' Disease, which is an autoimmune disorder causing hyperactive thyroid. Why couldn't I have had the side effect of "rapid, unexplained weight loss"? Well, it turns out that some hyperactive thyroid patients are the stereotypical thin, nervous wrecks, while others of us gain weight because we're hungry all the time. It also causes protruding eyeballs, which I have to some degree but I'm told it's not very noticeable because I wear glasses. I'm self-conscious about it, anyway. Fortunately, the medication I am taking (methimazole) cut my appetite down to normal within a couple of days!

I suspect the Graves was a result of extreme stress, what with The Cancer, moving, separating from my husband, and getting laid off. I am just trying to deal with severe depression and anxiety right now and feel that starting a diet / exercise program will help me address those emotional things while I'm looking for work.

One big physical problem I'm having right now is severely limited range-of-motion in my arms. It's gotten to the point I can't do the crawl when swimming because I don't have the strength to pull myself through the water anymore. I'm supposed to do stretches and so forth to help my arms but I bust out crying from the pain and frustration. Trying to work through that, too.

Sorry if this is kind of long-winded... dealing with a lot of stuff. Before you suggest it, yes, I'm in therapy and on anti-depressants; this has been developing over the last three years. Things are up and down but I feel better after joining this group and reaching out.