Completed scans after chemo

[Stephanie2024]

So appreciate your encouragement and feedback last time I posted!  I'm a 46-year-old Chinese American woman with no smoking history, diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer on 1/22/2024, started chemo and Tagrisso on 2/6/2024.  I completed 4 rounds of chemo and continue to take Tagrisso and just did MRI and PET scans.  Brain MRI showed the met is gone.   Other MRIs show some abnormalities in my spinal cord and bones are showing improvement.  My PET scan showed decreased but still metabolic activity (SUV) above 2.5 in two bone spots.  Primary lung mass is now below SUV of 2.  I was disappointed that there is still active cancer in my body after chemo and Tagrisso.  I'm hoping that I wouldn't need radiation.  My doctor said the scans are all good news, but it's very rare for someone in my stage to ever be cancer free.  

I re-read Radical Remission about radically changing diets, to eliminate meat, dairy, refined carbs, sugar, leaving only organic fruits, vegetables, beans, seeds, whole grain.  I didn't follow that during chemo because I needed nutrition to get through chemo.  Now I really want to get some advice on diet.  

A troublesome side effect I'm experiencing is diarrhea.  Most days it's loose stool once a day, but sometimes it's frequent diarrhea, likely caused by certain foods.  My worry is that my body isn't absorbing nutrients that I tried so hard to get down even though I don't have much of an appetite, and I would like to treat it naturally before starting to take Imodium all the time.  Would so appreciate your advice!

[Tom Galli]

Stephanie,

I feel your pain. One of my 5 lines of treatment was a combination chemotherapy using Taxol and Carboplatin with the targeted therapy drug Tarceva. Like Tagresso, Tarceva induced GI "instability". In my case, I had to run to the bathroom throughout the day on short notice. When blogging this complaint, a survivor told me to try a bowl of plain steamed rice as my first meal in the morning. My GI difficulty laughed at Immodium but respected the rice. Most days, I could eat nearly normal after my unadorned breakfast. Note, do not use parboiled rice like Uncle Ben's. For some reason, that variety does not work.

We have a section on our Forum that provides "tips and tricks" posted by community members. It is titled Lung Cancer 101 and can be found here.  

Stay the course.

Tom

 

[Karen_L]

@Stephanie2024 We were just talking about diarrhea in our local survivors group. We got very up close and personal (ahem). Don’t be afraid to go to extra long sanitary pads or Depends to keep you active in the kind of life you want to live. On my recent trip, I tossed underwear in an Austrian museum bathroom. I carry a little survival pouch with Balneol cleaner, underwear, and a sanitary pad. I don’t often need it, but when I do, it’s a life saver. 

Diet can be a flash point for many folks with cancer. The dietician at my cancer center and the doctors there teach about the Mediterranean diet. After a long history (before cancer) with seeking natural supplements and diet-based responses to illness, and now my experience with delving into peer-reviewed research on the topic, I do not subscribe to most of the cancer-related dietary advice so common on the web. I eat well to support my body’s strength, but I do not believe food is medicine. 

All too often, the food-as-medicine perspective on dietary planning is anecdotal, or developed after a naive reading of the research. For example, pomegranate juice is described as a must-use cancer-fighter by many folks in my group. The research indicates that it may well be, for prostate cancer specifically. The impact on lung cancer is not yet clear. I will add pomegranate juice to my refrigerator because its powerful antioxidant qualities will add to my body’s capacity to deal with inflammation (and it’s yummy), but I do not believe it will directly affect my cancer. And, there is a lot of research interest in functional foods, but it’s a new area with much to be developed. 

The two biggies under discussion in our group were the thought that sugar feeds cancer— it absolutely doesn’t, according to science-based information from multiple cancer research facilities. The body’s need for glucose is complex, and depriving it of sugar is a problem. I opt for fruit, and sometimes sweet treats. But no sugar is too extreme for me. (I had pie and ice cream at a dinner party last night and enjoyed every mouthful.)

The other is the keto diet. When I recently told my oncologist about our group’s discussion, specifically about the keto diet, she paused for a beat too long before she talked about the importance of balance in our eating, and the equal importance of avoiding the unnecessary stress of adopting a prescriptive or restrictive approach to eating. Also, the keto diet is dangerous for people with kidney issues, and since I have so much testing that relies on drugs that can throw off kidney function (that’s why they do a blood test for creatinine levels before CT exams), I would never see a keto diet as something I could undertake. 

I think it’s great that you are embarking on a reading journey that will help you develop a way of eating that works for you. Check your sources carefully. Be clear about your reasons (beliefs) about why you make any choices. Most important, do what works for you. 

I’ll be interested in what you find.