Exercise!

Member_of_the_Club

There are a lot of threads here in the alt section about diet and supplements (and I have to confess to being somewhat skeptical, although I have been a vegetarian my entire adult life -- maybe thats why I'm skeptical?)  But there is very little about exercise, which I think is the most effective "alternative" practice we can pursue.  It decreases body fat, which in turn leads to a decrease in estrogen.  It seems to counter the negative side effects of AIs (I am a runner and so far have had no joint pain on Arimidex.  Other women who exercise regularly say it helps their joint pain as well).  And it is fabulous antidote for mental health challenges.  I ran through chemo and though I have no way to know how helpful it was for the side effects of treatment (which I tolerated fairly well), running made me feel strong and healthy when I was otherwise quite sick.

 Just a plug for everyone taking control of their health to remember to move! 

sueinfl

Member,

I am barely up to gentle jogging a few minutes at a time with my new "girls," but know how much just walking for an hour helps me. It took forever to build back up after chemo and surgery, but I am beginning to feel "normal" again. I didn't realize how badly chemo kicked my backside, but even during that I dragged myself out as long as possible. 

Exercise is the only thing that helps prevent cardiotoxicity caused by Adriamycin (besides trying to convince an onc to give it over 6 hours which they do for children).

I know that exercise is what keeps me sane. It doesn't do a heck of a lot for weight loss for me, but does keep everything a lot higher and tighter! It also is what keeps our immune system physically moving. Lymph is only moved by muscles contracting and relaxing. It has no pumping system like blood does.  When I couldn't exercise at my usual level during chemo, I went for a massage around day 10 to help move the toxins and dead cells through my system.

My two forms of exercise at this point are walking and swimming. I am working on yoga to help limber up my 55 yr old body. I will add weight training when I get through all my surgeries. 

Great plug, Member. Glad you posted!

Sue

pod1257

Member-

Thanks for reminding us. Everything you say is so true. Doc's should write this on their rx pads just as they would a medication.

I am 4 yrs out and have always been active. I find it helps me in all aspects of my life. currently I'm into taking classes, as the time goes by more quickly and for the comraiderie. Right now I'm doing Zumba, kickboxing and a general areobics class. I also do wts twice a wk. Hard to go sometimes, but alway feel great after. Luckily the place I go to is about 5 minutes from our house.

Julie

Claire_in_Seattle

Hi Member....

With you all the way on this one.  I did exercise throughout chemo, doing a minimum of my weights/crunches + at least one mile of walking on weekdays.  I cycled a minimum of 15 miles each weekend.  I scheduled my DD chemo for Mondays so I would be able to do this.  It sometimes took everything I had to keep to my routine, but did not miss one day.

Work by Michelle Holmes (Harvard) and Melinda Irwin (Yale) confirms the importance of exercising during chemo and beyond.  Observational studies show a 50% reduction in relative risk of recurrence and mortality among exercisers.  Irwin also shows a much better QOL during active treatment.  Her latest work is a study of exercisers vs non exercisers in ability to tolerate AIs.  This is because joint pain is such an issue that a large percentage of patients do not complete threapy.

Back to me: I did this as an experiment as came in super fit.  I would say that the tangible benefits were that I kept my core fitness, so did not have to rebuild beyond normal training post chemo.  I also was able to do my consulting work throughout, and avoided "chemo brain".  I needed fewer additional meds.  I kept very positive which I think was in part to the adreneline rushes I would get while cycling.  I was able to flush my body with oxygen from the exertion, so would feel normal for a period of time.  This was very important.

During Taxol, I was able to increase my activity (vs AC) and even did a cycling event.  True, it was the short course and I walked the hills of the Chilly Hilly, but I did it.  Then there was the time my friend Amanda and I got stranded and were rescued by two guys on motorcycles.

Now that I am one month out from radiation, I am preparing for the Seattle-to-Portland.  I did shorten the routes of Flying Wheels and Livestrong to 45 miles, but did those immediately following my last rad.  Rapidly coming up the energy curve so think I will be just fine for the STP.  Enjoying my buff body too.  (So is Main Squeeze )

I do have some knee pain which I think is from the Arimidex (or it could be Taxol?), but nothing that Aspercreme and ibuprofen won't help.  I did walk a couple of hills yesterday when out with friends.

Off cycling now as focusing on training this weekend. 

Going back to your initial comments, I think that exercise will be prescribed more and more as an integral part of treatment (beyond regaining range of motion).  Major cultural barrier still.  My surgeon said to me how thrilled she was that I was asking "when".  More often her experience has been to face not just the patient, but also patient's family who believe the patient "needs her rest".  Must be tons of fun when you are in that room outnumbered 8 to 1.

rreynolds1

I agree with the importance of exercise.  I do 45 mins. on my eliptical 5 days a week and feel great.  I had been a big exerciser until I was 48 years old.  Then I went through menopause and suffered from a mild depression for which I was given an anti-depressant.  I stopped exercising and 10 years later.... breast cancer.  I had gained 20 lbs. and felt sluggish.  I was also more prone to viral infections.  A month before my diagnosis, I had shingles!  So for me, exercise is a big part of my plan to stay healthy.  By the way, I no longer need an anti-depressant.

Roseann

ktym

Can't say it did much to help with the symptoms through chemo.  Either that or I shudder to think of how much worse it would have been.  But, it was the only thing that saved my sanity through this whole process.  Now I try to remember how much stronger I am compared to when I was struggling to exercise during chemo, and not think about how much I lost compared to pre breast cancer. It still is essential to me.  I love that feeling of pushing your limits and how good it feels afterwards.  DH and I do a lot of our work outs together, we always have.  DS with us when he was growing up.  I think part of the good feelings it generates is related to how much of a together feeling I get because it is part of our routine.

For those of you drawn to this, come join us over on the Motivation thread.  We're all in different stages of treatment and recuperation.  Some of us are athletes, some of us just love to work out, some of us are just trying to start making it part of our lives.  Many of us finding it a struggle at times balancing work and family and a work out.  So, we all celebrate the work outs we're doing and encourage each other when its hard to do.  It is a positive fun thread

ruthbru

And /or come over to the "Let's Post Our Daily Exercise" thread.....another fun, positive thread  with ladies of all ages, fitness levels, exercising during and/or post treatment. I think exercise is the best think we can be doing for our overall health both physically AND mentally. Keep Moving! Ruth

ktym

I'm with you Ruth.  The important thing is to keep moving.

althea

I totally agree with the importance of exercise in a healthy lifestyle.  I started walking after radiation treatments and I'm still faithfully walking nearly every day 4+ years later.  When I learned that a side effect of radiation treatment could be a heart attack, weakened ribs, or other heart difficulties, I was sitting alone in a waiting room draped in that flimsy cotton gown while the tv was showing hurricane Rita nearly the size of the whole gulf and forecasting it to come directly to my city.  No one was there to explain the waiver they expected me to sign before they'd commence treatments, and it truly floored me that I was supposed to risk getting a heart attack in order to survive cancer. 

Even mainstream doctors recommend exercise.  I think it's considered common sense that exercise and health go hand in hand.  Lots of information is easily available.  Things that tend to be discussed in this section tend to be things our doctors don't know or won't tell us about.  Nutritional medicine is often a little as 6 hours of lecture time over the entire duration of a doctor's training.  

ruthbru

There was just a big article in the paper about the importance of exercise to lower SE of treatments & also the chance of reoccurence. If someone is diagnosed and asks me for advice, I tell them they should try to keep up as normal of a schedule as possible and to really try to get in some exercise, whether they feel up to it or not. Kind of the opposite of the advice most of us were probably given and a lot better for people in the short and long run.