Alaska continued

Dear Family and Friends,

Looking out the cabin’s sliding glass door I can see ocean and fog. We’re headed to Ketchikan ~ our final stop before Vancouver. Alaskan time is four hours ahead of those used to eastern-standard time so we find ourselves up early but retiring early too.

Living with a cast on my right arm gets easier every day. Even typing is easier today than it was a few days ago.

Weight Gain and Cancer: Most often friends and acquaintances associate those of us with cancer with the mental pictures of those who are thin from cachexia (wasting with loss of weight and muscle mass) – not true for some cancer patients like myself. Some studies report that up to 40% of breast cancer patients gain weight during chemotherapy treatment. In our Coping with Cancer book we state, “If you couldn’t eat Twinkies before cancer without gaining weight…don’t think you can eat them now.”

How true that is however it isn’t just what I’m eating that contributes to weight gain - it’s the lack exercise and activity that makes a difference too. I have little energy and I don’t move as quickly as I did before treatment. I’m accustomed to waking early, jogging 30 minutes and then working a 12-hour day. I finish the evening with a load of laundry, dishes, pay the bills, etc.

The last four months I’m up later in the morning, I rarely get a good walk in and can’t seem to go beyond 8:00pm without falling asleep. I feel guilty but I don’t eat as well as I did either. I eat chips and crackers to prevent or treat the underlying nausea. I give myself a ‘reward’ and eat deserts – something I limited prior to cancer. Why? I don’t really understand it because I know that poor eating habits give way to weight gain. I hate weight gain. So why do I do it? What has happened to my self-discipline? I wish I knew the answer. I know that this time period is limited and it too shall pass.

I guess I’ll do one more lap around the ship and hope that this weight gain stops soon.

Love,

Veronica