Hi Jvv, I was visited by the same beast, my operation was in July and I now sport a new slimline figure having lost some of my feminine assets. I was reluctant to spell it out as it always has a shock factor and I don't want people to feel sorry for me. As I had nodes involved it will always be a risk factor for me which is lowered by diet and exercise.
I'm always perplexeded by those on cancer forums who refuse to improve their diet or exercise after treatment. But those who work and exercise through chemo amaze me. I needed the time to get over the shock before thinking of anything else.
I do hope you keep up the enthusiasm, it's good to see.
Sheila

Sounds like excellent effort, Sheila! You'll get all 20 soon, then.

Jvv, I didn't know about your cancer, but I know exercise is supposed to help with prevention. So glad you are doing all that.

I spend my exercise time on the forum sometimes.... need to budget my time!

Kescah, I finally got all 20 balloons yesterday at last. I also jumped though the red bridge recently. Maybe I can discover something new to report, these discoveries help keep me motivated.
A combination of exercise and a fruit and vegetable based diet has been shown to improve survival rates by as much as 50% in early stage breast cancer, but I don't know what it is for other cancers. It does have to be 3 to 5 hours a week of moderate exercise in addition to any heavy household work. Those sound like good odds to me.

Somehow I had missed your post about the beast, but I thought that was the problem from things you'd said before. I'm glad both of you are fighting with good self care. I have some risk, but have managed to stay free from that monster thus far. I know my new diet is supposed to be really important for me to prevent cancer. I have had some concern that my ear problem is actually that, but was comforted by my last consult in which they said they think it is eczema. And I think from now on I will care for myself as if I were in your situations to keep from getting there.

My diet is basically the diet for my blood type. I don't know if you've heard of the book Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter d' Adamo, but if you eat for your blood type it is supposed to be curative and preventative, as well as help you to weigh what you should. If you don't know your blood type, you can get an inexpensive kit from his website, which is http://dadamo.com. You might want to read about it, at least.