1 year post op, 5 lbs to goal, and diagnosed with breast cancer!

I am 29 years old and reclaimed my life a little over a year ago when I decided to have the RNY. I have done excellently as far as weight loss and recently found out that I have invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast which will be treated with a bilateral mastecomy and TRAM reconstruction followed by chemotherapy.

My concern is that I've done all of this work to lose weight and I, under no cir****tances, want to regain any weight. I know that I must keep my body healthy for chemo, but I can't imagine having to face the weight battle again! I know that it's probably silly for me to be thinking about body image when I'm fighting for my life but I can't help myself!

Just wanted to vent.

Thanks for listening.

I don't have any words of wisdom for you just wanted you to know that I hear you and understand completely how you feel about your weight.  You are so young and have so much to look forward too.  I wish you the best and I hope that your weight has nothing to do with your recovery and that you stay healthy during your chemo treatment.  Maybe you should try to put a little extra on for chemo, knowing that you will loose more with chemo.  Be sure to take all your supplements and get plenty of rest.  May the good Lord watch over you and protect you.
Marylin

Thanks so much for your concern and support. I just had my surgery this past week and I'm to start chemotherapy and radiation soon. My docs assure me that these days patients are gaining weight during chemo. As I said before, I know that it's silly to be concerned about it. Just trying to take it day by day. Thanks again and please keep me in your prayers.

Win1, my thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.  Please stay positive and don't let the evil beast get the best of you.  If there was one thing that got me through my two rounds of cancer it was that I got MAD!  I mean REALLY mad at cancer!  I refused to let it rule my life.  As far as the chemo goes, I completely understand your concern but my experience with chemo was that the oncologists wanted me to maintain my weight, no going up OR down.  As it was explained to me, your starting weight (start of chemo) is one of the many factors in calculating the chemo dosage.  When you drop too much weight your body will get weak and they may have to halt the chemo (you don't want that!).  It is not silly at all for you to be concerned about your body image, you have come a long way!  Something that helped me a bit was a support group for cancer patients. 

Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.  If there is anything I can do to help you through this difficult time, please, drop me a note.  And please keep us posted on how things are going.

Katherine 

Thanks so much for the prayers and encouragement. My doc said exactly that... that my weight should stay the same. Which is my goal. I don't want to lose or gain... just maintain... but definitely not gain! Just taking it day by day. Sometimes I'm ok, sometimes I'm not. Please continue to pray.

Aren't you more worried about losing wt when in Chemo and getting too thin?  I was doing a search about Cancer after RNY because I have had Melanoma 3 times (surgical treatment only).  I am having surgery Wed. and I am curious & concerned what happens to people who have had WLS and loose even more wt. due to being ill with Chemotherapy... just in case that is ever a possibility at some point in my life.  I discussed it with my Dr. he thinks I would do fine.

My heart goes out to you, but I am glad that it was found and being treated.  Please keep us posted on how you are doing.  And if you do not mind sharing with us what your doc says if the WLS will affect your cancer treatment and health during tx. 

Again I am so sorry to hear you will have to under go all of this treatment.  Cancer is scary and it sucks, but you can beat it!  You are probably so much healthier now then you ever were before your WLS journey, so that is a positive.  It is a long scary road to have BC but I know you will beat it you seem like a fighter.  On a positive note you will have a new set of breasts that will be cancer free and stand up tighter then when you were 16!!!

So, again keep your chin up stay strong and keep us posted!

Truly,

Gina

Thanks for the sympathy and support. My doc says that people are gaining weight on chemo these days due to the new anti-nausea medications. Though some women still lose quite a bit. I guess it just depends. My doc says the surgery and chemo shouldn't be a problem. Besides, I'm a bit far out so I can eat reasonable amounts frequently, per my RNY surgeon if need be.

By God's grace, I'll beat it.

The good news is that if you're concerned about regaining weight after a breast cancer diagnosis, you're in great mental/emotional shape as well as physical!

I too am a breast cancer survivor.  I did gain a ton of weight, but it was from tamoxifen, not chemotherapy.  I'm not sure if the tumor you have is ER/PR+ or ER/PR-.  If negative, you won't have to do hormonal therapy and that will take a load off, literally, weight-wise.

My recommendation would be to just really "work your tool" as you go through treatment.  The only cancer survivor I know who was treated post-WLS lost a lot of weight and did not gain.  The main thing is to be healthy and beat back the beast completely! 

For support, please join us at www.youngsurvival.org, a website for young survivors of breast cancer.

You are in my prayers.

I would like to ask you some questions if you don't mind.
I have a cancer that is hormonal and they told me that if my cancer is back that I will have to have hormonal therapy.  Is this what makes you gain weight?  The doctor thinks there is going to be a clinical studie with the Unv. of Iowa and that she is going to try to get me in there.  I haven't lost all my weight, because I never dieted since surgery, they didn't want me to loose to much to cause it to spread which don't think that's going to be the case anyway think it's back and doing more then it was before.  I just want to know about the gain and about how much there will be.  I appreciate it and I know it will take a while to hear from you no one uses this forum much any more. 
Thanks again
Marylin

Hi Marilyn,

I think a combination of things cause the weight gain. The shift in hormones during hormonal therapy, the anti-nausea medication, the inactivity, the steroids that they give you. I see my docs next week. I'll be sure to raise these questions. They assure me that with the proper diet, my weight should remain stable. I'll let you know what my doc says.

Thanks