How well do we take care of ourselves?

Shayenne

Kathryn_in_MN said:

Great thread
Very hard for me to answer right now.

I ate healthier than almost everyone I know all of my life. But right now I'm struggling so hard with just getting anything in that I am not eating healthy. I'm not eating crap, but not balanced or what I would normally eat. Cream of Wheat, oatmeal and potatoes are my mainstays. This is so hard on me mentally.

The same for exercise. I am so wiped out. When I can I get out and walk, 3-5 miles. But days like today, getting up and down the stairs are the most I can do. And with blizzard conditions outside, even if I felt well enough to go out and walk, I couldn't do it with the neuropathy. I would say I am way beyond sluggish. And I am usually very active.

When I can tolerate them, I take D3, calcium and ALA. I haven't been able to take them since last Thursday - chemo hook-up day. Sometimes I only get a few days on them before chemo again.

I haven't cried much for the last 11 years - when my ex moved out, my crying stopped. I've been much more at peace in life since then. It was a long time after cancer dx that I finally cried. I sure feel like crying today, but I haven't. I have felt like crying since last Friday. Every chemo cycle brings new challenges with it. This one has been no different. For a while I woke up crying at night - pain, exhaustion and nerves all played a part, I think. I had nightmares and would wake crying. Now I might cry twice in the same week, or not at all for 3 weeks straight.

I don't think about cancer all day, but right now I do think about how **** I feel most of the day - no way to escape it. I do think about how scarey all the meds I am on are. More scarey than the cancer some times. How can you not think about it when you feel like you are going to vomit all day long? Or when you have thrush throughout your entire body that you can't shake? Or you have pain in your chest from a blood clot in your lung? Or when your hands cramp and you can't use them? Or when your jaw spasms each time you try to eat? Or when you are hooked up to poison for 2 days, or when you take more poison each day by shots and pills?

My spouse is normally very supportive. But he has his moments too, as we all do. The stress cancer causes affects more than just us.

By next summer I see myself not having to struggle to get through each day - with my life as close to "normal" as it can be (I've never been normal - haha). I'll be back to eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise.

Unfortunately with all the troubles I have right now, cancer does consume my life. I get through it by knowing that this is just temporary, and I will have better days again.

Emily...
Is it sad because of all the sugar? I've actually curbed alot since juicing


Hugsss!
~Donna

VickiCO

scouty said:

Interesting Thread
I won't answer the questions but I will tell you all that the answers change over time. I realize if I had answered these 5 1/2 years ago while I was on chemo, then 1, 2, 3, 4 after it how different the responses and attitude about them would be.

I know it is hard for those of you in the fight, just finishing or just starting treatments to comprehend but folks it is pretty interesting how you change in ways you never would think. I'm guessing that even Buzzard eats better today then he did before his diagnosis.

Don't worry too much about your diet, etc while on chemo but once you are off of it, treat yourself to a healthier life; it is nice waking up and feeling decent and ready for a good day.

Oh and the crying and thinking about cancer does subside over time too!!! I never thought it would but it has and I am really glad. AND if my spouse/partner EVER told me to shut the hell up about any of my cancer thoughts, they would immediately be my EX.

Just promise me one thing folks...............stay the good friends you have become. I cherish my beloved semi-colons that I met here when I needed them so much.

Lisa P.

I am with you Scouty
I won't answer the food questions because my diet changes depending on what is happening - for example, since my ostomy I cannot eat raw veggies or nuts (YET!) and I love them.

I do exercise - mostly walking or doing the Wii Fit program (before surgery - not quite ready for that yet.) My energy is returning, slowly. I was told it could be a year after radiation and chemo was over before I would feel 'fit'. Chemo ended in June and I feel better now than I thought I would.

I think of cancer when I talk to my cancer friends, both here and in reality. I am losing the mother of a dear friend to stomach cancer. She will probably pass in a few days. Another friend, 34 with 2 young kids under 6, has breast cancer stage 4 and is undergoing cyber knife treatments on her liver this week. I think about them. My cancer is gone.

I cry for others...my crying for me is over.

My spouse is outstanding. He would do (and has done) anything for me. I know I am recovering because he has started to argue with me again...for my own good! LOL!

Next year I will do what I am doing this year - love my family and friends and keep on LIVING.

The beast has never consumed my life. It took up a year and a half. Now I am taking it back.

Many hugs, Vicki

KathiM

Hummmm...was that during the cruise, or normally????
lol...just kidding....

I'm an 'old timer', so I can't speak much to my life during treatment. Then, like Brooks, I ate anything and everything that sounded good and that I could keep down...I lost 45 pounds during my experience.

Now, well, I eat what I feel is a balanced diet. Since chemo made me lactose intollerant, I do struggle with keeping up the calcium levels...but, otherwise, well, it's sensible. Just the other day I got on the government site that is called the 'my food pyramid'. And, according to them, I am doing pretty good.

I exercise more now than I have in my life. Since my beau 'died for 4 minutes' in March, and the cardiologist told me that I needed to get him exercise...well, we have a gym in the spare bedroom...and we are using it. He has done the most remarkable....35 pound weight loss!!! But my cardio is good, too.

Laugh. Everyday. At least once. Try to resolve conflicts in my life. Speak up for myself. Love myself.

That's it in a nutshell...

Hugs, Kathi

PhillieG

All I can think of is
Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dessert?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you do all night?
A: Pee green soup.

Nana b

PhillieG said:

All I can think of is
Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dessert?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you do all night?
A: Pee green soup.

ah Phil!
You need some excitement in your life. How about white bean soup :-) My favorite I must say!

coloCan

PhillieG said:

All I can think of is
Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dessert?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you do all night?
A: Pee green soup.

Phil,my stoma hurts everytime I laugh
and I'm still hurting but not peeing green soup. Made my day after chemo earlier. Thanks...Steve

KathiM

PhillieG said:

All I can think of is
Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dessert?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you do all night?
A: Pee green soup.

Ok, you asked for it....rofl!
So, the day after my big resection/j-pouch procedure, I felt awful. I started throwing up. Hans and I were both fascinated by the color of the stuff...it was this beautiful emerald green...I even pointed it out to my nurses...

Hugs, Kathi

PGLGreg

What do you eat for

What do you eat for breakfast? Nothing. (I'm dieting.)

What do you eat for lunch? Breaded seafood, warmed up from frozen. Raw vegetables. Wine.

What do you eat for dinner? Cheese, fruit, wine (typically).

What do your snacks consist of? Cheese, fruit, wine, almonds.

How do you exercise and what time do you exercise? Every morning 10 minutes calisthenics and hand weights, then a 30 minute jog.

What vitamins do you take? Multi, B-complex, Ocuvite (for eyes), calcium+D3

Do you feel you have energy each day or feel sluggish? Plenty of energy.

Do you think of cancer most of the day, half of the day, a quarter of the day, or only when someone brings it up? Only when reading this forum or the Colon Club.

Do you cry once a day, twice a day, every other day, once a week? Nothing to cry about, being NED.

What and where do you see yourself doing this time next year? Being retired.

--Greg

Unknown

PhillieG said:

All I can think of is
Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dinner?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you have for dessert?
A: Pea green soup.
Q: What did you do all night?
A: Pee green soup.

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

dianetavegia

Diet is SO important
From a 2007 study published in the AMA August 15, 2007

The investigators found that those who most closely followed a Western diet were three-and-a-half times more likely to have colon cancer recur than those whose diets were least Western-like.

“We know from previous research that diet and lifestyle influence people’s risk of developing colon cancer,” says the study’s lead author, Jeffrey Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber. “This is the first large observation study to focus on the role of diet in recurrence of the disease. Our results suggest that people treated for locally advanced colon cancer can actively improve their odds of survival by their dietary choices.”

The participants, who were enrolled in a large, phase III clinical trial sponsored by the National Cancer Institute of follow-up (“adjuvant”) chemotherapy, had their tumors surgically removed within the two months prior to enrolling in the study. They reported their dietary intake on specially designed questionnaires at two different time points – during the period they were receiving chemotherapy and six months after the completion of chemotherapy.

Meyerhardt and his colleagues identified two major dietary trends within the group: A “prudent” pattern characterized by high intakes of fruits and vegetables, poultry, and fish, and a “Western” pattern characterized by high amounts of red and processed meats, sweets and desserts, French fries, and refined grains. Participants didn’t fall neatly into one category or the other, but were scored in each by how closely they matched the Western and prudent models.

The survival benefit for those whose diets least resembled the Western pattern held true even after researchers controlled for factors such as gender, age, body mass, degree of cancer spread to lymph nodes, and physical activity level.