Pre-Chemo Nutrition?

[Guest guest]

I am surprised by the way some doctors try to run you through

this " treatment " system without addressing what I think are some

important points. Nutrition for what they plan to put us through

primarily.

I am 44 and was diagnosed in Dec and had a lumpectomy/sentinal node

mapping on Jan 16. The tumor was removed with excellent margins and

it had not spread to the lymphs. It was er/pr positive, her2

negative. I thought, great, radiation and " we'll see " about anything

else. (My mom had cancer 35 years ago when she was 28, my maternal

grandmother died of ovarian cancer when she was 39, as well as

numerous great-aunts with b/c, so for me, it was never a question

of " if " but " when. " )

At the first meeting with my first onco, she starts going on about

chemo and blah blah, because I did not hear anything after that.

After some discussion, we decided to do oncogene testing--which she

said would give a better indication for recurrence rate--and a PET

scan.

At the follow-up, she said that the oncogene test results came back

with a " very low " (still trying to get a copy of that) number,

meaning the recurrence rate is low. The PET scan, in her opinion,

showed " inconclusive " results--the lab attributes a gray spot (not

hot spot) in the lymph area to the recent surgery, she attributes it

to possible cancer that should be treated with chemo. I asked her

couldn't we just surgically remove the one node in question (it

appears to be the one the needle biopsied in Dec) and THEN decide

about chemo if it came back with cancer in it. Her response was that

surgery was a radical way to go. MY response was " And chemo's not? "

At that point she saw I was not just signing up for the standard

program and suggested I get a second opinion. And I am doing that

next week.

I asked her, and one other doctor, that going on the assumption that

I *DO* need chemo, are there any dietary changes or recommendations

I should start beforehand to ensure my immune system is as strong as

it can be. Surprisingly, the response was " We don't recommend people

who will be going through chemo make any lifestyle changes as chemo

will be enough of a lifestyle change. " I just keep thinking that if

a doc could say " make sure you eat every day, " it

might actually make the chemo EASIER to deal with.

I don't understand why this is not addressed as part of the

solution. Or is it just these two docs don't address it?

Actually, at this very point, I am considering no chemo, no

radiation and no drugs. Just getting on with my life. Getting sick

and dealing with side-effects of all these DRUGS to MAYBE not deal

with something that MIGHT happen sounds like using a tank to crack a

nut when there's a nutcracker handy.

Sorry for the long post. This is my first one. And in re-reading it,

I see there's no point. So my point is: Has anyone done anything

nutritionally to make the treatment process easier? (Not herbal, as

I understand these can really mess things up!)

Best!!

Belinda