Post-Transplant: Weight Loss/Gain

As discussed above, fluid retention can affect your weight post-transplant.  Your original illness can as well, of course.  I’d always had a weight problem as an adult, and before my cancer was diagnosed I had an associated problem with my thyroid that resulted in a loss of 70 pounds in about 4 months.  My thyroid began to burn out after that and swung to the opposite side (from hyper to hypothyroidism).  Within about 5 months during that time I gained 110 pounds!  Medicine was prescribed to deal with my hypothyroid condition, and thereafter my weight fluctuated pretty much with the onset or remission of my cancer.  When the lymphoma was restaging, I would lose weight, and when it was in remission I would gain it.


After I’d taken care of the fluid retention problem post-transplant, I found myself down about 70 pounds – in other words down about 30 pounds from before I was started to exhibit symptoms of my illnesses.  My goal now is to get further below that point without it being due to illness.  Common cancer symptoms are general low energy and weak legs, so weight easily affects both of these things, even if you're in remission.  Clearly weight can play a role in how good or bad you feel as you move down the road toward recovery.