Another study backs exercise

Ruthbru, Momine, all, this makes me happy too. I exercised all through AC/T and rads. Bikram yoga 2x a week--I did back off on that since I had been going 3-4 times a week-, walking 1/2 hour with the dog (I walk fast) 2-3 times a week, hiking after my weekly taxol. I even hiked 45" when my white count was too low to GET taxol one week (I was mad,had to work it off!). I went to the gym to weigh-lift 2 x a week as well.

My friends and family were agog, and so was my medical team. But it was the only thing that made me feel normal, since I had been on that regime before dx and I sure as heck wasn't going to let c rob me of that. I needed to somehow feel in control, like I was doing something good for myself. I had heard this claim before--exercise helps chemo work--and I also heard that it helps rads work better, but not sure where I read that.

Claire in AZ

This article and the other one that is recommended within it about eating low fat is such great news... Kinda makes me feel like I have some control and capability to assist in my treatment. And of course anything to reduce the SE of Tamoxifen --- I am down with!

That's very interesting and encouraging. I'm not on chemo (at least, not yet) but hope that my workouts are supporting my response to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy. This is certainly a great excuse to continue to carve out that time for myself!

I was told to keep exercising. May have something to do with my MO being a runner, my BS surgeon being a runner/cyclist & my RO being a cyclist. When chemo was on the table, my MO told me that it would be better to keep up my exercise & take off work if necessary. Might not work financially tho.

I've always been thin. My PCP always tells me I look like I lost weight & I always weigh about the same(plus or minus 1-2lbs). She did point out that I got cancer despite being thin, exercising & eating healthy.

I've been wanting to try and figure out the benefit of exercise in percentages. From the little I've read so far, it sounds like it would be greater than 5 additional years of hormonal therapy, for me anyway.

I think that being fit and then maintaining my core fitness during treatment made everything so much easier. I set out to prove that I could exercise every single day, and I did! By this, I mean walking a minimum of one mile along with weights/crunches. Like Claireinaz, my medical team was astonished. Even more interesting was that my study nurse was thankful for the photos I had of me on skis/bicycle to share with the study investigators. Because they were questioning the accuracy of what she was reporting.

Being at Group Health (whose CEO walks the walk and does the Seattle-to-Portland and other fitness events they sponsor), my team was thrilled that I chose to exercise.

On top of its effectiveness against breast cancer, I think that exercise is just so important as we get older. I live in a 50+ community, and let's just say that I define "active" a lot differently than most people here. I see people who have difficulty moving, and I think a lot of this is preventable if only they would actually USE the lovely trails around here.

I know that I still ask "will I look sexy in it?" when I buy clothes (such as that fitted French leather jacket I found on eBay over the weekend for a song). So fun attached to clothes shopping too. Plus, I got to do much of my own moving last year.

That said, need to get training for this summer's cycling events. Because my life just might depend upon it. - Claire

I'm trying, I'm trying! LOL.

I am Stage IV and my naturalist doctor has insisted that exercising three times a week to the point of a good sweat is imperative to keeping your lymphatic system moving and this is what filters the cancer cells. I have been doing a combat fitness and now cross fit for the last four years - 3-4 days a week faithfully. I have been NED since May 2008 and my biofeedback scans since I started the exercise have showed no cancer on a cellular level. Before this they it would pop up on my scans from time to time. I have been 4 years with no sign of it. This after liver and bones mets. I think there is a whole lot more to exercise than is given credit. Even when I was going through chemo and was so fatigued, he pushed me to walk and move as much as I could handle. I found the more i moved the more energy I had. You can only do what you can do but it is important to try.

jen