Looking for current breast cancer patients

weemuse
weemuse Posts: 40
in Introduce Yourself
Looking to add MFP members as friends who are CURRENTLY undergoing treatment for breast cancer and who are struggling to keep those dreaded 15lbs off. I'm finding the thought of gaining weight, in addition to losing my hair and getting all those scars, to be too much for me to face alone right now.

Replies

  • tunatish
    tunatish Posts: 1 Member
    Hello, my name is Tish.
    I am currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. I have finished 6 big treatments (carboplatin, taxotere, herceptin) and am her2+ so the herceptin will contine through late summer. I was about 20 pounds overweight when my journey began in May and now I have about 20 more, so I am pretty discouraged with this weight situation. I am not really sure how much I personally can do to control it. I still get some steroids with the herceptin. I had a mastectomy, no nodes involved, 1.09 cm in size, but the her2+ diagnosis makes it more agressive.
  • weemuse
    weemuse Posts: 40
    I had a lumpectomy last fall and was node positive so had a dissection. Two chemo treatments down, six to go. Then 30 radiation treatments concurrent with herceptin. Then 5 years of Tamoxefin. What a journey!!! I'm about 15 lbs heavier than I should be but haven't gained any weight with chemo yet. I desperately want to keep it off and lose some, but the steroids I hear make that very difficult. I bought an elliptical trainer and it should arrive this week. Hope I can motivate myself to use it. I wish you peace and health. Kathy
  • TheOtherCheryl
    TheOtherCheryl Posts: 2
    Hi Tish & Weemuse!
    I am a 4 year survivor. I did it all chemo, radiation, herceptin... (5cm, lymph nodes involved 3 of 5 and 7 of 10. Her 2 + )
    About a month after I finished radiation, I started running, I would count telephone poles... run for 3, walk for 5 and built up until I could run a Km then another. In 8 weeks I did the 5k at the run for the cure and was the first survivor across the finish line. My muga scans actually improved by 11%. I also had one of those little rebounders and made myself bounce through the pain of taxotere. Read about rebounding because what they do is move the lymph through your body. You can't cry and jump on a trampoline at the same time, I made myself bounce for 30 minutes or the whole CD for the Curious George Soundtrack because they were my happy tunes! ... Anyway, you WILL get to the point where you are not afraid all the time and life gets good again... and dare I say... even better. Make sure you are taking vitamin D!(ask your doc if it's ok to start taking it!) I am on the other side of all the reconstruction and I like what I see in the mirror... even more than the girl I saw in the mirror before cancer. You are finding out what you are made of ladies...YOU ARE STRONG!
  • RvCanada
    RvCanada Posts: 2 Member
    Tish, I've gone through all of these last year but 14 limfnodes removed. Still receiving herceptin, maybe another 6 months to go on that. I have 10 pounds to loose. If you are still receiving chemotherapy I would not recommend that you start your diet now. Just focus on healthy food and exercise. Exercise helped me a lot through my treatment. Also keep in mind that a lot of the weight might be just water retention due to the steroids.

    Weemuse, go ahead with your eliptical trainer. Just do what you can when you feel good. Believe me, there will be times when you will not be able to exercise. Just take it slow and rest when you need to. I used the Wii fit a lot during treatments, but switched to a new game, Active 2 now.

    What a journey! Just hang on, believe and try to be positive. Good luck!

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