Diet

It's ok to eat what works for you depending on what you are dealing with after treatment. 

If you are dealing with diarrhea, you can extrapolate from a BRAT diet to eat other foods that are sources of soluble fiber and pectin to help you over a longer a period of time. That's what a BRAT diet does. You'll eventually learn what you can or can't tolerate in your new normal if it persists for some time. I had 6 months of terrible diarrhea that started about 18 months after pelvic radiation and while I'm past the worst of it, it still rears it's head from time to time. I don't eat restaurant food anymore. I do eat organic to avoid the endocrine disruptors that I can.

With adenocarcinoma, many of us take a long hard look at it's risk factors and try to improve by losing weight or going organic. If we weren't getting enough exercise we might be motivated to improve that. The thing is, though, none of those are any kind of guarantee, so don't beat yourself up about any of it. Just do what works for you that makes you feel better both mentally and physically. The point of survival is to enjoy what you endured so much to have.

I didn't change my diet at all. I do have to take some medication because of how the chemo damaged my body. Before chemo, I took levothyroxine for hypothyroidism since I was seven. After chemo, well, I take a lot of stuff - mostly for neuropathy and stomach problems. I don't do a lot of exercise either because my feet are pretty numb and it's hard to walk very far. I do chair Yoga and chair Zumba Gold because it's fun. 

I try to keep my life as stress-free as possible. I'm retired but volunteer about 20 hours a week. I play cards, lunch with friends, paint, design resin jewelry, play with my little Maltese, and write. I laugh a LOT! I have many, many friends and I treasure them all. 

Everyone has their own way of dealing with this awful disease. Whatever makes you feel better is what you should be doing - for yourself. 

Love,

Eldri

 histology, being over weight is a major factor that contributes to their estrogen driven cancers. Those of us with serous histology frequently have the p53 mutation, the tumor suppressor gene, our cancer is not estrogen driven, our bodies simply stopped killing the cancer cells. p53 mutation folks have the dreaded “poorer prognosis“.  (I am still here) Before cancer, I ate well, and like Eldri, I continue to eat well. I do not see the need to change my diet. I have been physically active for most of my life, walking, hiking, bicycling, extensive gardening, but also overweight since menopause. As noted many times before, many extremely fit, with strict healthy diets get cancer, many who are overweight, eat poorly, do not. The rest of us fall on some part of that spectrum. Of course, we all beat ourselves up over that Hershey Kiss, the occasional french fry, that glass of wine. We all try to do our best. Obviously we are an overweight society which is making our health much worse. Maybe being overweight somehow caused my p53 mutation, no one knows the answer to that, but older age is certainly a factor in many cancers. We all feel the urge to fix our cancer selves with new supplements, no sugar, no meat, etc. Honestly, I barely had the emotional strength during dx, treatment and early survivorship to get out of bed, eat the only thing I could stomach, a home baked oatmeal raisin cookie, and water. Anything green made me greener. There is no right way or wrong way. 

Denise

I've been off the net for a few weeks because I went in the hospital 28 July with a small bowel obstruction. Had surgery on 30 July and lots of problems getting my guts working again which resulted in a second insertion of a nasogastric or NG tube. Having the tubes put in was the worst experience of my life. But the background and what makes this relevant to this thread is that I had started a raw veggie and fruit diet that included lots of nuts and seeds as well. I started this after reading the book "Chris Beat Cancer" so I figured what the heck and I wanted to be an active participant in my treatment.

The obstruction in my small intestine was caused by scar tissue from my surgery in December which was a radical abdominal hysterectomy that took out all the female parts plus iliac and para aortic lymph nodes. The surgeon described the small intestine as a "cranky toddler" always seeking trouble and often finding it; that it doesn't take much to set it off. The timing of the obstruction, which was really a kink that left a drastically narrowed intestinal passage convinced me that by dumping a huge increase in roughage and fiber into my gut I created the tipping point for an obstruction. So I will not be eating much roughage in the near future unless it is liquified in the Ninja blender! I will also continue juicing.

So all I'm saying is be cautious about drastic diet changes. I had no idea I had this little time bomb and had I stuck to my regular boring diet with one or two salads per week I may have avoided this experience forever.

Cheers,

Deb

Harmanygroves said:

Oh, Deb!

Your experience sounds miserable. I'm so sorry to hear you got an obstruction (shudder). The leader of my band gets those, and they are so painful according to him. I don't know, and hope never to know!

My current focus is not so much an "adding to" as a "taking away." I'm eatig a lot less cheese, like down to nearly none. I'm also eating a lot less meat, like down to nearly none. 

What I've added in quantity is water. I'm also adding dark leafy greens, which are actually helping me to feel better, I think? Watermelon is also serving me well, as are blackberries. 

I'm wondering what kind of a juicer you use? Do you use wheatgrass, or what are you making drinks with?

* * *

I've worried about you, as you haven't been on the board. I know that some of you e mail back and forth, so I'm sure someone knew you were okay, but from this newbie, I worried. 

* * *

Good advise about caution with roughage and fiber. Thanks, and again, so sorry you're suffering. 

The worst experience of your life? Oh, Deb...

 

I tried a diet that was very different because I felt the need to take control of something in my treatment. Lots of anecDoran evidence that diet can play a huge role in cancer treatment. I use an Osterizer--it works well enough but isn't on anyone's short list of top brands.

I had to have the NG tube put in twice and the second time made me scream in pain--and I don't think I've ever screamed in my life. I should have accepted the anti-anxiety meds--don't stop the pain but you don't care!

I've been in good shape my whole life--29 years in the USAF do that to you. My weight fluctuated at most 10 lbs except when I was pregnant. I'm still walking, trying yoga and doing the occasional workout. The point is I couldn't do much besides a radical diet change so what the heck. I got into triathlons at age 50 which provided great structure to my workouts always aiming to a few events each year. Now I'm aiming to participate in an event in 2022. It's my optimistic carrot in the future that I plan to do if I have anything to say.

Cheers,

Deb

Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I revamped my diet to conform with recommendations for diabetics and, with diet and exercise only, controlled my blood glucose level for about 12 years. At that point the diabetes progressed to where I needed to take Metformin.

When the Metformin dose needed to be increased a couple of years ago, I decided to try the intermittent fasting routine of 8-16 (only eating between eight hours per day, which for me is lunch and dinner). This was actually very easy for me since I had never liked eating breakfast and only started when I was diagnosed with diabetes "because I should."

I tested my blood glucose extensively during this period and did not find any problems. I also lost some weight, although my actual diet wasn't any different than before. My A1C and other labs have all improved a lot and I haven't had to increase the Metformin dose again. My doctor has approved my eating plan, so I've been sticking with it for a couple of years now.

When I was on chemo, I tried to maintain my usual diet, but some things just didn't taste good or appeal to me. The worst period was when I was on Ifosfamide and Doxorubicin. I was so fatigued, weak and nauseated at times all I could manage to make and eat were grilled cheese sandwiches. And I'm not talking about sandwiches made with artisan bread and specialty cheese. No, I mean grilled cheese with plain old white bread and Kraft singles that I would normally never eat.

While I felt bad that I couldn't eat better during that time, I was later surprised to learn that my A1C from this period was the lowest it had ever been since before I was diagnosed with diabetes. Of course, that didn't last once I was able to resume my normal diet, but for a brief time I was able to say "get cancer – cure diabetes!".

I ate right and exercised for many years and took Metformin for several years, but I still got cancer. I have Lynch Syndrome, although my type of uterine cancer isn't supposed to be caused by Lynch. So who knows why some of us who do the right things get cancer and others who don't eat well or exercise don't.

I don't take supplements other than the B12 my doctor has prescribed. She also had me on extra Vitamin D for a few years, but no longer, as my Vitamin D level are back in the normal range now. I must admit that I haven't been interested enough to research the pros and cons of various supplements to determine which, if any, might be helpful. I just try to eat a balanced diet.

Rita, our posts are often "all about me" and that's a benefit of this site. We all bring different experiences and opinions and it's this collective wisdom that can help others, even if the specific feedback isn't directly applicable to someone's question or issue.

Dak82 said:

My recent experience

I've been off the net for a few weeks because I went in the hospital 28 July with a small bowel obstruction. Had surgery on 30 July and lots of problems getting my guts working again which resulted in a second insertion of a nasogastric or NG tube. Having the tubes put in was the worst experience of my life. But the background and what makes this relevant to this thread is that I had started a raw veggie and fruit diet that included lots of nuts and seeds as well. I started this after reading the book "Chris Beat Cancer" so I figured what the heck and I wanted to be an active participant in my treatment.

The obstruction in my small intestine was caused by scar tissue from my surgery in December which was a radical abdominal hysterectomy that took out all the female parts plus iliac and para aortic lymph nodes. The surgeon described the small intestine as a "cranky toddler" always seeking trouble and often finding it; that it doesn't take much to set it off. The timing of the obstruction, which was really a kink that left a drastically narrowed intestinal passage convinced me that by dumping a huge increase in roughage and fiber into my gut I created the tipping point for an obstruction. So I will not be eating much roughage in the near future unless it is liquified in the Ninja blender! I will also continue juicing.

So all I'm saying is be cautious about drastic diet changes. I had no idea I had this little time bomb and had I stuck to my regular boring diet with one or two salads per week I may have avoided this experience forever.

Cheers,

Deb

I'm really sorry about your small bowel obstruction and surgery, Deb.  I'm happy that you're doing and feeling better now.  I've had roughly 20-25 intermittent partial small bowel obstructions since completing treatment in 1999.  I too had a radical abdominal hysterectomy and pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy.  I've been lucky in that my obstructions up to this point have all resolved without the need for surgery, but on the occasions I've been hospitalized, I invariably get the visit from the surgeons to discuss the possible need for surgery if the obstruction did not resolve on its own.  I remember my gynecologic oncologist telling me after one of my first obstructions that it was not related to what I was eating.  He said that the bowels continuously move around and if they happened to move in a certain way one day and there is scar tissue close by, this combination of factors would result in an obstruction.  He said that I could eat the same thing 10 times in a row without any problem whatsoever, but if the bowel was turned a certain way the 11th time I ate that particular food, it would result in an obstruction.  I have found my gyn-onc's explanation to be true over the last 22 years, since I have not seen any rhyme or reason to what I've eaten before developing any of my obstructions. 

I hope your bowel obstruction was a case of "one and done!" 

Stay well.

Tamlen said:

Be careful with turmeric during chemo

I don't think you're getting chemo, Harmanygroves, so I mention this for others seeing this thread who are in chemo. My cancer center has posters all over the place that say something to the effect, "Curcumin and turmeric can interfere with the effectiveness of some chemotherapy. Please check with your oncologist if you are taking or wish to take this supplement."

I try to take curcumin regularly, but it always seems like I'm having to hold it for one procedure or another, so I wonder how much good it is really doing me. It's its blood thinning side effects that you also have to wary of depending on what drugs or other supplements you are taking and when you have dental work or other procedures like a colonoscopy that they want you to not take it for at least 2 weeks beforehand. It's a good supplement to take after treatment, but not the easiest to maintain a therapeutic blood level of.

There are just too many different kinds of diets out there and so much marketing of them. It's safer to just eat a variety of the foods you know are healthy and less of the junky processed stuff. Moderation and balance of anything is important and going overboard in any direction because some genius out to make a buck and a name writes a book or has a gadget is a mistake. There is no magic cure in food or supplements, so common sense is the best diet to follow. That's my two cents worth.

Addendum:

I've been thinking overnight about the above and I want to clarify that I'm not so much against one diet vs another or any special diet at all. A lot of those diets have good science to back up their use for people with different issues. I think my rant is against the fact that there are so many different diets and new ones coming out all of the time that people rush to try. It really makes it hard for the average person to know what to do and harm can happen in trying to strictly adhere to many of the latest fads out there. It makes me look at them with a high degree of skepticism and prefer to take a simplistic, clean approach to what I eat. I've retaken control by putting in the time and effort to understand what's behind the production of the food I eat and as a result I don't begrudge the time and effort it can sometimes take to hunt down clean ingredients and do all of my own cooking from scratch. It puts me in the driver seat and I derive satisfaction from that even if it provides no guarantees. I still feel that I've improved by going in this direction.