TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
-
There's definitely still some residual - but that was after Round 3 of 6. It had shrunk by over 50% after 3, but we shall see. I can still feel something in there, and I'm heading into Round 5 this week, so I'm not holding my breath that it's completely gone by surgery. If it's out of the lymph nodes completely, I'll be happy.
0 -
What is the general consensus on soy? I LOVE sushi and Chinese food, which comes with it's fair share of soy sauce and edamame. I also bought some Kind protein bars and saw that they contain soy as well. Is soy a no go for life with triple positive?
0 -
According to a bunch of articles eating Soy is fine and even beneficial to some women (mostly asian). However, the verdict isnout on Soy Supplements (so maybe avoid those)
https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/soy-and-cancer-...
https://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/Soy.html
https://www.dana-farber.org/for-patients-and-famil...
Looks like 2016 was the switch over from Soy = Bad to Soy = Good. I found a 2014 article saying Soy was bad for BC but everything from 2016 on disputes that stance.
0 -
During chemo, I just ate whatever tasted good, with an emphasis on proteins. (Chemo can temporarily affect your sense of taste.) I also drank non-caffeinated drinks all day.
0 -
Soy consumption has no clear cut instructions - you can find as much written for as against. Some oncologists will weigh in with an opinion, most won’t. I believe the general consensus is soy in whole form like tofu, edamame is fine, but soy protein isolate not so much. I personally do consume soy sauce and the odd whole soy food here and there, but not a ton of it. I make sure it is organic though, most of the soy grown in the US is GMO and sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, which are potentially more hazardous than any estrogenic effect.
0 -
Is the soy protein isolate what is found in protein bars? The whey protein powder I bought is soy free, thankfully. But I am looking for ways to increase my protein intake.
0 -
I don't think I could have made it through TCHP without Chinese Food. Soy Sauce, lemons/lemon juice and BBQ Sauce were about the only things that tasted good.
I'm not a big Soy person, pretty much Soy Sauce (I buy the good stuff from the Chinese Market) and Edamame. TCHP Cycles 1-3 I was cooking up a storm of Chinese Food (homemade egg rolls, egg rolls in a bowl, shrimp/chicken stir-fry, shrimp/chicken/veggie fried rice scallion pancakes (so good). I never got got around to making dumplings that's still on the To Do List 😁
0 -
smichaels - yes, soy protein isolate is in many protein bars. I like the vegan protein powder made by Plantfusion, it's pea protein. I make a shake with frozen strawberries, ice, the powder (1 scoop) and almond or coconut milk. During chemo I ate more red meat than usual, but also ate Greek yogurt, almond butter, quinoa, scrambled eggs, and fortified cereals to try to increase my protein intake.
0 -
Thank you for clearing that up for me! Another silly question, since I rarely eat meat outside of chicken, shrimp, and salmon. When you mention red meat, do mean steaks? Or ground beef? Just curious how I can incorporate into my diet.
0 -
Smichaels11 - I just had an appointment with my nutritionist a couple of weeks ago and asked her some of the same questions. She said that I would need to try and eat between 90-110 grams of protein per day. She said if I didn't think I could get that much, she told me to use protein powder. Her choice was "Orgain" Plant Based Protein Powder which is Organic Pea, brown rice and chia seed protein. I had already purchased the Plantfusion from an earlier post by SpecialK that I found when I searched for protein powder this site a while ago. She said that I should not eat more than 1 serving of red meat once per week. I can't remember why now, but that doesn't bother me because I mostly eat salmon and shrimp for protein and now some chicken breast. She said that soy is ok in food form, but not supplements. She sent me an article, Soy and Breast Cancer. Copyright is 2013.
0 -
Interesting about the 1 serving of red meat. Other posts I've read have indicated oncologists have suggested more during chemo. Its bizarre how different their opinions can be! Next chemo round for me I was ask the dietitian who flats around on the infusion floor for her opinion. I'm glad to hear that soy is not this awful beast that I have myself worked up about. Although I had a bit of a craving for something sweet and checked my sons snack cabinet and everything had soy isolate in it so I decided on ice water with mio instead. Sigh.
0 -
smichaels - I struggled a bit with steak, mainly because rather than things tasting bad, they just didn't have taste. The texture of steak when I couldn't taste it made it harder to eat - kind of cardboardy (not a real word), but I did have it on occasion with sauce of some kind. I did eat more ground beef - in the form of cheeseburgers, lol! This was mostly an effort to keep my RBC and hemoglobin up. Normally I'm a salad girl, but I did eat a lot of cheeseburgers in the last week before the next infusion. I tended to eat what I could tolerate in the first two weeks, which was usually smoothies, scrambled eggs, Greek yogurt, melon, and potatoes in any and every form.
Edited to add - while it is great to go into chemo with a healthy eating plan - and many can maintain that, you may face challenges in following through depending on your side effects and how you feel. Don’t feel bad if you have to resort to whatever it takes to get through - there is time to establish an optimal eating plan afterward. Cheeseburgers and loaded baked potatoes are not really part of my healthy eating regimen, but they helped me make it to the other side so I could carefully consider how I wanted to eat going forward from there
0 -
My approach through chemo was to really push the protein--I had red meat 3-4 times a week. My blood levels stayed really good throughout, and I never felt all that bad. My MO said I was the only patient she'd seen who was actually making blood through chemo. I also treated myself--I think a lot of people find that sweets are one of the few foods that taste pretty normal. I ate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream every day.
0 -
i wonder if that's why my Blood Counts were borderline? I was trying to stick to the Mediterranean Diet so no red meat (I ate shellfish, chicken and turkey).
It took a full month for my platelets and hemoglobin to bounce back
0 -
Jumping in on the food conversation. I'm mostly keto - and eat LOTS of protein and good fats. Plus veggies. Recommended to me by multiple medical professionals - including my PCP and my naturopath. My RBC counts have been great. I have a good appetite and no nausea at all. Food mostly tastes good although I do have some intermittent aversions, depending. I do have to adjust on the veggies with the Big D kicks in mid-cycle, but I work around it. I definitely have red meat multiple times a week, but I also buy all mine from a local farmer, so I know it's good quality, grass fed. That's where you have your issues. I avoid soy as much as possible. Not comfortable with the research out there about the bad effects and cancer. Asian diets that incorporate soy are VASTLY different from what we can get in the US. Mostly it's fermented in a special way, and it's used as a condiment, not a main source of nutrition. Buying from Asian markets here where it's genuine is okay, but the "americanized" tofu, etc. is not what they eat in Asia.
0 -
The ice cream craving is real! I dont usually eat sweets, but I think because of the weather (and my 5 year old) I really have my heart set on it. I am trying to abstain from all dairy at the recommendation of the onco nurse. Dont want to deal with the after effects, but it's really hard! I am hungry but when I open the fridge nothing seems good
Anyone have any good non dairy ice cream recommendations?
I am going to go for a grilled hamburger for dinner though, with a Miller Lite or two because DAMNIT I want some normalcy.
0 -
What are the after effects of dairy?
0 -
I was told diarrhea.
0 -
Pretty sure that's the Perjeta LOL 😂
0 -
If you are sensitive to any of the proteins in dairy, the Big D can be an issue. Of course, both Herceptin and Perjeta can also cause it, and some on chemo with no Her2+ targeted therapy also can have it, so trying to narrow that down is somewhat difficult. When I eliminated dairy I found the SO Delicious, no sugar added, coconut milk ice cream. It is not like premium ice cream, but it is not bad.
Agree with wahoo on the soy, not a fan of tofu so no loss for me there. When I infrequently use soy sauce I usually use organic tamari that is gluten free.
0 -
Smichaels11
A banana flavored popsicle did it for me. Not the heathly kind ... the one with the fake artificial banana flavoring. another substitute is a shaveice (snow cone.) again, the fake artificial banana flavor or just plain cherry.
I’m allergic to a protein in cows milk, casein, so Cow’sdairy is an every day problem for me.
🌈
0 -
now, I want a snow come 😂
0 -
Omg me too! Today I am feeling like my tongue is burnt and there is sand in my mouth. I've been gargling religiously with Biotene and the baking soda/salt wash but ugh it sucks. Something frozen and icey would really hit the spot. That's it, I'm sending SO on a run! Its also been in the high 90s for days here is PA.
PS - I am a HUGE lover of soup. Chicken noodle is my favorite, followed closely by potato, chicken sausage, and kale. I usually try to make it from scratch, but in anticipation of chemo bought cans upon cans of Progresso for a fast option. Soy isolate protein strikes again! Holy cow it is literally in everything!
0 -
When I was going through the TCHP I started out committed to eating well (nearly life-long vegetarian, always loved brassicas, pulses, bitter gourd, all kinds of fruit you name it) but it quickly became very clear that I needed to just eat whatever I could. We made our own fruit pops with basically smoothies of fruit and yogurt or kefir, but all I could eat were the chocolate coconut milk fudgcicles.
And now on the Kadcyla I am almost in the same place, losing weight too fast (BMI currently just above 19 which was my baseline but am still losing fast and losing too much muscle) and some days all I can handle are yogurt and white rice.... Tonight managed rice and dal and cauliflower/potato/tomato
Meanwhile, just in the last couple weeks I have developed horrible painful neuropathy (and autonomic neuropathy. Previously only had numbness/tingling and balance issues) Since I am still within the 9 month window in which Taxane neuropathy can worsen it isn't clear whether it is that (hope so)
0 -
Smichaels - also struggling with the burnt tongue/sandpaper feeling. Worse at night. I've had that every cycle, but it usually goes away after about 6 or 7 days.
SpecialK - try coconut aminos in place of soy sauce - that's what I use!
And the diary! I want ALL the creamy, dairy-ish things but am also struggling with the Big D in a HUGE way. My MO says it's the Taxotere, not the Perjeta, but I've heard from lots of people that the Perjeta can be the culprit. So who knows. My D has gotten progressively worse with each cycle, which is why they think it's the Taxotere since it's cumulative. They reduced that down by 20% for Round 5, so we'll see if it's better. Once you're done with chemo - does the Perjeta effect get less? I'm probably looking at continuing HP for a year after surgery in August.
0 -
Dragon - how are the Kadcyla SE different from HP?
0 -
wahoo - I have coconut aminos too! When I did the anti-inflammatory diet the book author specifically advised coconut aminos in place of soy, as soy was one of the foods on the list of inflammatory agents, independent of any possible contraindication for breast cancer patients. Also, I had the Big D all though the six infusions of TCH for the first 10 days after each, but when I moved to targeted therapy only one of the infusion room nurses said to start a probiotic, and that did the trick for me. I am prone to Big D on any given day, a remnant of surgery (Nissen fundoplication) in 1995 for reflux which left me with a sort of mild IBS-D situation. I have to be careful of overdoing it on fiber - which is a challenge when attempting a plant based diet, but the "glad game" interpretation is regardless of the pain med or anesthetic it means I NEVER get constipated, lol!
yeslama - have you tried L-Glutamine and/or Vit B6 to see if they improve your neuropathy?
0 -
i take B6 and Alpha Lipoic Acid for Neuropathy, it works pretty well
0 -
I like ripple brand non-dairy ice cream. It tastes the most like ice cream to me. I have trouble digesting coconut cream so I can't eat very much of it. I also like Hakuna Banana. It's made from bananas and has no added sugar (sweetened with dates, I think?) but only the chocolate and chocolate chip cookie dough flavors are good, and even they have a banana-y flavor. I think the bananas will help with the D, but I don't know if it would be available in your area.
0 -
Sadly I am not a fan of banana. I have also discovered I don't love the smell of coconut after slathering it up my dry and bloody nose for the past few days. I bought some saline spray to try out.
My SO got my some rocket pops to help with the mouth feel and some ginger ale since water is starting to taste boring (not bad, just blah) to me. And my hydration has slowed down.
The big D has definitely settled in. I have hemorrhoids from having my son, so this has been the gift that keeps on giving, I swear! Imodium has been helping, but not enough for my liking. And it tastes disgusting! Mint is the only flavor I can find. If I am this beat up after infusion 1 I am certainly nervous about the next 5! I really need to exercise but I'm afraid to stay too far from the toilet 🤣
0
