Wow, women, you are all exceptional! @Flaneuse I hope we are not worrying you re what to expect after it's all supposedly over. I feel in my own situation, after the lumpectomy, chemo and radiation, that was the hard part. The next part is really self care and addressing any collateral damage, so to speak. So I'm addressing pain from my full axillary clearance, scar tissue pain in the breast and finding out about any radiation damage which might need pills or cream. But I feel that the big issues are regaining a healthy gastro intestinal system and building up your immune system. Diet and exercise help with the immune system, getting stronger and preventing recurrence. I need to get off my butt and start walking regularly. I have always dodged exercise and been good at eating cake. Now I am at my heaviest after eating haphazardly through chemo and rad. One of our uni's says "Exercise is medicine" and I think they are now saying that exercise alone decreases your risk of recurrence. So no dodging it!
Re diet - my dietician is very big on cruciferous vegetables, protein with each meal, and no complex carbs at dinner. The hospital dietician was fairly useless and just showed me the food pyramid. So I am seeing a private one who deals with oncology on the 5 free visits plan … your Dr can refer you. It has a special name eluding me. (I am on a pension.) I need to get some probiotics and Vit C and some other bits and pieces. I will see the naturopath at Pharmacy 777 and they don't charge me as the vitamins cost a lot. Unfortunately the best ones are expensive and I have been holding off for the next splurge. It's a good idea to find a naturopath who knows something about cancer if you're going to buy vitamins. Mine has had cancer in her family so she is good at working out what I need and the cheapest way I can buy the best brand/or guiding me to a different brand if she thinks it does a better job. I think if you just go into the pharmacy and say you need X, Y and Z you might not get the best service available to you...use their naturopath if you can. It is so unfortunate that Vitamins are so bloody expensive - good on your daughter @Flaneuse! Those are good ones, especially for Winter.
I am also trying turmeric for inflammation and osteoarthritis in my knee. It is good for most things but again my supply has run down as my car service took precedence! I buy it from an Australian grower in QLD and it's potentiated with black pepper. It comes in bars I cut up and have 300g am. And pm. It takes a while to work on your knees etc but seems to help! Another thing I try is adding Frankincense essential oil to a carrier oil and massaging my sore breast and under my arm where my scar is from the axillary clearance. I have actually been doing both breasts as there is some evidence Frankie can kill cancerous cells. However, it's one of those things that we don't know a lot about still. I'm just giving it a go as I like to play with the essential oils. I'm sure there are all sorts of sane/insane ideas out there about preventing cancer … I just sit in the middle, mostly.
One thing I have gotten into the habit of doing is washing my hands thoroughly as soon as I come home from the hospital or supermarket or any outing. Then after a day like today where I was at the hospital for four hours I came home and had a bath. I add some anti germ essential oil to the bath and then run my vaporiser in my flat with the same oil in it. I also have it in a bottle and can spray it around the room. It's my little OCD germ phobe ritual!
A long post! What are other people trying? (Oh, yes, I agree with drinking lots of water too!)
