ObesityHelp

first of all, my oncologist doesn't give time frames like that unless you're ready to go home on hospice and we're talking like less than 6 weeks to live. Two years is a long time.......

I have a dear friend who was dxd with stage IV colon cancer (over half her liver was cancerous mass). I thought for sure she was going to die, but she's done really well and is on the upside of the battle. Chemotherapies, radiation, surgical, and other treatments have improved outcomes significantly. What used to be a 'death sentence' is just a 'difficult situation' now...... so have hope!

As for the issue of whether the surgery caused the cancer...I wonder about that myself.... since the diet requires so little fiber. I don't know if there have been any studies done on it? I will ask the surgeon when I go to my pre-op. It is a concern for me, for certain, as my half-brother developed colon cancer at 27 years old! 

Best of treatment to your friend....I hope she fights and wins!

I had VSG in Dec 2010, lost 127 lbs in 10 months. Within a month of my VSG, I had a tachycardia and subsequent successful ablation, today I got the results of a partial mastectomy done one week ago today, early stages of invasive breast cancer.

My choices, bilat mastectomy and skin conservation reconstruction or stay with the partial mastectomy and reconstruction to make breasts symetrical only done one week ago, and do radiation therapy and doctor warned me that an oncologist will be in my future.

I'm leaning towards the bilat mastectomy and no radiation therapy. Statistics show a little better going this route. Surgeon seems to be leaning towards radiation therapy, possibly chemo pending results of pathology reports that are not in yet. I know too many women with leukemia post radiation which is a known risk.

Back to your question, YES, I believe the drastic drop in weight in such a short period dumped a lot of estrogen into my system. I'm post menopausal and it caused me to have one heavy period after VSG surgery, but I also believe that my cancer is most likely an estrogen receptor (won't know for sure until pathology is back).

Yes, I probably would of found it in a year or so down the road, but the amount of estrogen my body had to deal with fast tracked the cancer. (It also uncovered a tachycardia that had gone undiagnosed previously.)

I don't regret for a minute having VSG, only wish I could of done it 15-20 years ago and avoided the collateral damage. I'm 54 years old, and it would of been much kinder to my body to have done it at age 34 years old.

For months I've been exhausted and the bariatric surgeon has been on me to exercise more, etc. A short 3 years ago I was running 5K a day and one day I just didn't have the energy, depression set in, gained weight, hit menopause, went on hormone replacement therapy (big mistake), gained more weight, had VSG, then tachycardia, now invasive breast cancer.

VSG is a double edged culprit. I've had lots of other problems show up since, but with the weight loss it was easier to diagnose and recover from surgeries. I try to view the VSG as possibly making my breast cancer diagnosis an early diagnosis vs. late stage and subsequently (by accident) saving years of my life.