TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
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Ncbeach- I've been on tamox since 2/12, two weeks after last chemo. Its not so bad, and most if the pesky SE I had showed up about 2 months in and then went away. Insomnia & hot flashes seem to be my only SE now. I actually like taking it - it makes me feel like im doing something else to beat the cancer. Nothing scares me as much as BC, and I would gladly endure my sweaty hot flashes several times a day if tamoxifen betters my chances of never having it again. Good luck and I hope your SE are minimal. The "newbies on tamoxifen" thread has been helpful to me.
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Hi all-
Quick question I have tx3 of TCH tomorrow morning. After last tx asked I could take Zantac or Pepcid for the heartburn/gas that I start feeling a few minutes after receiving Carboplatin . She said yes but I can't remember if she said ok to both. Did anyone of you take these? I have no heart or blood pressure issues actually very healthy except stupid BC. Thanks for your help.
Jae0 -
Swim, just call the office, or ask before tx. I am on omeprozol for that.
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I too read about the 10 years of aging just before I started treatment. I was walking around looking at post-meno women thinking either "am I going to look like that?" or "OK I can deal with looking like that."
- Has my body changed?
Yes - Do I think its from chemo?
Some things maybe but most is due to normal aging. Of course I was so close to the start of menopause these changes seem more normal for me. - Do I think I aged 10 years?
No way.
Sure my skin sags a bit more. I have a little bit more "fat" in the middle and my legs have thickened but this has been going on all through my 40's as my estrogen levels dropped from peri menopause. I look at most my age women who haven't been through chemo and guess what… they are having the same problem. So while you might read: chemo can age you 10 years, I think it really depends on the individual, type of treatment and your age to start. And if I remember it's can not will.
So maybe I have my head in the sand but I'm feeling and looking just fine coming up on my 2 year NED this Friday. BTW I was thinner last summer when I wasn't doing any strength training. Now that is really strange.
0 - Has my body changed?
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swimmom I was first taking Prilosuc which never works for me. I was then prescribed Protonix. Had to switch to Nexium due to insurance change. Also by tx5 I was on Carofate as well. Took it the entire time on chemo. Had to ween off when it ended.0
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Thanks will get some Prilosec and Zantac on the way and ask which is best to take or if I need a prescription. It's just strange that I have a reaction to the carbo and not tax or herceptin.
By the way, thank you all for your wonderful ideas, answers and encouragement. I keep up with the posts just really don't have much to contribute since going thru right now but love the exercises, PB2, and link to the studies.
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How long is or was all of you on herceptin? The reason I ask is I notice some don't add up to a total of a year just on herceptin. And mine does started march 19th 2012 and will be done with herceptin on march 12th 2013
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solantio -they did rads to the axila at my insistence. Because i had neo adjuvant chemo i never knew if i had positive nodes or not, plus i had LVI which some rad oncs consider a positive node. After my neo chemo my pathology report said that they saw scarring in the nodes which sometimes indicates that they were positive but the chemo took care of them. I discussed this at length with the rad onc and he felt that it could go either way, so i felt better doing them. Of course i always question my decision but i felt it was the correct one at the time
ang7864 the reason some of the timelines don't "add up" is that those people who did TCH got Herceptin at their first chemo. Looks like you are doing AC-T in which case you don't start your H until the Taxol portion of your chemo, so round 4. The 18 total (or 17? not quite sure) include the ones you get during chemo
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ang7894 I did 17 total Herceptin. I started on October 5th and ended Sept 6th.0
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swimmom - the zantac, if it works for you, will work fastest. It is supposed to be the most rapid relief of all of that class of drugs.
On the 10 years of aging thing - I don't buy it. We were at my in-laws not long after I started going without a wig last October, which was 5 months PFC. My DH took a picture of me with my SIL and two of my nieces. SIL is two years older than I am, nieces were 27 and 18 in the pic -nieces are big girls, wearing a ton of makeup. I had just turned 55 and had 1" long hair that was completely gray. My DH (who tells it like it is, and would never sugarcoat or say something he didn't really mean) said OMG you look the best and healthiest of anyone in the picture! Nobody guesses my age, or can tell by looking at me that I have been treated for BC.
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Welcime Kim ? I think that was the name--Sorry u're here but it's a safe place to be-
Boy I'm just catching up and lots of goings on here. As usual I really have not much to say EXCEPT--I was told by a Dr. to start using a smaller purse--which was not my stle but I did and am now even.
Oh my body is a horrible mess to look at and inside--so at my age this aged me 10 yrs. easily--maybe when u'r younger u can bounce back easier, but not me.
I did have herceptin with 4 months of chemo--then surgery, then 1 full yr of different chemos (weekly) then 8 months of herceptin (weekly) so it ended up 1 full ur. of herceptin-then 31 rads daily- then another non-related operation after--supposed to have more, but I had to stop my BODY WAS A MESS LAGO hahahaNow I have more Drs. than ever for every stupid thing that SE have caused and are still causing--and the most common thing I hear is---This is so unusual hmmm- now we have to see what can be done. UGH Most is SE not age related so thst's my story--and I'm stickin with it. LOL
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You will notice that I said I don't look my age - I said nothing about how I feel, lol! Some days I feel like I am 100!
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Well I do have the stiffness but I know that's just the ESD. I really think all the exercise is why I don't feel the energy drain.
Camillegal I'm sure chemo had done some aging on you. You've had more than most of us here. It's not that I don't think chemo will age you it just doesn't age everyone. I do believe though the more tx you have the more it will abuse your body… and of course will take longer to bounce back no matter what your age. That just makes sense.
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Thanks everyone I now understand the full year. It was starting to get to me thinking why am I getting so much of it.
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Sugar does not feed cancer. Granted surgar is not good for you but it doesn't feed cancer. I think it's a by product and that's how the myth got started.
This from the American Cancer Society's site:
"Does sugar "feed" cancer?
No, sugar intake has not been shown to directly increase the risk of getting cancer or having it get worse (progress). Still, sugars and sugar-sweetened drinks add large amounts of calories to the diet and can cause weight gain, which we know can affect cancer outcomes." linky (lower 25% of page)
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Tonlee- Thank you. I'll give it a shot
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Here's my take on the 10 year aging. I'm still in treatment so it comes from that. perspective. I think it's pretty accurate . The difference in my appearance between 50 and 60 wasn't all that obvious. My pic was taken @ about 60. But over those 10 years I had slowly gone from 115 lb to 128. That type of change probably occurred with my entire body. Every year a lb or two. It's not only appearance that we're talking about.
With my first chemo infusion my body...all of it.....changed immediately.
Except for the fact that my hair looks like a punk rocker whose electric cord got wet and and I've got 2 eyelashes on one eye , scattered eyebrows with a perpetually puzzled look and two lbs of midriif bulge...I don't look 10 years older but I feel so much older when I try to do so many things I took for granted before.
I'm trying to reverse that by doing the only things i can do...eating well and exercising.0 -
Ashla you are still in treatment. Give it 1 year PFC and you'll start to see the difference. Even your hair will get better.
Soltantio I have read that article too. It's one study from 2009. It wasn't even tested on animals. I haven't seen much more written on the subject by reliable sources. (Some of the alternative sites are all over this though). Granted all cells need sugar to grow so Im sure starving cancer cells of surgar will make them die just like any other cell. Yes your body does need some. But like I said too much sugar especially processed is not good for anyone.
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It is my understanding that cancer cells uptake energy/calories 10 to 1 over normal cells. Because they are the "immortal" cells, they need more energy to keep going. Sugar is one of the most easily accessible energy sources, which is why, I think some people think it "feeds" cancer. It does. But so does everything else as far as ENERGY goes....even if you eat no sugar, the cancer will still eat 10 times more than regular cells.
In 2010, when I started this journey, I read about a study in France where they were delivering chemo in sugar based on this premise. (Cancer cells gobble it up as a quick energy source.) I lost track of that study since.
I agree sugar is not the best as a main diet staple... but don't have a problem with it in moderation...
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Im confused about the rads issue just above. I looked at the ncn guidelines and am wondering if I should have had rads to chest wall. Does anyone know what would make that true in the case of someone who had a bmx and 0/4 nodes?
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shore1 you may be referring to my post about rads for me, again i am a "special" case. Neo adjuvant with no snb done before so i could not rest easy that i did not have micro-mets in my nodes prior to starting chemo. (don't even get me started on why they didnt test the nodes before, but this is not standard of care in my hospital) with no positive nodes and a stage 1 tumor with a bmsx from what I understand, no rads are indicated. As for the LVI issue, again this is controversial. If I had time ( i needed to start rads within 4-6wks of surgery) and I had gotten more than one opinion I'M SURE other rad oncs would have said that LVI does not play into the decision to have rads. Actually my 2nd opinion MO from Dana Farber (who trained with Eric Winer who is an expert on Her2) said that many many her2 tumors have LVI (compared to her2 negative tumors of the same size)
as for the aging thing, I feel like my skin is not like before but I think that's menopause not necessarily chemo damage. But i have always been normal weight and fit and right now i am trying to work off this belly fat that I gained sinced finishing chemo
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Shore there are lots of factors that go into rads or no rads. I got a pass but was in a gray area. My tumor size typically dictated that it would. It was in the posterior region with close margins too. I think I got a pass because rads would do damage to my heart & lungs due to location but not sure. Even my PS says he can't keep up with the changes of who should get rads anymore. Your best bet is to discuss with a rad onc.0
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Camillegal- to cleanse your body of candida (yeast), I recommend the following diet because that is what worked for me- fish, chicken, quinoa, brown rice, spelt bread and flour, eggs, small amount of milk, green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, yogurt, garlic, ginger, lemon, fresh herbs and spices, cucumber, almonds, stevia. After 1 month you can include 1 apple or berry serving per day. The website: thecandidadiet.com gives many more ideas. Although, I changed this diet to include some honey, more fruits and cheese during my treatment (7 rounds of chemotherapy, 1 lumpectomy, bilateral mastectomy w immediate one stage reconstruction, plus herceptin and tamoxifen), I still tried to keep focused on the key anti-candida foods as well. I experienced few side effects, zero complications and recovered my energy quickly. These type of foods help your body and your organs to function... Just sayin!
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Insulin levels have also been implicated in recurrence - as discussed in the recent article about obesity and recurrence by Sparano in Cancer (I think Ashla originally found this article). So I would imagine a diet high in sugar would be associated with high insulin - or is it the glycemic index thing.
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cucho - I am doing a very similar diet to the one above, but not for yeast reasons - I am using it for weight loss and glycemic index control and exposure to hormones, although I am doing no grains or rice and extremely limited dairy. I am trying to also use organic, pasture raised, no hormones or antibiotics, etc. I am already having the apple and berries as my only fruits. I have lost 10 lbs. so far - I have another 10 to go. I needed to lose 10 lbs. which I gained because I had 5 surgeries prior to chemo, then gained 10 more during chemo. I don't have any problems following this diet and actually feel better eating food in its more "whole" manner, I have not limited portion and eat until I am full.
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Shore, you need to know where your tumor was located. If it was close to the chest wall, RADS might be a good idea, but if all margins are clear and you were not anywhere near, then no.
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shore - I had LVI and pos nodes but had BMX and ALND and no rads. Both BS and MO said it was not needed for me, although my criteria appears to be a gray area in the guidelines. My tumor was not close to the chest wall and I was originally a lumpectomy candidate.
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specialK what diet are you following? can you give me a link or name? i am interested in the whole glycemic index thing. I originally signed up for the metformin trial which is based on lowering insulin levels by taking this drug. I don't think i was on the placebo because i started having diarreha when i was on it (mental? who knows) so i stopped. Haven't told my study onc yet (my bad) because i may give it another go. I would like to be able to do this naturally.
have any of you had your insulin/glucose levels tested? what test is used for this?
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LAGO--I was kidding around with u about aging--well not 100%, but for the most part, I hope u know that.0
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rozem - I can PM you some info, but basically it is organic/grass fed/no hormone/no antibiotic/pasture raised beef/chicken/eggs/fish, organic non-starchy vegetables, apples, berries, filtered water as a basis. No sugar, no dairy, no alcohol, no high sugar fruit like grapes/bananas/pineapple/oranges, no grains or rice, no pork. Another benefit I noticed is less joint pain - some feel that gluten exacerbates joint pain when on an AI/Tamoxifen. In the past (pre-BC) I was very successful in losing 5-10 vanity lbs. (like before a wedding/event/reunion) using the South Beach Diet and daily walking which is very similar to what I am doing but has a phased approach where you add in things that eventually take you to a mediterranean diet, which I think is a very healthy maintenance lifestyle way of eating. I tried this first but could not lose any weight. I did increase my exercise and go to this more "clean" method and started losing. It may have been a timing coincidence but I don't think so.
On the general glucose you just need a CMP - complete metabolic panel. Here is a link to what it includes:
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cmp/tab/glance
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