What we can do to reduce recurrence risk (part II?)

In the "Almost there" thread, I mentioned exercise & diet as things we as
individuals could control, that could help nudge us toward improved odds of
a good long-term post-treatment outcome.

By coincidence, this evening I went to a lecture by a woman named Diana
Dyer, who's a three-time cancer survivor, including two bouts with BC. (The
first cancer was a neuroblastoma in infancy.) She's also a registered
dietician. After her second BC, she felt a strong need to take the
initiative and apply her professional expertise to avoid another future
recurrence. She also had never fully recovered from her first treatment -
for example, her immune system was supressed, with her white cell counts
consistently below the normal range.

She's now 11 years beyond that second BC -- her physician didn't expect her
to be around for even 3 years, because the 2nd cancer was so aggressive &
extensive. And when (after a time) her blood tests came back with normal
white cell counts for the first time in *years*, her doc thought someone in
the lab had mixed her blood specimen up with someone else's. They redid it
stat, and he came back & asked her to explain *exactly* what she'd been
doing. There were side effects, too, good ones: Cholesterol down 50
points, for example.

If anyone is interested, she's written a book, "A Dietician's Cancer Story:
Information & Inspiration for Recovery & Healing". All profits go to
support an endowment at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)
that funds research to help define nutritional strategies after diagnosis,
either during treatment or recovery, that will help enhance odds for
long-term survival. The book has her recommendations about diet, as well as
"make it real" ideas on how to shop, what to do when eating out or
traveling, how to make it work with a family, how to evaluate alternative
therapies & make choices (including food supplements, etc.).

She also has a web site, http://www.cancerrd.com/ , with recipes, menus,
Q&A, etc. It includes two weeks of menus, and she said everything in that
part was tested on (and at least tolerated by!) her two teenage sons.

FWIW,

Ann T.
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I read the book. It is very good and practical. I believe that diet and
exercise can make a difference. I started a lifestyle change of healthy
eating when my cancer recurred 6 1/2 years ago and my doctor is amazed at
how well I'm doing. He's a very scientific kind of guy and won't attribute
it to the healthy lifestyle, but I believe that, in part, that's why I'm
still around. I still have bc, it won't seem to go away, but it hasn't
gotten to the point of affecting my daily activities except for the constant
chemo treatments, scans, etc. I can't seem to get into the excercise thing,
however. Maybe if I did that, the cancer would go away???
Michelle

"A.P. Thorsen" <annthorsendontsendspam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eh6v7g$4h0$1@news.msu.edu...
> In the "Almost there" thread, I mentioned exercise & diet as things we as
> individuals could control, that could help nudge us toward improved odds
> of a good long-term post-treatment outcome.
>
> By coincidence, this evening I went to a lecture by a woman named Diana
> Dyer, who's a three-time cancer survivor, including two bouts with BC.
> (The first cancer was a neuroblastoma in infancy.) She's also a
> registered dietician. After her second BC, she felt a strong need to take
> the initiative and apply her professional expertise to avoid another
> future recurrence. She also had never fully recovered from her first
> treatment - for example, her immune system was supressed, with her white
> cell counts consistently below the normal range.
>
> She's now 11 years beyond that second BC -- her physician didn't expect
> her to be around for even 3 years, because the 2nd cancer was so
> aggressive & extensive. And when (after a time) her blood tests came back
> with normal white cell counts for the first time in *years*, her doc
> thought someone in the lab had mixed her blood specimen up with someone
> else's. They redid it stat, and he came back & asked her to explain
> *exactly* what she'd been doing. There were side effects, too, good ones:
> Cholesterol down 50 points, for example.
>
> If anyone is interested, she's written a book, "A Dietician's Cancer
> Story: Information & Inspiration for Recovery & Healing". All profits go
> to support an endowment at the American Institute for Cancer Research
> (AICR) that funds research to help define nutritional strategies after
> diagnosis, either during treatment or recovery, that will help enhance
> odds for long-term survival. The book has her recommendations about diet,
> as well as "make it real" ideas on how to shop, what to do when eating out
> or traveling, how to make it work with a family, how to evaluate
> alternative therapies & make choices (including food supplements, etc.).
>
> She also has a web site, http://www.cancerrd.com/ , with recipes, menus,
> Q&A, etc. It includes two weeks of menus, and she said everything in that
> part was tested on (and at least tolerated by!) her two teenage sons.
>
> FWIW,
>
> Ann T.
> Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email
>
>
>

Hi, Michelle!

"Michelle" <wama89@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:9tudnTgQteHArKfYnZ2dnUVZ_tudnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>I read the book. It is very good and practical. I believe that diet and
>exercise can make a difference. I started a lifestyle change of healthy
>eating when my cancer recurred 6 1/2 years ago and my doctor is amazed at
>how well I'm doing. He's a very scientific kind of guy and won't attribute
>it to the healthy lifestyle, but I believe that, in part, that's why I'm
>still around. I still have bc, it won't seem to go away, but it hasn't
>gotten to the point of affecting my daily activities except for the
>constant chemo treatments, scans, etc. I can't seem to get into the
>excercise thing, however. Maybe if I did that, the cancer would go away???

I don't think there are many cases of such complete remission (assuming your
recurrence was metastatic?), but if you're keeping it at bay you're doing
*great*.

As far as getting into exercise, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it if it were
a matter of making myself do it because it's good for me . . . I don't have
that kind of will power. What's worked is that, happily enough, I stumbled
into something I do for fun that just happens to be exercise. It's even
given me the motivation to work at other active things I don't much like
(e.g., swimming) because it helps my rowing, and to take on new-to-me
active things I do like (e.g., kayaking) because I now have the strength and
confidence to jump in & do them. So I don't actually think of rowing as
"exercise", I think of it as "fun".

Before I found rowing, I'd started trying to be more active, just to regain
strength after treatment. It helped to sign up for actual classes, because
then it was like an appointment that I felt obligated to show up for.
Those activities that I liked (weight training, yoga) I would then keep
doing more on my own, and those that I didn't enjoy just dropped by the
wayside.

Hope you can find something active that you love -- I'm having such a good
time rowing, I wish everyone here could find something that would feel as
good.

Take care,

Ann T.
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Hi Ann,
It's great that you found something you like so much. I hope I will find
something I have a passion for, also. I guess I have to start by trying all
sorts of things and see what sticks. If I remember correctly, you're in the
East Lansing area. I went to MSU in the mid 70's. Some of my best years
were spent there. I'm trying to think of what bodies of water are there.
Where do you do your rowing?
Michelle

"A.P. Thorsen" <annthorsendontsendspam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ehduou$23b$1@news.msu.edu...
> Hi, Michelle!
>
> "Michelle" <wama89@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:9tudnTgQteHArKfYnZ2dnUVZ_tudnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>>I read the book. It is very good and practical. I believe that diet and
>>exercise can make a difference. I started a lifestyle change of healthy
>>eating when my cancer recurred 6 1/2 years ago and my doctor is amazed at
>>how well I'm doing. He's a very scientific kind of guy and won't
>>attribute it to the healthy lifestyle, but I believe that, in part, that's
>>why I'm still around. I still have bc, it won't seem to go away, but it
>>hasn't gotten to the point of affecting my daily activities except for the
>>constant chemo treatments, scans, etc. I can't seem to get into the
>>excercise thing, however. Maybe if I did that, the cancer would go
>>away???
>
> I don't think there are many cases of such complete remission (assuming
> your recurrence was metastatic?), but if you're keeping it at bay you're
> doing *great*.
>
> As far as getting into exercise, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it if it
> were a matter of making myself do it because it's good for me . . . I
> don't have that kind of will power. What's worked is that, happily
> enough, I stumbled into something I do for fun that just happens to be
> exercise. It's even given me the motivation to work at other active
> things I don't much like (e.g., swimming) because it helps my rowing, and
> to take on new-to-me active things I do like (e.g., kayaking) because I
> now have the strength and confidence to jump in & do them. So I don't
> actually think of rowing as "exercise", I think of it as "fun".
>
> Before I found rowing, I'd started trying to be more active, just to
> regain strength after treatment. It helped to sign up for actual classes,
> because then it was like an appointment that I felt obligated to show up
> for. Those activities that I liked (weight training, yoga) I would then
> keep doing more on my own, and those that I didn't enjoy just dropped by
> the wayside.
>
> Hope you can find something active that you love -- I'm having such a good
> time rowing, I wish everyone here could find something that would feel as
> good.
>
> Take care,
>
> Ann T.
> Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email
>
>

Hi, Michelle,

You, "Michelle" <wama89@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:i-adnWkfaskVI6bYnZ2dnUVZ_oadnZ2d@comcast.com...

>. If I remember correctly, you're in the East Lansing area. I went to MSU
>in the mid 70's. Some of my best years were spent there. I'm trying to
>think of what bodies of water are there. Where do you do your rowing?

Hey, I went to MSU, too - 1973-78, plus a little part-time temporary grad
school stint in the early 80s! Then I worked from MSU for 28 years,
starting in 1978, and just recently retired.

So, I hope some of my best years were spent here, too, or I should've moved
long ago <grin>.

We row on the Grand River in Lansing, near one of the old Oldsmobile plants
(and some Lansing Board of Water & Light -- I think that's who they belong
to -- cooling towers), and down past the fancy houses west of there. If you
remember anything about Lansing landmarks: It's in a park between Martin
Luther King Drive (used to be Logan Street when you were here, I think) and
Waverly Road, on the North side of the river. Michigan State Varsity has
also had some competitions on Lake Ovid, in Sleepy Hollow State Park, North
and a little East of the city, but they row practices in the same park we
do. It was a club sport when you & I were at MSU, rowing out of that same
park.

We (my BC survivors team) had a exhibition race just today, as part of an
MSU-sponsored race, in the pouring cold rain & wind. But my boat took more
than 30 seconds off its time compared with a practice run on Thursday night
(15 minutes 5 seconds today, vs. 15:39 on Thursday), so I'm happy. Remains
to be seen whether we were faster than any of the (slower of the) college
boats from Michigan Tech, Northern, U of M, Eastern, MSU, Grand Valley . . .
.. here's hoping.

Nice to "meet" a former fellow Spartan!

Ann T.
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Ann,
It's great to hear you're having so much fun with your rowing. Doesn't the
Grand River run through East Lansing? Besides living in the dorm (East
Akers), I lived in a large apt. complex that may have been called the Grand
River Apts. I remember it was very near campus on Waters Edge St. right by
a bridge that went over a river. It's been so long, my brain just won't go
there, but it still remembers a lot of laughs (and way too much
partying!!!).
Michelle

"A.P. Thorsen" <annthorsendontsendspam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ehgleg$ta2$1@news.msu.edu...
> Hi, Michelle,
>
> You, "Michelle" <wama89@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:i-adnWkfaskVI6bYnZ2dnUVZ_oadnZ2d@comcast.com...
>
>>. If I remember correctly, you're in the East Lansing area. I went to
>>MSU in the mid 70's. Some of my best years were spent there. I'm trying
>>to think of what bodies of water are there. Where do you do your rowing?
>
> Hey, I went to MSU, too - 1973-78, plus a little part-time temporary grad
> school stint in the early 80s! Then I worked from MSU for 28 years,
> starting in 1978, and just recently retired.
>
> So, I hope some of my best years were spent here, too, or I should've
> moved long ago <grin>.
>
> We row on the Grand River in Lansing, near one of the old Oldsmobile
> plants (and some Lansing Board of Water & Light -- I think that's who they
> belong to -- cooling towers), and down past the fancy houses west of
> there. If you remember anything about Lansing landmarks: It's in a park
> between Martin Luther King Drive (used to be Logan Street when you were
> here, I think) and Waverly Road, on the North side of the river. Michigan
> State Varsity has also had some competitions on Lake Ovid, in Sleepy
> Hollow State Park, North and a little East of the city, but they row
> practices in the same park we do. It was a club sport when you & I were
> at MSU, rowing out of that same park.
>
> We (my BC survivors team) had a exhibition race just today, as part of an
> MSU-sponsored race, in the pouring cold rain & wind. But my boat took
> more than 30 seconds off its time compared with a practice run on Thursday
> night (15 minutes 5 seconds today, vs. 15:39 on Thursday), so I'm happy.
> Remains to be seen whether we were faster than any of the (slower of the)
> college boats from Michigan Tech, Northern, U of M, Eastern, MSU, Grand
> Valley . . . . here's hoping.
>
> Nice to "meet" a former fellow Spartan!
>
> Ann T.
> Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email
>