Thackston's One-Year Anniversary of Diagnosis
- FOX anchor Lindy Thackston, 39, was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in May 2020; she recently finished her chemotherapy treatment.
- In a new episode of her podcast, “Life with Lindy,” Thackston calls the anniversary of her diagnosis “surreal,” and talks about her bodily changes from treatment.
- Thackston shares that her husband was by her side for treatment; having a supportive spouse can make a positive impact through a cancer battle.
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Lindy’s Colorectal Cancer Journey
Thackston was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in May 2020 and recently finished her chemotherapy treatment. She had 10 rounds of chemotherapy.
On her podcast, she reflected on her treatment process, saying she lost 40 pounds while in the hospital. “After my tumor removal surgery in August,” says Thackston, “I could start getting more foods back into my diet.” Thackston shares that she began leaning on a heavily plant-based diet post-treatment.
While battling cancer, diet and exercise do matter, experts tell us. “I think that in terms of cancer, oftentimes patients feel that they don’t have any control over any part of their life. And that’s not true,” says Dr. Sairah Ahmed, an oncologist/hematologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“Diet, exercise, and stress control are extremely important when going through both cancer therapy, as well as once you’re done treating your cancer and trying to get back to the rest of your life,” says Dr. Ahmed. “Often I will tell patients there is not any one diet that has better potential to keep their cancer away. I’m asked about Keto diets, alkaline diets, no sugar diets.”
“There is no data that shows that any of those help to treat cancer any better,” she continues. “But the one thing that does help treat cancer is you don’t want to lose weight during chemotherapy. You want to have a moderate diet where you’re including lots of fruits and vegetables, but you’re still eating fat and protein.”
What to Know About Diet and Exercise if You Have Cancer
Having a Supportive Partner Through Cancer
For Thackston, having her husband at her side who she jokes didn’t feel like the past year flew by likely made a huge difference while she was battling cancer. Having a supportive spouse, partner, or community of loved ones while fighting cancer can make the difficult time feel easier to bear. Reach out to your support system after your diagnosis to find strength from loved ones as you move through your treatment path.
Actress and melanoma survivor Jill Kargman believes that a cancer diagnosis can be a litmus test for the strength of a relationship. In an earlier interview, she says, “I think cancer is a great way to find out if you’re with the love of your life or a shithead. I think it presses the fast forward button on getting to the bottom of that answer,” she says, “because a lot of people in middle age are kind of at a crossroads, waiting for their kids to fly the coop.”
“And I think if you’re with someone who is not supportive and kind of emotionally checked out or doesn’t tell you you’re still beautiful with that, this might not be your person,” says Kargman.
Jill Kargman on Relationships and Cancer
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