TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
Comments
-
Just finished my 40 minutes of lower/mid body strength training. Will do the 30 minutes of upper body tonight when I get home. do this 2X a week. Aerobic 50-60 minutes 4x-5x a week on the days I don't strength train.
Make it part of your schedule. I have nice abs
0 -
Lago...
You're a great role model! Apparently only 20% of BC survivors get that 150 minutes regularly.0 -
OMG, this is so hard so we are not to smoke, not to drink, have to exercise , and diet. May I ask what CAN we do this is real hard from someone that loves all the bad stuff lol. I still drink on weekend with my hubby yes the hard stuff shots every Friday & sat nights not to the point of falling down but a nice comfy buzz. Now I don't do drugs, never did never exercised until now even that is hard to do everyday and lets not talk about food lol I LOVE my pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, yep all the bad... I'm going crazy I really don't know if I can do ALL this.. I quit smoking when I was diagnosed and never looked back. But I can not seem to quit my fav foods. I am home 24/7 so this is real hard for me:( Sorry Ladies needed to Vent...
0 -
Ang...
Most of us love all the bad stuff! This 150 mins per week is a goal. I'm certainly not the fitness expert and others who are will jump in to advise you . The research says that overweight women who exercised regularly fared better than thin women who didn't! In fact when you're heavier you lose more weight with similar exertion as someone who is thinner.
When I was feeling stronger after my rads dip, I started from scratch just walking at a normal pace and gradually added speed, elevation and time. Then I went to the gym.
Even if you didn't change a thing about your diet...you will look and feel better very quickly if you include even small amounts of exercise. Try a half hour walk. I like to listen to music when I do but make sure you can hear traffic noises.
If you like that , try to make it 3 times a week....you're already up to 90 mins!0 -
Here is a story about the twitter community that Drs Attai and Radford belong to.
As I said..Twitter has its limitations but it's an interesting, , informative forum. Both mds will recap the ASBrS conference tonight.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2013/03/31/twitter-community-bcsm-expands-online-to-broaden-patient-engagement/0 -
ChickaD-Here is the name of the trial.
Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blinded, Multi-Center Phase II Trial of the HER2/neu Peptide GP2 + GM-CSF Vaccine versus GM-CSF Alone in HLAA2+ OR the Modified HER2/neu Peptide AE37 + GM-CSF Vaccine versus GM-CSF alone in HLA-A2- Node-Positive and High Risk Node-Negative BreastCancer Patients to Prevent Recurrence
I am not sure which centers will be doing the phase 3 or when it starts. She wasn't sure they would be participating, and I haven't researched it as I will continue with the Phase 2 part. Ill look around over the next few days to see what I can find. I have to go to Wake Forest for the bloodwork on Wednesday, so I will also see what my nurse oncologist knows.
Ashla-I am going to follow the Drs. I am not very good on the forum component.
Now for venting-my pharmace has been substiting the TEVA version of tamoxifen rather than Mylan. For some reason, I don't do as well with the TEVA. Not sure if it is because it is new or what. I emailed the Mylan people and received a phone call today. They have discontinued making it for now. Ugh. That is annoying.
And, I have decided to wean myself off of Effexor to see if I have the same number of hot flashes. So, the annoyance is even doubled, lol.
0 -
I made a New Year's resolution this year to walk 20 minutes a day. Prior to that I was walking, on average, 2-3 times a week. I started chemotherapy on January 2 and for the first round I was able to do the 20 minutes without skipping a day. On January 21 I saw the integrative physician at Disney and part of her prescription for me was increasing the daily walk to 30 minutes a day. She cited studies that show that walking 30 minutes a day can not only prevent breast cancer from occuring in the first place but can also help stave off a recurrence. At that time it was a bit harder to increase to 30 minutes, mainly because I had the chemo thing going on, but I did it and although I had to miss a few days during each subsequent chemotherapy round I continued the resolution/practice and now it's become a habit. I've kept a log and I've walked about 150-160 miles since January 1.
What makes it easier for me is:
1. RunKeeper (it's an app that tracks your distance, average speed per minute, etc.)
2. Walking with my husband.
3. Listening to music (if I'm walking alone).
4. Listening to talk radio (sometimes) if I'm walking alone (I use the iHeart radio app for that).
5. Walking at the YMCA outdoor track.
6. Walking outdoors (in general).
What keeps me motivated:
1. Reducing my chance of recurrence.
2. Staying healthy (in general).
0 -
LeeA- Voldemort, that's who I am with no make-up, hat or wig
As far as exercise, I'm a long time advocate and am trying very hard to not get frustrated with the reduced level at which I can perform these days. But for anybody that needs any more motivation, this is one of the best videos I've ever seen. It's pretty tough to come up with any valid argument after seeing this. 23 1/2 link
0 -
Dizzymom--- Thank you loved the 23 1/2 link it was great.
0 -
Fluff...that was a mouthful....
0 -
LeeA,
Thx for the info. Looks like we have a bunch of the 20%ers in our forum. I'm not surprised. Let's keep it going!0 -
ang7894 all in moderation (except smoking and drugs unless prescribed). I eat pretty healthy but I do "cheat" on weekends. I mean I still eat ribs, pizza, pasta, Chinese food (a lot), Indian food, cookies… do I need to go on. Just don't eat the entire pizza and don't eat it every day. Cut down your portion size.
I actually make my own pizza. Buy the crust but just put low fat mozzarella, a little sauce or just tomatoes and loads of white mushrooms. White mushrooms have aromatase inhibitor properties. I also like it with goat cheese, fresh basil and tomatoes.
I will make spaghetti squash instead of pasta at times. Top with a red sauce, chopped broccoli, sliced white mushrooms, etc.
I was never a big drinker but I still like a nice glass of wine or Tequila. I do believe the most important thing we can do is exercise and not over do anything. You can still eat fun stuff just in smaller amounts… and limit it to the weekend. I know what you mean about being at home. I keep the junk out of the house so I don't eat it.
Cheese is a dangerous one for all of us too because it's so high in calories for such a small portion.
As far as exercise… I was doing this before diagnosis. It takes time to work up but you don't need to be Tonlee. I don't run I walk real fast. I listen to music. It really helps. Even if you don't power walk any kind of activity will help. Just don't sit on your ass all day (basically what I did till I got home because I work in front of a computer).
LOVE the video. I so agree that exercise is the best thing you can do for your health as well as quitting smoking. Here's an article from 2010 where my onc talks about exercise and breast cancer. Also note she says "drink less alcohol" not "don't drink.": linky
0 -
Lago -- Thank you ok in moderation Yeah I was literally was stir crazy and of course my teen age daughter now that the weather is so nice wants Dairy Queen, pizza hut, she knows I am on a diet.. I have been saying NO...But every now and then won't hurt my husband said the days I eat the bad stuff is the day I should exercise an hour that day not just 30 min even if I have to do in the morning and in the evening. I think I am going to start that.
0 -
LeeA-- your picture is real nice.
On your routine great job.. I live way in the country The nearest store is 15 miles away. We just lately have great weather I HATE winter lol yet I live in Michigan go figure. I do go for walks BUT i won't in the winter I am a hermit and go hibernate...
0 -
Lee, I totally hear you about the eyebrows. When they went I looked freakish and old even though I still had a full head of hair! I’m glad you’re such a smart lady b/c it all sounds very complicate….
Re internet privacy, using a pseudonym and no photo makes me feel freer in what I write. Also it can be pretty creepy with facial recognition software – wouldn’t surprise me a bit if I decided to save one of your photos on my hard drive, upload it onto facebook, and see if they could recognize you. (Which I certainly don't intend to do!) I’ve noticed it can do that and it is seriously creepy. That being said, that’s a far cry from actually showing up on a search engine, and unless someone were looking for you on this website … how would they find you? I just googled the phrase “cipher breast cancer” to see if anything came up under my pseudonym, and nothing relevant did. Thankfully, neither did anything with breast cancer and my actual name….
Ashla, only 2 ½ hours per week exercise? I thought it was minimum 30 minutes a day, with a 5 hr per week being better. I do get that it can be challenging if you live in a really cold climate, because then you need to go to the gym and such and it’s a bigger commitment time wise. But if the weather isn’t awful just taking a brisk walk every other day will hit that. I bring my iphone and listen to music, talk with friends, and even listen to podcasts on interesting topics. Helps the time pass. Also get a dog! Then you HAVE to walk!!!!
0 -
Oh also Ang -- it's hard to keep up with eating healthy when you're busy or bored with cooking. I actually had a few health-minded friends come over to my house yesterday (one who also had bc) and we cooked a whole bunch of healthy stuff together. Now we all have healthy leftovers to eat over the next few weeks.
0 -
Dizzy, without the wig, I bore a strange resemblance to Kojak. Har! Lee, you look so cute in your picture! I love it. You look like you are about 15 years old!
I'm about to start walking. I think beyond the physical health benefits, it will help me with my mental health. I'm struggling with being done soon. Petrified!
My hospital system has a breast cancer survivors group the first Tuesday of every month. I'm thinking of going tomorrow night, but am not sure what to expect. Did anybody try that and did it help? Fluff, you were in the Community Health System here in Indy. Did you go?
Two more boost rads and I get to ring the bell at the radiation oncology office. :-)
0 -
Oh, and Ang, I have been trying to follow the 80/20 rule on food. I slipped out of that yoke during chemo when I just ate ice cream and American cheese sandwiches on white bread
but for the most part, just make sure to make 80% of your meals healthy (and I try not to have carbs unless they are complex---think barley, bulgar, yams, potato, corn, instead of white bread, rice or pasta--however, I won't touch oatmeal with a 40 foot pole!)The other 20% can be the yummy things like cheese, chips, Dairy Queen. Even McDonalds--their new wraps come in a small size and they are dang good. Just skip the fries and the diet coke.
But wine-don't take that away from me. You'd have to pry that out of my boney dead hands!
0 -
Hey PBrain...YOUR WORK IS NOT DONE....us newbies need survivors like you to stick around and pull us thru.........♥
0 -
Pbrain, Fluff – I know what you mean about the anxiety thing. Most days I’m fine but every time I have any kind of symptom, the cause of which is not immediately and irrefutably obvious, my mind goes there…. But you know P, you might feel better when you're done with rads. It seriously put me in an awful, awful mood until I was onto the boosts, then it magically lifted and I was able to not focus on it so much. So you may feel less anxious in a few days -- I hope so!
Pbrain, what’s wrong with oatmeal? I did go to a local support group for awhile. I stopped going … basically I didn’t really like the moderator. “Not like” is too strong a phrase – we just didn’t mesh very well I guess. And I wasn’t that impressed with her as a therapist – every week the same question, what was making us feel stressed. It’s not necessarily about that you know? And I didn’t bond with any of the women in the group – it kept changing so you didn’t necessarily see the same women one time to the next. And often for the repeats …. Really the only thing we had in common was our disease, and even then we all seemed ot have different diagnoses…. Somehow I didn’t find it too useful. Besides, I have the triple positive ladies! But I definitely think you should try it.
0 -
ang7894 I recommend not to tie diet and exercise together. If you do you will find you will eat more on the days you exercise to reward yourself. Also you'd be surprised how few calories you lose in 30 minutes compared to a plate of pasta. Dairy Queen… when I go out for ice cream I always order the kid size. I also try to order low fat, low sugar or no sugar added. Every little bit of reduction counts.
Pbrain it takes time but you will eventually get over the fear. I think you need to get past the first 2 years. I've had a lump on my ear for almost a month now. I did have it looked after a week. Both my PCP and I feel it's a cyst. He's still having me go see a ENT but I can't get in for another 2 weeks. I'm not concerned… but hope he can drain it. It's not going away. It's noticeable. Now if this happened after I ended treatment I might be a little freaked out. We do get benign lumps and bumps all the time. I agree that the exercise helped me get through this entire journey.
0 -
Pbrain, remember . . . you're still on Herceptin (right?)!
0 -
Pbrain...yes, I was in the community system and no I did not do the support group thing. I like this group much better, and in the group that is down here, there are at least three women that would drive me out of my mind. They have been trying to get me to come, and I just tell them I don't think it is the place for me. If I am ever going to move on, it won't happen by going to a meeting that reminds me all the time.
And, I have a really strong support group of friends and family, including one of my best friends, that are part of the medical field, so between this and that group, I feel like I have a lot of support.0 -
Lee and Cypher,
I went to dinner with my 23yr old daughter who said, "mom, you lost your eyebrows!" I wasn't wearing any makeup so I guess it was really noticeable. I got a good laugh about it because it was a big surprise to her. I see it everyday so I don't even notice it anymore so when I thought what it must look like we both laughed. Hey, if we can't laugh about it we'll cry so I'm choosing the laughter.
Wishing everyone lots of laughter.0 -
One of the things I did immediately after my last chemo was start a clinical trial (my BS assisted in recruiting me - he is a participant in the study) that is testing whether stress reduction techniques have an effect on stress hormones. This is a quantified study, with blood and saliva sampling, run by the University of South Florida - which DD graduated from on Friday - yay! They sampled the blood and saliva for Cortisol, we went to class for six weeks and learned guided informal and formal meditation tehniques, then were sampled again. I learned a great deal about relaxing and understanding what I can and can't control, and how to get myself through stressful events that crop up post-treatment. Everyone can access this type of info - there are CDs and DVDs and books - linked below. The last link is to the actual study I participated in - it is breast cancer specific.
http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress/index.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Mbsr-Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction/lm/R2BRL5EPIMGZF0
0 -
Have been dealing with a painful knee for the last three weeks or so. I have not been worried about it being BC related, other than whether Arimidex was contributing because the pain is right under the kneecap. I ran into a trailer hitch while stepping off the curb between two parked cars - so much for street crossing safety, I was checking for cars coming not extra-large trailer hitches - can you say duh? Had x-rays last week and a big 'ol cortisone shot today. They are holding off on a possible knee surgery for now, thank goodness, because I am really sick of the operating room right about now! I was bummed because I was getting into an exercise groove and then had to stop - I have been elevating and icing, and it is a bitch trying to get out of my car - I look like I am 100 years old, but they said I can resume at the end of the week, I just can't run. They said make friends with the elliptical machine instead. I also discovered that in addition to my two trigger fingers I have a trigger toe! Fantastic!
Good news - after a weaning process of reduced dosing and labs I can stop taking Lipitor for high cholesterol. This pre-dated BC, but I wondered if better exercise and eating habits would negate the need - and THEY DID! So, not only are those good things for staving off recurrence - they helped me get off a long-term med! Yay! I did ask about Metformin and did not get far, the doc was worried about the SE from it - my blood sugar is at 99, so I will bring it up with my MO. So maybe off one med and onto another, hmmm......
LeeA - I like your new pic! DH and I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I have a picture from that night that I thought about updating for my avatar but I am having trouble cropping DH out of it for some reason. I will try again - it is also a good representation of my current hair.
0 -
Special K U'r dgtr just graduated? YAY Congtratulations.
I don't know specifically of course, but the few wome in my life dealing with all cancer sides are all dealing with knee problems and these are women who excercise regularly.?????
0 -
Pbrain, so glad your almost done with rads. Ring that bell with gusto, girl! You've been thru a lot!
I agree with cypher about the support group. I was in one back in 2000. The only thing we had in common was BC, and I didn't really feel like I fit in with the group who for the most part were a lot older than I was. I was 41 at the time. For me it wasn't very helpful, but for some women it is a huge help. Some of the ladies that were in my group still get together once a month for dinner.
I am off to the BS this afternoon for my post op appt. I really hope they can take the drain out, but my output is still too high I think. But it has been leaking at the point where it enters my skin and it looks like it might be blocked. Soaked thru 3 different 4x4 gauze pads yesterday. I am also hoping the path report is back.
Question: Do I need to get the sleeve scrip from my BS or does the PT person do that?
0 -
bren - I got my PT scrip from my MO - he was the doc I saw the most of at the time - I had a body-wide swelling event during chemo that triggered my LE so he wrote it - any of your docs can do it. The MO was a bit clueless and referred me to the sports medicine PT at the University across the street, I called and asked about LE specific certification - they didn't have it, but the NCI designated cancer center is on the same campus so I called them myself. I went back to the MO and just had them change the name on the referral. After treatment for LE the MO wrote the sleeve scrip with the compression degrees info coming from the PT - the measurement for the sleeves was done by the medical device company I actually got the sleeves/gauntlets from. In other words, it was a group effort! On your JP drain - maybe you have a high clot that is causing a problem?
camille - yes, the DD graduated - and yay is the word! Thanks for the congrats - it was really fun and we had a big party the next night - lots of friends and family. DS made a slideshow of her life, from baby to now, because he is in final exams and was not able to come - not a dry eye in the house! She took the scenic route - worked and went to school for the first 4 years so she went slow, we told her to put the pedal to the metal, and she finished her junior and senior year in 18 months by going straight through. She will be doing an internship at the end of the summer, then will hopefully find a JOB! DS will graduate this time next year up in Virginia.
0 -
SpecialK, congratulations to your daughter! Also, I'm sorry to hear about your knee. Here I go (yet) again but curcumin is an anti-inflammatory (just thought I'd throw that out there
). Bren58, the lymphatic massage therapist/physical therapist at the Disney Center is the one who arranged the appointment for my sleeve. It was $80 (IIRC) and I always try to remember to wear it when I walk. I'll also wear it during air travel. If your insurance covers lymphatic massage I highly recommend it. I've been going since late January and just had my last regular treatment last week.
0
