Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 8-9 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.
During the nine months since my diagnosis of cancer, my dietary habits have undergone several dramatic shifts. I would not have considered my diet particularly unhealthy before that time, although I will admit to a long-standing fondness for potato chips (plain, please, or with sea salt) and for pie (especially cherry-peach or strawberry-rhubarb). I ate a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit, often organic; I ate a fair amount of meat, but also of high-quality; I liked grains and beans and ate them regularly; I rarely drank alcohol at all and had only a cup or two of coffee a day. My eating schedule, however, was definitely not consistent, and I consumed many of my meals on the run—or, more precisely, in the car.
In the few weeks between diagnosis and surgery, I recall changing my eating habits very little. Those four weeks were plenty busy for me just getting ready for a medical leave from work and dealing with my family’s reactions to the cancer diagnosis. Going into surgery, no one anticipated the extent of disease spread that was actually discovered, and in those early days it seemed logical for those other concerns to take higher priority than my foundational health. That sounds odd, no? It does to me now, too. At any rate, I did not embark on any serious investigation of diet and/or supplements that might be considered helpful for cancer prevention or treatment.
After surgery, I heard the classic and entirely unwelcome line from my surgeon, “we couldn’t get it all.” Consequently, on top of recovering from major abdominal surgery, I had to get my mind around the idea of embarking on chemotherapy, and the sooner the better at that. Still, my reading on line and in print had more to do with treatment protocols, outcomes, and rates of PFS and OS (progression-free survival and overall survival) than with dietary concerns.
I did see a dietician affiliated with the cancer center just before I began chemo. Their concerns were very basic: to encourage me to drink large quantities of water, and to keep my calorie and protein intake very high (over 2200 calories and 90 grams of protein, daily). That was it. No suggestions about what to eat, or what to avoid; no suggestions about dietary resources to investigate.
Chemo knocked me out more than I expected, but it was at that point that I decided there was probably more going on that I needed to know. But then another quandary became evident: who should I trust? There seemed to be no end of information, once I started to look; unfortunately, not only were there plenty of ideas, they were also often dramatically incompatible. I was conscientious about wanting to support the efficacy of my chemo regime, and so I did ask my oncology team to clear any supplements I thought about taking. Unfortunately, they were not any more likely to come up with a definitive answer, and so for the most part I passed on any supplements, as well as on anti-oxidants, for the six months I was on chemo.
When I started chemo my primary source of nutrition information was my osteopath. I think the manipulations that she provided were helpful, especially for dealing with the chemo effects, and I also appreciate her interest in checking out my Vitamin D levels—which were originally 12, well below the normal range. But, in retrospect, her counsel to maintain a fair amount of animal products in my diet was probably not a good course of action for me to have followed. I am sure I pursued it because it was relatively easy, more or less in keeping with my previous habits, and I also wanted to have someone tell me something, anything, more focused about diet. She was also the first one to say anything whatsoever to me about limiting my sugar intake. I haven’t added any refined white sugar to anything I’ve consumed since early spring. On the other hand, until much more recently I did not limit my intake of hidden sugars, namely those in processed foods, let alone pay attention to the naturally-occurring sugars in complex carbohydrates and dairy products, especially.
As I have mentioned several times on this forum already, I was horrified by the results of my 8/30 CT scan, showing disease progression despite the heavy-duty chemo. That news prompted me to take an entirely new, far more aggressive approach to all of my treatment and recovery decisions. After a couple of weeks of disarray, I began seeing an Ayurvedic healer, who I believe has been very helpful both with dietary support and emotional encouragement. Now I’m on a vegan diet, with the blessing of my oncologist (who has basically said now that you’re not on chemo or radiation, merely hormones, you might as give it all a whirl to see what helps). I feel well; my husband says I appear to have more energy. The hormone I’m taking is also used as an appetite stimulant and often has that (sometimes unwanted) effect for anyone who takes it. So far, I don’t see much indication of that, though I will admit to an ongoing, low-level craving for eggs. Eggs! Who would have thunk it! They’re so easy and convenient, and relatively nutritious—especially since one of my closest friends is raising chickens who produce more than enough eggs to go around….
Now that I’ve started looking more closely, of course, there is no end to the dietary advice to people with cancer. I still don’t see much in the way of consensus, especially in the treatment arena. I honestly don’t know what I am going to do after I take part in the raw food detox in about 10 days. If my CT results on 12/1 show good news, then I will keep doing what I’ve been doing. If not, then who knows? Maybe I’ll go all the way with the raw foods. Maybe I’ll try a more alkaline diet.
What do you think about all of this fuss over what we eat when we’re dealing with cancer? Is it a legitimate area of research and inquiry, or is all of this (especially books on the subject, but also practitioners) merely another way to take advantage of desperate people? How have you changed your diet, if at all, since your diagnosis? What have you found works for you?
Let me encourage us all, once again, to write in the spirit of common inquiry. This topic is definitely one of the more controversial ones in cancer treatment, I've discovered, and it's easy to become very invested in one's own approach. I'm posting this out of curiosity, not to advocate for any particular dietary regime, and I hope that we'll all learn something from the dialogue below.
By the way, it looks like I do have a commitment for someone else to post a diary on Monday, 11/14, when I will be doing the raw food detox. But I’m still looking for someone to post the following Monday, 11/21, when I will just be returning home from my step-son’s wedding out of state. Any takers? Please send me a Kos message if so.