Dear Dr. West:
I have read your post on weight loss of cancer patients, but my current situation is a bit different. I was diagnosed state IV adenocarcinoma (exon 19 deletion) in July 2012 and has been on Iressa since then as my first-line treatment. My six tumours significantly shrank in the first two months (from July to August) while I lost 6 kg in that two months, which is 10% of my body weight. However from August to now the tumours have shown minimal changes; while the CEA has been gone up from 6.7 to 11.3 from April to June, I have regained all the 6 kgs and in fact added another 1.4 kg, so my BMI is reaching the top margin of the normal range now.
I had been controlling my diet and body weight for more than three decades and seldon touched desert or ice-cream prior to my diagnosis; however after having cancer I have been eating quite a bit of these food as I feel that I don't have much time left, and this change might have contributed to my weight increase. My question is: given that eventually cancer patients will experience weight loss, shall I keep my current diet until I cannot enjoy food as I can now, or shall I control my body weight as overweight and too much sugar will not be good for cancer patients?
Many thanks for your advice in advance.
Best wishes,
Tracey
56 Asian female never smoker, IV NSCLC diagnosed on 01.07.2012; On Iressa since 07/07/2012.
Reply # - July 12, 2013, 08:01 AM
Reply To: Do I need to control my body weight now?
Interesting...I think you need to balance the sense of depriving yourself vs. optimal health. I think gaining a few pounds gradually over the course of a year by eating foods you enjoy isn't a big deal, and it's OK to think "life's too short -- I should enjoy it" without that being a nihilistic thought that something bad is about to happen. On the other hand, if you're gaining 5-10 pounds per month, pretty soon you start to lose energy, develop joint pains, and not move around as easily. So like so many things, it's an issue of moderation, balancing between enjoying life and not indulging so much that your weight becomes very unhealthy in itself. But gaining weight kind of deliberately to forestall something bad later isn't really the right mindset. In that setting, the weight loss is more the effect or a coincident process than the cause, so the progressing cancer is really the cause of both the weight loss and feeling and doing poorly.
I hope that helps.
-Dr. West
Reply # - July 12, 2013, 11:42 PM
Reply To: Do I need to control my body weight now?
Dear Dr. West:
Thank you so much for your advice indeed. It is very helpful. In fact my knees had been a bit painful before the cancer diagnosis,which was a result of doing jogging three times a week in the last three decades, and that is another factor for me to control my weight.
I know what to do now. Many thanks, and have a nice weekend.
Best,
Tracey