Uterus Cancer

Ashtej

I went to a fertility doctor to see why I was not getting pregnant.  It turned out that I had fibroids in my uterus that didn't provide enough space for a baby to grow.  I had two surgeries last year and the first biopsy came back with pre cancer cells which were treated with a hormone steroid.  Second surgery showed no sign of the cells.  I went in two weeks ago to do a follow up biopsy and found that I have stage 2 of uterus cancer.  I'm having a hysterectomy in 3 weeks and I'm just devastated.  We have no kids and starting a family now just seems so much harder.  I'm going to harvest some eggs and hope for the best. 

 

Is there any advice regarding food, exercise, diet that may help me eliminate these cells from growing, or is it too late since I'm have the total hys?

 

I'm very scared and nervous that there might be areas where it has spread to, but trying to stay calm.

 

Thanks!

Ro10

Ashtec

So sorry to hear you have uterine cancer and need a hysterectomy.  What a disappointment  for you when you want to have a baby.  I can understand why you are scared and nervous.  

Usually staging is done after the surgery rather than from a biopsy.  I hope you are having a gyn/ onocologist do your surgery.

i wish there was some food, exercise, or diet that would make those cancer cells go away. Surgery is usually recommended.  My advice is to take a deep breath and take it one day at a tIme.  we all know the anxiety you must be feeling.  Come back with any questions or concerns you may have.  Sorry you have to join this site, but we are here to support you.  In peace and caring.

Tresia23

Never too late

Hi Ashtej,

I am really feeling for you and sorry you have to come and join this site when you were hoping for a different outcome from your surgeries.

When you asked about food, exercise and diet, I thought at once how improving all of these things can only be good for you whatever you are needing for yourself right now.  Eating well, having moderate exercise and a healthy mix of nutritious foods is the best thing you can do to feel well day by day.

Sounds like you are tuning in to how you are feeling by trying to stay calm. Being scared and nervous about cancer spreading is something we have all experienced and share with you. Listen carefully to what your specialist has to tell you about surgery and treatment options and ask plenty of questions. I guess you will have a conversation too about your options for having a family if this is a possibility as you say through egg harvesting. All the best, thinking of you,

 

 

 

 

pinky104

Food

I don't know if there is any food that will keep the cancer from growing once you already have it, but there are foods you can avoid to help you keep from getting the cancer back once you have surgery.  At a cancer survivors' dinner I went to at the hospital where I had my surgery, they gave a big lecture on how you should eat.  They emphasized low-fat, whole grain foods.  They recommended you avoid the foods that are a part of the "dirty dozen."  You can google this list, which changes every year, to find out the foods on the current dirty dozen list.  These are the foods that no matter how much you wash them, you can't get the chemicals off of them (pesticides, etc.).  Some of the foods that are normally among the healthiest foods are on the list this year (like spinach and strawberries).  You can still eat them, but you should buy organic.  They also recommended avoiding meats from feed lots, avoiding foods containing heavy metals, and adding turmeric to your diet.  I'm sorry, but I can't recall what foods they said contain the heavy metals. You should avoid sugar and highly processed foods, as cancer feeds on sugar.  The highly processed foods often change to sugar as they're digested.  I know I craved sugar more and more as my cancer got worse.  I didn't know I had cancer, nor did I know that it fed on sugar, so I kept on eating it.  I know there's a lot of the lecture I'm forgetting, but I hope this little bit helps.   

lillefty

Good books for nutrition advice

Hi there - 

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but it seems you have found a really good place to receive support and advice. I am relatively new to this board and joined because my mom who just turned 70 this week was diagnosed in April with stage IVB, grade 4 uterine cancer with clear cell features (very aggressive). She had a radical hysterectomy with removal of the omentum in May and has received 3 rounds of carbo/taxol so far. She is doing great - her CA 125 continues to fall (almost in the normal range now) and she is looking and feeling good - aside from her hair loss you would not know from looking at her she is battling this awful disease or receiving very strong chemo.

I truly believe that my mom's diet and supplements are helping her to do as well as she is. But I want to emphasize that I am not suggesting that diet or supplements should replace conventional treatment - surgery, chemo, and/or radiation as determined by your doctor. The way the books I have read describe it is that you want to make your body as supportive of your healthy cells as possible and as inhospitable as possible for the cancer cells. Your diet and supplements can help support the treatment your doctor is giving you and create an environment in which your healthy cells thrive and cancer cells can't. 

Also, I in no way consider myself an expert but after doing some research and consulting a naturopath we radically changed her diet - she eats 6 small meals a day (trying to keep her blood sugar as level as possible)- gluten free, all organic, very little dairy (yogurt daily but from grass fed cows only), very little meat (cage free organic chicken and organic grass fed beef), lots of fish, lots of veggies and whole grains (that don't have gluten), beans, nuts, and very limited sugar (with low glycemic sweeteners such as raw organic agave nectar). She also takes a tons of supplements designed to strengthen her healthy cells and boost her immune system. Here are two books that I would recommend reading for suggestions on diet and supplements that can help: 

 Beating cancer with nutrition by Patrick Quillin and Anti cancer: A new way of life by David Servan-Schreiber. Many of the women on this board highly recommend the Anti Cancer book. The beating cancer book has a lot more scientific discussion and also a lot on supplementation and what each supplement does.

Two more possible suggestions for you: 

Visit a naturopath who specializes in oncology. The beating cancer book has a list of them in the back around the country. They will run tests that will help figure out the best diet and supplement plan for you. They can also help prevent side effects from your treatment with supplements and to deal with chemo side effects if they arise - for example my mom was having stomach pain (most likely from the steroids she received with chemo to prevent nausea) and her naturopath prescribed a few homeopathic tinctures for her to take when the pain started and they cleared it up immediately. 

Consider changing the products you put on your body and clean with: The naturopath stressed that what you put on your body or breathe in is just as important as what you eat. You can visit the environmental working groups website (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/) and check all the products you use to see how they impact you. My mom's doc wanted all her products to be valued between 0 and 2. She has changed all her products (lotion, toothpaste, skin creams etc) and we are working on changing the cleaning products as well. 

As I said, I am by no means an expert but I hope you find this helpful. Feel free to message me if you want more info on my mom's eating plan. Stay positive and know that you can beat this. 

Lisa