I was diagnosed in October 2022 with lobular, grade 2, hormone positive, HER negative in one breast.
I ended up getting a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (other breast was for preventative purposes) and treatment was hormone therapy only.
Like most who have experienced the trauma of going through bc, I do worry about getting a recurrence and wondered what everyone did to give themselves the best chance of not facing it again (apart from taking the prescribed medication ofcourse).
I would love to hear everyone else’s positive approach as I feel it’s empowering when we can do things to give us the best chance. Here is my list:
Exercise. This has been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of recurrence by almost half! It’s probably been the biggest change in me since diagnosis as exercise has become a big part of my life (it didn’t get a look in before)!
Eat healthy. I use the calorie counter app as this keeps a tab of whether I am getting my “5 a day” but I tend to average about 9 a day. I have never eaten so much veg as I do now. Not sure if there is much concrete science regarding prevention of recurrence but I know healthy diet helps combat some of the side effects from letrazole as well as helps in having general good health.
Quit alcohol. I was never a big drinker so for me it was an easy one to eliminate. There is proof that alcohol does increase risk of recurrence (but not by significant amounts).
Drink one cup of green tea every day. Not really scientific but some do believe that there are anti cancer properties in green tea and I like the taste of it so why not!
Meditate and write journal. There have been studies to suggest stress can increase risk so I try to meditate every now and then to lower my stress levels. I also keep a journal which helps in managing stress.
Is there anything not on the list that you do to give yourself a better chance? I would love to hear it
I was unlucky enough to have a recurrence. I am ER and PR positive too and Her Neg. I had a bilateral mastectomy two years ago with recon and they found 5mm of IDC and no lymph nodes involvement. No chemo as oncotype score didn’t have enough to register…and was on tamoxifen and am pre menopause. My concern was also a rogue cell.
Roll onto 2024 and I an ultrasound of same breast a few months ago and they found an enlarged node positive for IDC 1cm…so now having chemo + rads and had axillary clearance. I was still getting periods on tamoxifen so I wonder was my ER and PR suppressed enough. I wonder if my nodes were taken out or ovaries would that have helped. I can’t tell but I would recommend you speak to your oncologist and ask them if you were to take a more aggressive stance on preventing a recurrence what would they suggest and push them on it.
Other thing I would push for is more frequent Cat scans and ultrasounds.
Otherwise you are doing great in keeping healthy! Keep us posted re how you get on. Stay strong x
I joined the Generations study in 2005 after my first breast cancer diagnosis. 19 years later I had my second breast cancer diagnosis, in same breast. I think diet makes very little difference, same for exercise etc. First time I was told not to carry anything using my left arm as It would be more likely to get lymphoedema. Second diagnosis I was told exact opposite. Load bearing excercise, so now carry heavy compost all over my garden and hump it out of a big compost bag delivered by a hydraulic winch over my garden fence. For this I do countless lifts of a spade. Now my shoulders which are prone to becoming frozen hurt like hell but at least I will keep breast cancer at bay. Except I now have high blood pressure and cholesterol side effects of letrozole.
Damned if I do and damned if I don’t. My husband has just revealed he has had sex with a prostitute twice in the 10 years we’ve been married. I haven’t managed to prevent that recurrence and I very much doubt whether anything I do apart from living longer makes any difference to whether I will get a recurrence again. The rate of breast cancer diagnosis doubles every ten years it seems. When I was diagnosed in 2003, I was 48. From 41-50 the rate is 1 in 50 women, from 51-60 it is 1 in 25 women. From 61-70 it is 1 in 12 etc.
The most common causes of women’s death now are heart disease and Alzheimer’s/dementia.
Sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but I don’t know what I would most like to die of. I fear it will be boredom but with all the horrors going on in my life at the moment, I seem condemned to a living death. I am prone to exaggeration though. I ate a lot of Tesco mint choc chip icecream and finished the tub last night. Yum yum. things coud be worse.
