I am 30 years old and was diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically invasive ductal carcinoma. Before my diagnosis, I didn't even know what that meant. Now I have been forced into a reality where I not only know what it means but my doctors appointments and daily thoughts are filled with other previously unfamiliar words like neoadjuvant therapy, metastases, HER2 and triple negative.

I started this blog in hopes that some of the information I share may be helpful to other young women in a similar situation. Rather than posting my day to day experiences, feelings and progress, I plan to share some of the things I have learned along the way. Being dealt this hand in life at 30 years old brings with it some unique issues and questions. Will I ever have kids? How will this affect my relationships with my husband and friends? What is my long term prognosis?

Through this site you may find that my way of dealing with things is a bit different. I want to be educated about my disease and take an active role in my treatment and recovery. I want to understand every part of my pathology report, what it means, and feel confident that my doctors are recommending the best course of action. At each stage in my journey, I have experienced challenges with finding answers to my questions and ensuring that the medical professionals treating me really understand who I am and why my way of dealing with this disease may be unlike other women. My hope is that people will be able to relate to my experiences, learn from them and find some comfort that they are not alone.

Tuesday, 15 September 2015

Sugar Feeds Cancer

When I first started chemo, it didn't occur to me that what I ate would potentially impact the effectiveness of my treatment. Dieticians are available to patients through the cancer centre so I asked to meet with one in hopes of getting some guidance on what I should be eating, what foods to avoid and healthy recipes. I even signed up for a nutrition course which unfortunately turned out to be an overview of Canada's Food Guide.

Since I was not having much luck through the hospital, I decided to do some of my own research and found several articles regarding the link between sugar and cancer. This seems to be a widely debated subject with some sources saying that sugar feeds cancer cells. Although I'm not the extremist type that is going to cut all sugar out of my diet, I really wish someone would have told me this information! One of the arguments behind this claim is that cancer cells uptake sugar at 10-12 times the rate of healthy cells.  In fact, that is the basis of PET (positive emission tomography) scans — one of the most accurate tools for detecting cancer growth. You can read more about it here: http://beatcancer.org/2014/03/5-reasons-cancer-and-sugar-are-best-friends/

Of course, there are also many articles stating that the relationship between sugar and cancer is a myth and as long as you consume sugar in moderation and maintain a healthy weight, there are no risks. I found that this was an interesting article: https://www.oncologynutrition.org/erfc/healthy-nutrition-now/sugar-and-cancer/

Regardless, I have decided to limit the amount of sugar that I eat during treatment and going forward. All of the sugary brownies and cookies that people were nice enough to make when they found out about my diagnosis have now been replaced by natural sugars found in fruits. If there is even a possibility that limiting sugar could help in my recovery, I'm willing to try it.



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