Stay Quit - Patches, Vapestix, Endo Cancer, Atrial Fibrillation, Drs Encouragement.
As the heading suggests - I need a Special Diet to fight my Endometrial Cancer ... plus Nicotine to fight it (Yes!) & I can't afford both so thank goodness for the Govt. Patches Subsidy etc .. *MY SPECIAL DIET: (1) NO CARBS except 7 slices bread Weekly - either wholemeal, soy/linseed, rye, multigrain/multi-seed & natural potato & carrot), (2) HIGH PROTEIN very LEAN (200-300g daily): Note - NO TOFU ever ... contraindicated for this particular cancer! ... either Salmon, Smoked Salmon, Prawns, Octopus/Squid & other Seafood (Fresh is best but occassional canned/drained is ok) , Chicken Breast, Pork Fillet, Premium Mince (simmered & strained), Rump Steak or Eye Fillet Steak: VEGES incl Salad 7-8 serves min. daily .. lots of fresh Cauli, Brocolli, Carrots, Onion, Chilli, Tomatoes, Capsicum, Zucchini/Squash, No Peas or Corn - Sno-peas ok, Mushrooms, Cabbage, Beans, Pumpkin, Lettuce, Avocado (1/2 daily), Cucumber; FRUIT: 2-3 serves daily ... an Orange is a must, Apple, Banana, Plum, Apricot, Peach, Strawberries, lemons etc. etc; DAIRY: whole milk is ok in Coffee, Tea etc & sometimes a small drink say 100-130 mls, Yakkult is a MUST daily, Yoghurt is a MUST daily - at least a good serve of Plain Greek Yoghurt (Farmers' Union is good) & another , say Yoplait Plain Yoghurt ... these 3 have all the different bacteria strains aka a full & inexpensive gut of all Probiotics needed, Eggs ... 2 or 4 at a time but no more than twice weekly (eg 8 medium weekly), sometimes I sneak in a little Light Sour Cream if making something really hot/spicy but mostly Greek Yoghurt is fine; Cheese - I love cheese & can't give it up so the little 100g assorted & sliced cheese packs are great - over 2 or 3 days ... swiss, gouda, edam, mature, havati etc. or equiv of cottage cheese/ricotta; DELI: I try to eat only very lean Leg Ham ... mostly everything else contains heaps of fat, chemicals, gelatine & flour; OTHER: Any fresh or dried herbs & spices are ok (just NOT pkt mixes of any kind), Water is great and limit soft drinks - even lo-cal - too much gas build-up, occassional (1-2 weekly) fresh squeezed vegetable or fruit juices including bottled; CONDIMENTS & SPREADS: Use Soy Sauce sparingly as it's a no-no, same for Tomato or BBQ Sauce - mustards/horseradish ok, vegemite, a little honey, a little peanut butter but fresh peanuts/ almonds are better, no jams etc - better to avoid although I sometimes sneak a bit; LASTLY: No sugar ... use sweeteners instead BUT I do eat lemonade iceblocks because of the sweating problem especially when it's so hot & humid, sometime sneak once a fortnight icecream, do ocassionally have a spirit or a wine - always mix with lo-cal, water or ice on hand, occassional chocolate say a small Freddo Frog, Curly-Wurly but known to have the small Toblerone once a fortnight; keep to your Basal Metabolic Rate Calorie Wise LESS 20% allowed for the Cancer slowing down your metabolism. My Metabolic Rate might be say 1,900 calories a day if I don't exercise or walk much (I'm down to 98-99 kg at present) BUT my Basal Metabolic Rate might only be 1,450 calories a day ie your Basal Rate is only what your body needs laying down, sitting breathing etc - it's important not to confuse the 2. It's from the Basal Rate that you deduct 18.5-20% of calories ... e.g. I never go over 1,160 to 1,190 calories daily ... unless of course I've had 2-3 days of 650/700-850 calories and then splurge out on 1 day of 1,300-1,500 calories!
FINALLY: All the diet hints I've gleaned from watching a video by Dr. Bernadette Tynan (on YouTube) who unfortunately died from Endometrial Cancer late December (I think) in 2017. A very tragic tale & she made this video whilst dying in the hope it would help other women. Also through my own research I've picked up other hints (via medical journals/clinical trial reports etc) plus the smoking bit has been verified by my specialist who would NEVER advocate smoking in a "pink fit" but ... yes, I'm right - in "one of only 6 circumstances is smoking not harmful but actually helpful" - or words to that effect ... and wow - disposable Vapestix (non-nicotine) is "allowable" - well, because of it in combination with the patches I'm not missing smoking at all - just as well as I need the nicotine to push back/beat down/kill off "Rosemary's Baby" ... the cancer creaton growing in my womb & trying it's hardest to spread out further into my body - not on!!! :) a Smilie icon!
Community Guru
Hi Debmet. So sorry to hear of your medical problems. You seem to be dealing with it well. Am I to understand that you are one of 6 circumstances that actually require you to medicate with nicotine? You must have been a smoker if you are also using disposable vapestix but non-nicotine, as to reduce the carcinogens and other nasty toxins in cigarettes. I am glad that you are dealing with that aspect without missing it.
Will your patches always be covered due to your illness, and if not would it not be cheaper to buy and use nicotine e-vape, which is not fully studied, but without the risks cigarettes carry. (not disposable) Special diets can be costly and you might want to try making your own yogurts. I did try making my own kimchee, also a fermented food good for gut flora.There is also a fermented drink starting with K...kumbacha? Cocoa is good for you, so i make a treat of mixing a few TBs with mashed banana and freezing for about 10 little sweet treats. I also mix the two with oatmeal for breakfast. Add a drop of mint or a bit of peanut butter for a different taste. Ways to cut expense or add a bit of zip are always good in my books. Wishing you all the best Debmet. Stay strong, think positive!
Hi Happiness, thank you for your kind words & ideas
Yes, I'm a smoker but have limited myself to about 10 a day for years - since the excise was introduced but I'd started to smoke my 2 day allowance in 1 day ... especially the last couple of weeks & for a short time in Nov when first diagnosed - yikes!
Re the "6 circumstances" - it's not me lol ... it's the type of cancer (or other medical conditions) ... there are about 6 of these cancers/conditions known to medical science, whereby smoking has a positive effect & Endometrial Cancer is one of them. I don't know what the other 5 are but I believe that the related breast & cervical cancers are not part of these - but they don't know why yet!
I'm not sure if on-going patches (past the 12 wks supply by the govt. Quit Programme) will be covered by PBS prescription subsidy but it's still cheaper to buy them in the Chemist at full price rather than buy cigarettes. So until medical science says otherwise I'll be using Nicorett patches plus this British Tobacco Disposable Vapestix for the foreseeable future!
I've often thought about making my own yoghurt and yes I'll probably be able to buy a yoghurt maker now and make my own, plus I've rented where I am nearly 9 years with a huge backyard going to waste - lucky it's a long term rental ... I'll be looking at planting my own fresh veges, some fruits and a huge herb garden from now on too.
And yes, cocoa is really good - I've been having an occassional cuppa and it helped me get over my chocolate addiction too! I'll try your cocoa banana/peanut treats (with powdered equal sachets) and experiment with some other combinations too - I just have to stay off oatmeal for a while though.
And yes, I've heard Kombucha is very good so I'll re-read up on it (there was some type of negative article last week though - but Wiki is always a good reference guide) and see about maybe making it myself as the store drinks are expensive.
Thank you so much again for your thoughts & ideas and yes, I'm staying strong and positive ... knowing the best and worst case scenarios and informing myself of the latest info/research works well for me - my background is in Financial & Management Accounting (late 70's to early/mid 90's encompassing a whole host of things) public (& some private) hospitals, mainly in Sydney plus a major Medical Research Institute & A.I.N 3/4 trained so I'm quite interested/fascinated and able to understand/research/dissect it all ... luckily I can just look at it all clinically and not too emotionally.
I'll post updates on my patch/vapestix progress together with my health status from time to time ... it was really great to hear from you too, Deb
Hi Red-67 ... and I'm sorry to hear about your brother. You haven't mentioned what type of cancer but I'm presuming it's a type affecting his lungs and smoking related - not something else. Google Search and Wiki are good starting points for knowledge and there's a lot on Youtube (videos accessed via Google Search) too.
As far as using a heavy nicotine vape being better or to save some (more) money goes, well honestly, when I look at all the paraphernalia that you have to buy to go with it it seems like a real hard-core drug addiction aka like a heroin addict LOL - plus it costs a lot, seems fiddly, it produces heavy smoke, probably a strong smell (unsure) and is technically actually barred here in Australia ... it depends though.
However this particular Disposable Vapestix (and I'm sure there must be same products in a different brand) - well, it's very inexpensive (a $9.95 for 1 which'll last me 2 wks at least and you can buy in packs of 5 for $19.95 on line legally in Australian shops), it's a simple design/feel, it doesn't produce smoke only a very light pale vapour, doesn't smell, doesn't give me a yukky taste/feel in the mouth or anything else etc, still gives me the sensation of puffing without the more harmful effects occurring ... and it's been great for my new condition of Atrial Fibrillation too - no problems, is allowed to be used in venues here ... at their discretion of course, is not frowned upon publicly or medically (I can use it if in hospital outside in the grounds/garden - especially good if there for a week or days at a time) - well, it's just a good fit for me - a real boon at the moment!
I noticed you've reached your 2 year milestone too, so Big Congratulations to you, Deb.