Breast Cancer survivor working on a better self

kimberlyvickery
kimberlyvickery Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hiya everyone! My name is Kim, I am born and raised in Eastern WA state, married to my best friend and partner in all shenanigans. We have a 19 year old daughter and 3 itty bitty dogs that are like children to us….most of the time 😉. I work from home now part time as a medical biller and coder. Diagnosed with a genetic form of breast cancer 2 1/2 years ago, chemo, surgery and radiation completed and I was given a completely clean bill of health! But…I am 324 pounds and 5’9. I need a total knee replacement and being only 45 makes it difficult. I can’t have the surgery without loosing 60 lbs and I have tried soooo many things over the years that without being able to exercise….I MUST lose weight….so I am working towards having an RNY gastric bypass to help in getting my weight down so I can be a healthier, pain free version of myself. From diet changes I have list 14lbs on my own since January 23rd. I have to get down to 291 for surgery. With the help of fitness pal, my goals are starting to seem possible. I’m so happy to surround myself with support, and people to push us all and keep us on the right path to success!!

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,954 Member
    Hello, and welcome, from a fellow breast cancer survivor! (I had stage III breast cancer back in 2000, the whole 9 yards of treatment similar to you, and am "no evidence of disease" still, almost 22 years later, thankfully).

    We're at different places on different paths in various ways - I'm much older, 66, and lost weight from class 1 obese to a healthy weight (50+ pounds) back in 2015-16, am hanging around here maintaining a healthy weight since. Still, I wanted to stop by your post and let you know that I'm cheering for you: You can do this!

    You will be amazed at how much difference being at a healthy weight will make to your day-to-day life, I predict . . . and you'll begin to see the benefits gradually, even long before you reach your ultimate goal weight.

    Wishing you much success!
  • RosiBerry
    RosiBerry Posts: 1 Member
    Wow, I have a similar story. Also breast cancer and did the whole shebang.....chemo, surgery, radiation. But the cancer came back so still undergoing immunotherapy after chemo and radiation a second time. Weight has always been a struggle for me and now at 65 I have osteoarthritis in my hip besides, which is quite painful. Surgery is an option but I need to lose at least 80lbs before even being considered for it. I don't want to have gastric bypass either to "speed things along". Losing weight and getting healthy is more important than ever. I need to get serious and make this life change stick. It's for my own good.

    Wishing you success on your journey!
  • txdealer
    txdealer Posts: 1 Member
    edited February 2022
    Hello, and my name is Kim as well. I was recently diagnose with Breast cancer and had surgery to get the all clear to get healthy. I've struggle with my weight for a while at 56. I need to lose about 80 lbs as well, but not ready for another surgery. It's on my mind as an option for this year, but I'm trying to eat healthy to how it work out.

    Wishing the best for everyone this year.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,954 Member
    RosiBerry wrote: »
    Wow, I have a similar story. Also breast cancer and did the whole shebang.....chemo, surgery, radiation. But the cancer came back so still undergoing immunotherapy after chemo and radiation a second time. Weight has always been a struggle for me and now at 65 I have osteoarthritis in my hip besides, which is quite painful. Surgery is an option but I need to lose at least 80lbs before even being considered for it. I don't want to have gastric bypass either to "speed things along". Losing weight and getting healthy is more important than ever. I need to get serious and make this life change stick. It's for my own good.

    Wishing you success on your journey!

    For what it's worth, results may not generalize, etc.:

    I posted just above, with my breast cancer story and weight loss arc.

    What I didn't say is that I also have osteoarthritis in hips, knees, probably elsewhere, as well as at least one torn knee meniscus (per MRI, but probably two, per self-perception), and osteopenia that seems to have progressed to osteoporosis. (I tend to attribute the osteoporosis to 5 years of Arimidex related to the breast cancer - bone density was good before that, I don't have a strong family history of bone loss, and being obese tends to be somewhat protective - I was obese for many years).

    For me, both getting stronger and losing weight have had an amazingly positive impact on my quality of life as relates to those things. I used to have discomfort pretty much all the time, and pain that was disruptive to daily life probably a couple of weeks out of most months, including pain related sleep interruptions.

    I became active and stronger while still overweight/obese. That required finding activities that didn't make pain worse in a persisting way, but I admit some of them were uncomfortable while doing them, and I needed strategies alongside to manage that. I stayed active for about a dozen years, before losing weight, and there was real physical improvement from being stronger/fitter even though obese.

    What really made the biggest difference, though, was losing to a healthy weight, which happened about 6 years ago, when I was 59-60. It took a while at goal weight to settle in - for lack of a better description - but what I'd call pain is now quite rare, and discomfort far from routine.

    I'm still active, and have a decent handle on what I can do without aggravating things (which wasn't necessarily always a quick or pleasant learning experience!), though I can still experience discomfort while doing certain things. (Ironically, for me, regular longer walks are one of the things that are uncomfortable to do, but in good weather, I do them, because I need to stay conditioned to walking or things head downhill with my ability to do desired daily life activitie that require walking, like long shopping trips, art fairs, music festivals, etc.)

    I truly believe that weight loss (as well as being as active as feasible) can potentially make a major contribution to pain reduction, though I'm sure it won't be true for every single person. There were minor improvements along the way for me - slow! - but the improvement after being at a healthy weight for a year or so, plus staying active (which was even easier at a healthy weight!) was the most major.

    For me, the quality of life improvement is hard to overstate. I believe that getting fitter is possible at any age, with patience, care and expert advice as needed; and that weight loss is achievable as well. I hope that you-all replying on this thread will find a good path.

    Wishing you success in your current efforts!

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