To all you experts and oldies,

Before my Tx I never had a problem adding weight even riding my bike 100 miles a week. I always watched what I ate but I could just gain pounds by looking at a cheeseburger.

I am now almost 8 months post Tx and I am still 10 pounds light of my pre Tx weight and I just can't seem to gain any weight. I eat 3 meals a day when I only use to eat 2; I eat anything and everything without regard to fat calories; I eat desserts after dinner whereas I never ate sweets before and I can't seem to get back to my pre Tx weight!!

I know some of you are thinking "is he crazy, I wish I could eat and eat and not gain weight" but I am too thin and I wonder if something is not right or is this common?

Anyway can anybody help explain this to me?

David,

I can't explain it either, but I'm in the same place as you. I used to only eat one meal a day and hardly ever snacked and could gain weight easily. I'm about 10 pounds down from my pre weight, I eat 3 meals a day now and snack on just about everything and haven't gained any weight for a while now. I do eat healthier now than I used to.

As always you are blazing the path for me on after treatment issues.

Tim

P.S. Great job on the article. Your a good man and are doing a lot for the cause.

I can't explain it, but you're not alone.

At almost 7 months post treatment, Mike is still staying within 5 lbs of his end of TX, lowest weight. He could use another 8-10 lbs.
Like you, he used to eat 2 meals a day, now it's 3 meals and desserts and snacks. Plus 3 cans of the Carnation formula he drinks too!

It looks to me like what is missing is the muscle mass he had previously. The muscles are still there and strong, but not as bulky or thick as they were.

Mabey, because you are both feeling well and back doing the things you did before, it is easy to forget that your body is still healing?

Ginny

Hi Tim!

You got in before I saw your post. Do you feel good and do people say you look good?

I think Mike looks good. Seeing David on the news, he looks good, although I never saw what he looked like before. He certainly does not look like he is 58 years old! He looks more like 48!

I hope you are doing well, it is nice to see you again!

Ginny

Ginny,

Most folks say I look healthier now. I had an unhealthy lifestyle before. I smoked almost 2pks a day and hardly ever ate and probably drank a little too much.

Except for the residuals from my Tx I feel pretty good. I just need to get in the gym and start working out again. A friend said to me the other day that I should quit being lazy cause I HAD cancer. I think he's right, I should be more active.

Good to talk with you again.

Tim

I am five years out and have to watch what I eat to remain slim. However, for the first year or perhaps 18 months following the rad and chemo, I ate like a linebacker and gained not an ounce. I, of course, was delighted to have that kind of metabolism (grin). I felt great and had plenty of energy. Then it was like a switch was flipped and I began to gain weight. Now I am back to normal, where I have to be very careful about what I eat, lest I gain. My take on this is if you feel good, enjoy it while it lasts. I kind of looked on it as a small payback for the misery and did not question my good fortune.

Ginny,

David looked great before !!! Eyes of the beholder thing. LOL

Everyone around me says I look great but compared to that death look I had, I'm sure I do. I look to thin in my mirror even though I have almost the same energy as I used to. I'm not as strong as before and when I do a full day of heavy yard work I feel at the end of the day, whereas before I was ready to go back out.

I could ride a 50 mile race, average 22 mph and go swimming in the afternoon to "relax". I can't imagine I could do that now.

I used to always eat healthy, now I'm a walking commercial for heart disease. I used to drive by pizza places, hamburger joints and fried chicken places and wonder what kind of idiot frequented those places. Now I curse if the drive through line is to long.

There must be some medical reason to explain why our bodies are acting like this now and as Joanna says one day the switch will turn on again.

Brian, if your out there I know you know or you have the best reason why.

Tim, I'm always blazing your trail because remember I finished my Tx 1 month ahead of you.

I have to add my experience to this - I did not have radiation or chemo, however, 2 1/2 months before my partial glossectomy/ND I had a laparoscopic bowel resection for an unrelated problem - so combined lost about 15 pounds, although I gained a little back from 1st surgery before the second. I am still 10 pounds under what I normally weighed for the last 10 years, and also don't seem to gain although I too am not as careful as I used to be about what I eat - I am still a healthy eater but I do also tend to eat more of those things I always stayed away from before, like desserts, bread, etc. I have always been active and am a bike rider - pretty much back to my pre-surgery exercise regime... I weigh myself often thinking soon the eating more will catch up with me - I have always gained weight very easily in the past and had to be very careful - but it hasn't caught up with me yet, either. No idea why...

Brian has talked about the importance of good nutrition during and after treatment. He told how it was important to seek your calories from 1st and most important, protein, then complex carbs, vegetables, and fruits. Seeking high calories as the only goal and then getting them from unhealthy choices in place of good nutrition was unwise. He explained how this all worked from a scientific viewpoint of cellular reconstruction and the healing process.

Brian, please help! We need a refresher!

We can't have David "kick the bucket" from heart disease after all he's been through and all he has achieved for us.

Joanna makes a good point. That "switch will flip" sometime ahead, and your arteries better be ready when it happens.

Ginny

We'll have to do a search of the old posts, I remember it being long, and it probably should be put in the FAQ's section. This weekend I am at the American Academy of Oral Medicine meeting in San Diego and on a tight schedule, so I can't do it. But we can find it for sure and get it there. If anyone cares to do the search, please email me the URL. Monday I have meetings with the Paltrow family in LA related to additional PR they might do with us this year, Tuesday with the people at LED /VELscope related to a paper on detection, Wednesday I am meeting with other members of the oral cancer task force at CDC in Atlanta, and Thursday I am off to Denver as a speaker on a roundtable at the Public Health Conference with a group I am the only lightweight in. David Wong (UCLA) on Salivary Diagnostics and molecular markers, Miriam Rosen the head of the BC Cancer Agency, on the tissue fluorescence for early detection, Alice Horowitz (NIH/NIDCR) on National standards for OC screening.... and me on the changing HPV demographics of the OC population. All this is moderated by Ms. Klienman from the Public Health Service under the Surgeon General. That will take me through NEXT Saturday. Welcome to my world. If anyone wonders why I don't post as much as I used to... or am not as prompt as I used to be with my email replies to the many patient questions, here is your answer. Please look at the time codes on my postings, most are late evenings, when I am writing from my laptop in bed. No rest for the wicked!! But you know I am not complaining and wouldn