I was 5 days being 1 yr out from bypass and a weight loss of 125pds, when i recieved the news of breast cancer. I had loss both breast on Dec, 9.  I have had reconstructive surgury and have gained 20 pds. what should i do?????????

Did you gain weight from chemo or what did you gain from?  Get back on track and get back to basics on what helped you lose in the beginning.
Most info please so I can help!
Hang in there

My weight had been stable for 1 year when I started 6 months of chemo.  It actually had dipped down about 7 - 8 pounds in the 2 months prior to starting treatment, but that was actually from the cancer.

I gained back those 7 - 8 pounds in the first couple months of chemo & then my weight remained stable throughout the rest of chemo.  I gained 15 pounds in the 2 months after - so 15 pounds higher than my stable weight.  I suspect it was b/c I was so inactive for so long that I lost a lot of muscle & my metabolism had decreased, which was fine during chemo b/c my appetite wasn't all that great from nausea.  Once that was done, my appetite was back to normal, but my metabolism was still crappy from the months of inactivity.  Now that I've gotten active again, I'm slowly losing the extra weight.  I am also watching what I eat - not as well as I could, but I'm okay with the progress.

My "take home message' is maybe your metabolism also decreased due to inactivity & lost muscle, yet your appetite is back  to normal.

My weight was sitting still when I found out about cancer. Now with the pills I have gained 20 pds. I am just sick with my self. I quit the cancer drugs today. The Dr said I am retaining ALOT of water weight. I know I am not eating right but not that much. Thank you for replying. This is all a condition that i don;t need or want to deal with.

thanks,
Diana

are you off of the pills because your doctor took you off of them? I know different people have different courses of treatment for their particular form of breast cancer. I was ER+ PR+ Her2+ with 2 lymph nodes involved., a tumor of 1.7cm and staged at 2a. My course of treatment was 6 rounds of chemo (Taxotere, Carboplatin) and Herceptin every 3 weeks and then Herceptin only every 3 weeks for a year. I am finally done.as of last Thanksgiving. I held my weight and then gained 10 pounds right after Thanksgiving. Now I am back to normal. I think my hormones were out of whack.
I think you need to be patient with yourself, dont be too hard on yourself either. You are going through a lot.

Hi - I am responding to this old post because I too was recently diagnosed with ER+PR+ Her2neu+ breast cancer and started chemo last week.  I wasn't really expecting much in the way of side effects but boy was I wrong.  It has been a week of hell between diarhea, nausea, vomitting, hermorhoids, stomach pains, you name it.  Every GI upset I could imagine.  Today is one week and I feel like I am managing it better with Zofran. Pepto Bismol and flat ginger ale.  Do you think chemo is worse after having gastric bypass surgery?  I had roux-n-y surgery in May 2009 and have  maintained a 120 lb weight loss but I have lost 5 lbs this week because of all of the diarhea and vomitting  Not much of anything stays in me.  Any ideas for coping with this?  Is it going to be worse after future treatments (5 more to go)?  ANy input would be greatly appreciated!

 

Congratulations on your completion of the treatment!  

Fondly,

Patti

Hi Patti,

For me I had no vomiting at all. I didn't feel like eating but I couldn't chalk it up to stomach upset, I just had desire to eat ANYTHING. Towards the end of the three weeks right after my chemo I would slowly gain wait to get back to my normal weight, then BOOM chemo would happen and I'd be down 10 pounds in almost a week.

I think chemo and herceptin is a very individualized thing. What I experienced even with the same sort of regiment is not what you may be feeling when you have it. I volunteer at a local oncology center and I have seen people do much better than me and others who suffered with every side effect in the book.  Be kind to yourself, get plenty of rest and hydration. Remember to get out in the fresh air and WALK everyday if only for a 1/2 mile. That will help you a lot.

The other thing I was going to say is that each and every chemo was different, it wasn't just the same with worse side-effects. Chemo number 1 I was very loopy and groggy. Number 2 it was diarrhea and I couldn't be away from a bathroom long, number two was itching. The weird thing was, after my next chemo whatever side-effects I had from the previous chemo would go away and I'd have a whole new side-effect. Weird I know.

Hang in there, hopefully things will get better XX

Thank you!  I appreciate your kind words.  I hope it gets better and I'm glad to hear that you don't really think it's RNY related!  I'm really not worried about weight gain or loss at this point.  Just have to get through this leg of the journey and then I will confront whatever weight concerns there may be!

 

Please keep in touch - especially if you think of anything else to fill me in on!

Patti

Diana, I am taking anestrazole (for the next 5 years) for breast cancer.  I have gained almost 10 pounds since last July...not very happy!  I have not changed my eating habits.  (RNY - almost 5 years ago).  I am going to watch everything I eat, drink more water, less carbs and more protein.  Let me know how you are doing ...Take care, Stella

I am really interested in knowing how chemo was for you. I have just be found to have atypical breast cancer and the course of treatment is first surgury followed by 4-6 wks. of chemo and then 6-8 wks. of radiation. With gastro bipass surgury was there any problem with our smaller stomaches handliing the chemo?
If you don;t mind me asking were you atypical?
I am not as concerned about weight loss and have lost 81 and hope before chemo to lose anoher 10. Were you so sick that you couldn;t exercise? I guess I feel that I have to cope with the chemo and then worry about losing if I have gained. I am told there are pills for the nausea, did they not work with you?
Anything you could share with me would be a great assistance, and perhaps take down by anxiety.
I am in Toronto and at our biggest cancer hospital and top specialist they knew nothing about gastro and chemo

Thanks so much

 I think I can answer some of your questions, although I actually had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, not breast cancer.  The effects of chemo can be slightly different depending on the type of chemo (type of poison used, b/c that's exactly what it is) and it can also be different for the same type of chemo, but each person can have a slightly different response.  What I can give you are guidelines & it's likely to be true for you - just not 100% exactly the same b/c it can be different by type & by individual response.

After I would have a chemo treatment, starting a few hours afterwards, I would have increased nausea.  The nausea would pretty much completely go away by the 5th day after treatment.  I had chemo once every two weeks for 6 months.  The nausea medications were very helpful, but I always thought that I had more nausea than most people.  But, even still, it really wasn't that bad.  I only threw up twice during the entire 6 months.  Much more common was getting nauseous suddenly & dry heaving until the medication could take effect.  This typically happened b/c I waited a little too long before taking the medication again.

As for absorption of the nausea medication - one of the pills was absorbed through the mucous membranes of my mouth, called odansetron.  You place it against the inside of your cheek & it dissolves.  Takes about a minute.  Doesn't taste bad (not like candy, either), just not that bad.  That medication, the odansetron, worked awesome.  For me, I think it worked better than the other medication, prochlorazine, b/c that one was a swallowed pill.  Remember, I did not have a gastric bypass, I had the duodenal switch & they really are very different in terms of medication.  I have a fully functioning regular stomach that is just smaller in volume, but I still digest inside the stomach like normal.  I absorb far less in the small intestine than bypassers, though.  That's why I don't think the swallowed pill, prochlorazine, was as helpful to me as the odansetron.  For you, you will absorb more of it than I did so long as it doesn't upset your stomach so that you throw it up.  Will that happen?  I don't think so, though can't be sure.  I remember a couple of the oncologist doctors talking to me about it right before I started treatment & they were only familiar with banders or bypassers & they said that, in their experience & opinion, I wouldn't have any more trouble keeping it down than I would my regular vitamins.  

My advice would be to definitely ask for odansetron, even if you're not prescribed it & cite your WLS as why you need it.  It's much more expensive than prochlorazine.  The best thing to do is to take both & then you can "flip flop" them.  Each of them can only be taken every 6 - 8 hrs so if you monitor taking them on time well, you should be fine with eating something before taking your prochlorazine - or whatever oral pill to swallow they give you.  I would definitely get the odansetron, though!

As for WL - it will likely continue so long as you're still in your WL window UNLESS you're also taking heavy amounts of steoroids.  I was given a steoroid with each chemo dose, but only in the IV with the actual chemo, otherwise I didn't have to take it.  I know other people (who didn't have WLS), but are cancer survivors who have complained about gained 10 - 30 pounds from a combination of steoroids & decreased physical activity b/c of the effects of treatment.  Fatigue is a very, very real thing & affects upwards of 90% of people.  Your body will be undergoing a lot of stress in the next few months & NEEDS adequate nutrition.  Please, do not try to overly limit what you eat - just eat healthy & let your body get the nutrition it needs to (literally) survive & be healthy.  If you're still in your WL window, you will likely continue to lose weight, but honestly, that shouldn't be your main priority right now.  Surviving is.

As for exercise, I would strongly suggest to continue exercising, but you will likely find that you can't do as much - that's completely normal.  There's a lot of research that suggests exercising during cancer treatment helps to control fatigue & also helps your mood.

I would also strongly suggest that you join a cancer treatment group.  There are things you can discuss with them that you will find helpful b/c you don't have to worry about your family's feelings &/or the fact that others who love & support you ultimately can't exactly relate to what you're going through.  I believe Gilda's Club is also in Canada.  You can also try googling it with your city name or ask the cancer center social worker for support resources.

Hope this helps :)  Good luck with everything & write if you need/ want, I'm always willing to help!

Lisa

I can;t tell you how much I appreciated the time you took to answer me. It's really hard when you need info about both and very few seem to have the info.

I am going to print this off and discuss the med's you mentioned  when I get to the point of chemo.  For me in about 5 wks. comes the first stage of surgery to remove the tumor and them looking at it and hoping not affected the lump glands. They told me then followed by 4-6 wks. of chemo and then 6-8 wks. of radiation. Hope they are right about how many wks. I guess time between all the three things. Abit overwhelming when you think your life was going so well and lots of positives about how you look and erercising every morning for a 1/2 hr.  so proud of myself. And then everything changes in an instance.

Yes, I am sure there is a Gilda's club here, as you might not know she was Canadian and from Toronto like me.

ruth

Thanks so much for posting this.  I am 4 yrs post RNY and just started chemo and feel like I am having more effects from 1 treatment than typical.  I appreciate your insight!  

Patti

I gained about 60 lbs during my cancer treatment.  I was on heavy doses of steroid because I had many allergic reaction.  The arimidex I am one also causes weight gain.  I also had a double masc. with reconstruction.  After all of this I could not drop the weight so opted for surgery.  It has been another life saver.  I didnt think about trying to loose the weight while I was gaining it.  I didnt realize it would be so hard to come off.  I think your 20 lbs will come off quickly.  You know how hard it was to loose the weight and your not going to let it get out of controll.  I know your body is retaining fluid .  Mine did, I puffed up like a blowfish on chemo and radiation.  Try not to worry.  Dont put any more stress on your body or your mind.  I wish you all the best.

I had a double mastectomy and DIEP. I was able to get a tummy tuck out of it so that part wasnt too bad.
I have been on armidex for a year now 

Question-did you have gastric surgery  after you had your cancer treatment. I am trying to find out how chemo works when you have had gastric surgery already.
Hoping if I ask all of you on this sight someone will be able to give me info. Really hard to find it out.
Thanks

 I too was diagnosed with breast cancer 1yr out from my band surgery. I had lost 80 lbs. Was just enjoying life with the weight loss. I have gained 30 lbs since my diagnosis. Because my cancer is hormone positive, I take Amidrex and had a total hysterectomy. I have not been able to lose the weight. No hormones no weight loss. I feel like I'm losing the battle. I tried exercising for two months straight only lost and gained same amount. I am discouraged. I feel like a fat slob, just like before the band. I'm thinking of taking prescription diet pills. I can't take anything that has to do with hormones. This sucks! The only good thing is I am 3 years cancer free & I didn't have to have chemo or radiation. Just did a double mastectomy. Let me know if you have found a way that is working for you. Good luck!

I had cancer and treatment with chemo and rads  first.  then 2 years later had the sleeve.  I just could not loose the cancer weight.  I have heard of others that have gone from the band to having the sleeve done.  Thats a possibility for you.  No maintance like teh band.  Its done forever.  You figure we have already fought the cancer battle and sirvived.  We have an entire new outlook on life.  Why not go for it and enjoy.  I still take Arimidex and have no problem with the weight gain from it anymore.  I would definitely call your oncologist and ask if it would be o.k.,  My Onc said many many many patients he sees are both before and after. 

I had my surgery Feb. 15  down 82 lbs and now  found out this week atypical breast cancer. As only you can appreciate a very hard thing to accept after being so successful with weight loss. The one thing I didn;t do was turn to food which I would have in the past.

 People seem to know alot of breast cancer or gastro bi-pass but few seem to know both. It seems that you are one who does. Did you have chemo and if so how did it go?. I wonder about  mal absorption and all the other things that come with chemo.
How did you gain the weight if I may ask? 

Anything you can share with me would be very helpful.
Sorry I can;t help you but if you would you could be very helpful to me.

Hi I also was diagnosed w breast cancer and im happy to say i have been in remission for almost 4 yrs. Good luck and if you need to talk im here. support is VERY important.