progress

The weight loss ticker at the right is malfunctioning, but I just had to share: I just weighed in at night at the same morning weight I had last week. And my night weight is 2 – 3 lbs heavier than my morning weight, which means that the 2 lb weight loss from last week is sticking. My goal was only 1 – 1.5 lbs per week, but it seems to be going faster than that. I’ll take it!

Eating out fail #1: Baja Fresh

I thought chain restaurants were supposed to post their calorie counts? What’s up with that? I went to Baja Fresh today and they told me to go look on their website. No iphone here, sorry. You’d think they’d have a handout, but no. So I did my best to guess at what to order, chose chicken fajitas, and after 4 bites or so was very full. The salt content burned, and it turns out that the calorie count and the sodium count were sky high. No wonder I couldn’t eat much of it.

In the end though, my daily total was under 1600 calories, which is basically all I can eat without feeling terribly stuffed. Seems to be working in my favor though. If I hadn’t just had cancer-free chest and abdomen c/ts I might be worried, but since the scans were clear, I’m just going to go with it.

For tomorrow, lunch is planned. But any and all advice about where to eat out for low calorie meals and what to order is welcome.

Btw, will not bore you all with more blogging about weight loss – have moved all posts on that subject to my new favorite site: My Daily Plate at livestrong.com. It rocks.

My daily plate

Am really thankful for the LiveStrong Foundation’s “My Daily Plate” nutrient counter: today I had 1530 calories, and 51 grams of fat. And that was a day with what I felt like was a lot of food. Was bummed that there was dairy in my chicken tandoori. And who knew that the salt content of prawns was sky high? Overall, digestion felt pretty good though. Onwards.

living the low-fat life

Trying to eat a “low-fat” diet and figure out what that means, given that I feel icky after eating fatty meals. I stopped dairy and fried foods a while ago, but clearly other foods have fat in them as well. I think that my favorite nut butters may have to go.  A full serving (2 tbs) of salad dressing seems to be too much. 

My goal for this next week is to count fat grams in my diet.  Here are the 2000 calorie diet daily values:

Nutrient	Amount for adults
Total fat	Less than 65 grams (g)
Saturated fat	Less than 20 g

I already avoid foods with trans (hydrogenated) fats.

Household lesson for tonight: Olive oil has 14 grams fat/tbs, peanut butter 16-25 grams/2 tbs.

To do: measure all oils/fats, and read labels.

uphill

It’s time to lose the 25+ lbs that packed on during radiation. Hence the weight loss ticker on the right. First step: accurate scale (done). Second step: athletic shoes.

a love letter to my liver (or, fatty liver after breast cancer treatment)

Oh liver, why so gray? The other organs bounce bright white light around the C/T screen, but you, you sit there with fat throughout, listless.  Dull and aching.  Is it because you miss your friend estradiol?  Was it the short dance with tamoxifen?

“Kidneys, heart, pancreas — all beautiful,” the radiologist said.  I want you to be beautiful too, to shine.

What would make you happier? Regenerate?  A year ago you were fighting a benign tumor, now gone.  But this, this new state of grayness, not good my friend, not good.

So here’s what I promise you: canteens of clear water.  Exercise that makes the blood sing.  Fish oils.  The lecithin I crave (those “little nuts that taste like butter”).  More of the fruits and vegies that make everything better.  Fatty foods, eschewed.  Dairy, already gone.  Sylmarin, if it will help.  Astragalus, the same.  But my dear, I have to ask – the fear-assuaging zoladex and femara, do they too have to go?

bart saga part 4

So apparently the note in the file re: family history of ovarian cancer was “either uterine or ovarian cancer”  which is why it wasn’t reported

the brca BART saga, continued

So, I contacted Myriad to actually get the criteria for the BART, and this time was told that I would need two relatives with breast cancer under age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age.  My response: Check!  Got those.

Myriad’s BRCA 5-site rearrangement panel does NOT include BART

The answer to my question a few days ago is: No.  Myriad Lab’s brca 5-site rerrangement panel does NOT include the BART (BRACAnalysis® Rearrangement Test). 

Does the BRCA 5-site rearrangement panel include BART testing?

My medical geekiness showed its colors today.  Last night, at the Young Survivors Sunday Starbucks group an amazing guest speaker mentioned the BART test for those who had tested BRCA negative.  So, I dug out my trusty notebook of lab results, flipped to the genetics section and found my Mar 2007 “Comprehensive BRACAnalysis.”  It lists the testing done as a “5-site rearrangement panel.”

Even with the technical specs, I can’t tell if this includes the BART or not.