Please skip this if you're sick of the cancer topic. But some of you
might care to know.

I looked up a couple of reputable books on breast cancer after my
diagnosis, one written by a top doctor at UCLA, one more "popular" and
written by a survivor.

On the topic of what to eat, they generally said eat a wide variety of
foods. But both of them made statements that went approximately like
this "since eating large amounts of animal fats may increase your risk
for cancer, you should eat a low fat diet and avoid red meat." I find
this a large jump in logic. Why can't you eat red meat in small
quantities? And olive oil is good for breast cancer.

On the topic of wine, a similar statement was made "Since drinking 6-9
glasses of wine per week is a risk factor for breast cancer, you should
only drink a glass of wine at Thanksgiving or New Year's holidays."

the wine - If 6-9 glasses a week is risky, where is the data that
two glasses a year is the only safe choice?

I asked my surgeon, the head of the breast center at UC San Francisco,
one of the top centers in the country. She said that 3 to 5 glasses of
wine a week would put me below the area of risk. She also said that you
eat what's good for you, lots of vegetables and fruit, a wide variety
of foods, and enjoy your life.

Since I don't normally drink 5 glasses of wine average per month, I am
going to continue as I was pre-cancer. No wine when I've been using
pain or anti-nausea meds (or when I'm nauseated, duh). Have a glass or
two with a meal when the mood strikes, which is usually less than once
a week, sometimes more like once a month. And as the surgeon said, if I
drink three glasses during the course of a long and delicious meal, I
know to lay off for the rest of the week.

Moderation in all things. I like this surgeon. (She dresses great, too,
and sings Puccini to her patients while the anesthesiologist puts us
under)

Leila