Exercise and well being during chemo and radiation

Oh Linda! Yes! The Japanese Garden in the Fall! I just might be ready! The house is supposed to close this week so in a couple of months I'll be ready for a little vaca!

great article KSusan. I have found via personal (and therefore anecdotal) experience that this is true. It's all part of "acting as if" for me. Reminds me of that old joke about acting. "You should be on stage. There's one leaving in 20 minutes."

Now. Here's to you, Miss Frau Doktor So Tight Lipped About Your Birthday: I think it's TODAY!

I think I will smile and act "as if" it IS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FEARLESS LEADER !!!!!!!!

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I was lazy this morning, but made up for it with a 5.5 mile walk this afternoon at a 16 minute pace. I am adapting to this thing on my foot well these days.

Before I go out and fail today, I have made a decision to make today a light day or possible rest day. Issues with the bank regarding settlement have kept me tied to my email all day so far. And I feel very sore after yesterday. Don't need an injury or another meltdown. Telling myself this is not a race. It's an effort to make long term sustainable changes.

Sure wish I had that bathtub. An Epsom soak would be most welcome right now

Took it outside today. Walked around the lake (in 90 degree weather) - about 4 miles.

24.6 mile ride, 1560 feet of climbing. And got a 5th overall women on one segment. It was a short one, but I will take it. Feeling like I am getting back to the old me!

Hi all! Lots of March Chemo ladies here!

I'm here to battle depression, weight gain, and loss of muscle. I walked this morning for about 25 minutes in our hilly neighborhood. I used to be able to cover miles of up and down terrain but I'm happy I at least got out there today. If it cools down enough I'll get out for an evening walk, as well, even if it is short.

Tomorrow I am being evaluated for a cancer rehab program and I am hoping they can help me develop a plan for getting myself sorted out. Feeling pretty addled and need some help before I try to tackle going back to work.

Amy, every day I get up and tell myself most women never recur and go on to lead normal lives. It keeps me sane.

You will get back there, baby steps at first. The journey is different for each of us. If the hills are demoralizing, find a flat area. Me have a 3.6 mile flat walk I used for my worst days.

Hugs to you!

Theresa, do you find that you are in a place where you are forgetting the gorey details of the past 6-9 months and moving ahead with your post-BC life? From dx to conclusion of treatments is all consuming. It will be wierd to get back to life as I knew it, but then will it be different a/k/a the past 6-9 months. For me, I'm into this for another 3 months or so with rads.

Glad you're doing so well, but then, I never expected anything less for you!!!

Sue, yes I am. I posted somewhere (who knows where lol) that it was like labor and having a baby. The pain all goes away, and now I remember surgery and chemo as just mild pain and a slight case of the flu. But I know it was way worse than that, but I just remember things that way now, thank God or somebody!

I have been playing with grandkids, hiking, bike riding, walking, beach, working, doing all I can to be active. I literally fall in bed at night telling myself bed feels so good. I am not focusing at all on recurrence or metastasis, I am focusing on losing weight and getting back on track with normal life events. Deep inside me, I think I will be just fine. But I am stubborn. I have had several points in my life where people tried to take me down, but I resist and my stubborn head won't let anything get to me. It is just how I have always been. There is a part of me nobody and no disease can ever take away.

I worry once in awhile about the fact that I couldn't do radiation, but it is what it is. And like I said, I focus on the fact that most women do just fine and go on to have normal lives.

As long as I wake up in the morning, for me, it is a great day!

Sue, thanks for your kind words, you touched my heart. The women here have been my touchstone through this whole process. Anytime something has happened and I go uhoh, somebody posts that it happened to them too. This site really helps with the questions I didn't want to ask anybody. and we have had lots of good laughs along the way, hello, anal waxing? And posting about pooping ourselves? And voicing our fears? And picking each of us up when we have needed it? And kitties, and dogs? And getting fat. I hope one day we all do get to meet somewhere like Katy is trying to set up for March, because it would be amazing. I am sure we will all be laughing and crying the whole time. I feel so fortunate to have all my new friends that I have found here. Nobody gets it like we do.

Worked out in air conditioned comfort this evening. It's too hot to inflict anything more on my radiated skin. Enough of the heat already. 40 minutes on the bike plus free weights and LE stretches (preventive).

Hopeful- excellent workout- glad you have somewhere with A/C to work out. Lifting weights too?

I ended up completely resting today. Was feeling a little discomfort in my Achilles'. I have to keep reminding myself what jelly my muscles, tendons, etc turned into over the last months of complete inactivity. I didn't feel guilty for resting. That's areal breakthrough for whackadoodle me!

Amy, I not only make a point to exercise each day, but I make sure to do Jumble, Sudoku, and such from teh newspaper. I do think challenging your brain with things like that does help a bit with the chemo brain.

Update on my walk: today, for the first time, I put on my hiking boots for the walk (I live about 1.5 hours drive from the Sierra Nevada and in summer do a lot of hiking)...and did a full mile, in half an hour, which is only four minutes slower than my (normal) slow pace!! Yay For Me!

I need to keep this up...got on the scale yesterday and I've gained five pounds since my Lx surgery two weeks ago. I blame it on inactivity, but I am sure it is mostly the comfort foods I've been eating..You know, as in ice cream (my personal favorite) and chocolate....... :-)

Hope everyone has a good day!

Octogirl