Hi DraigCoch,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear that you a facing a second bout of primary breast cancer. Do you know what type and stage of cancer you had first time around and is it the same as last time?

I have had 2 bouts of primary cancer too. These were diagnosed within a year of one another. That was all 14 years ago and I still lead a busy and fulfilling life and  I'm sure that you will too. I know how devastating it is to get a second diagnosis. This is an unhealthy spiral that you're in, but your main concern for now is to get through it all again. Have you got a treatment plan yet?

I gained a tremendous amount of weight when I was diagnosed too, but once my second surgery was behind me and I had stopped all of my hormone treatment in 2017, I took myself in check and joined an exercise class - nothing too strenuous. This was a class designed for those recuperating from serious medical conditions, as I wasn't fit for an ordinary exercise class at that stage. This was run by the NHS and ran for 12 weeks. After that, I was able to join an exercise class for seniors. I also took control of what I was eating and joined a "Weigh to go" class, again run by the NHS. Here I was weighed every week, had my waist measured every second week, we discussed sensible eating at home as well as eating out for an hour, then did some exercise for the last hour. All in all, I lost 5½ stone and fell so much better for my loss. I didn't diet as such, I just ate more sensible food and watched the size of my portions. 

I am sure that once you get this all behind you again, you could do something similar. Are you taking any hormone therapy at present? You'll find that you do put on weight with this too. This is why I waited until I had finished all my treatment before I "took the bull by the horns", so to speak.  

As Rumpelstiltskin said, it often helps to write things down and I hope that this brave confession has helped you. Life really is too short to worry about your weight, but try to bear in mind that it's much easier to put it on than it is to take it off. The more you can control these urges, the less hard work you'll have to do later on. 

Please keep in touch and let us know how you're getting on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx