Stage 4 Fitness 2016

I agree Pagej. I believe that Stage IV cancer, no matter where it is in the body can be managed. It is largely a mix of a person's health prior, how long they can take treatment, how cancer responds and allows a person to stay on a treatment before progression. It is largely a crapshoot. I do believe I am in a decent position since MOST of my tumour was surgically removed and after that surgery, no other neurological symptons presented. Hope this will mean WBR got rid of the tiny bit that could not be taken. Google would have us brain mets gals believe we have a poor prognosis, and some will have a shorter time before progression. Google would also have me believe that whole brain radiation will give me dementia and a lower qol. There are those who have done well, SusaninSF and others who probably do not post that often because they are living their life. Gradually working my way out of that fear place, can't stay there.

I am encouraged that for being only two weeks from finishing brain rads, I am not feeling too bad. I can go places, sleep most nights well and appetite is good. I am assuming this has a lot to do with no mets or chemo going on right now elsewhere in my body. Will see my MO to see what she wants to do. She was talking about putting me back on Herceptin or a combo Herceptin/Perjeta or simply scanning every 3 months. I prefer option one since I know how I do with Herceptin but I will hear her out. Not wanting scans only since progression does not always take long. Will also ask her when I will expect brain MRI since I know we do not have one too early.

Not much exercise yet, managed to catch a cold. I am encouraged that my cold has not knocked me back steps in my rads recovery. May do some bike tonight. My cat has kidney disease, Stage 3 so we are treating her with medication, low protein food and the occasional IV hydration. May give her another couple of years with us which is more than we could hope for. Hope this works for her and allows her to gain back the weight she lost. It is good she did not lose appetite at all, she still eats and drinks well. Fingers crossed.

Shazza, good luck on your 21k, enjoy the grapes Heidi. Thanks for your encouagement Z. Since I am in Canada, this will be my Thanksgiving so I am grateful that I feel so much better than last week, helps me believe in my recovery from the rads to get on to more normal things. I will enjoy my dinner on Sunday. Hope everyone can be well too.

Mara, sending good wishes to you and your kitty. Happy Thanksgiving.

So, you guys (my British friends think it is very funny to use this phrase when addressing a group of women), I know how important exercise is for my physical and mental health and for my ability to withstand treatment. I have a simple plan worked out: Dance class & practice, and walking, for cardiovascular fitness. Yoga classes and home exercises for strength and flexibility. But I am having more and more trouble actually doing anything other than dance class. I am exercising less than I used to. Not only am I tired, I feel like maybe the estrogen deprivation is affecting my executive function and making it harder for me to manage my time and motivation. (Come to think of it, I am doing less cooking and other homemaking tasks as well.) There is a low feeling that comes with tiredness, lack of exercise, and the messy house, but I don't think the primary problem is depression. I know that when I exercise I feel more energetic and happy. What helps you stay on track? What gets you off the couch? You would think that cancer would be motivating enough, yet here I sit.

And what the heck is a plank?

Shetland, thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes and good wishes for my Miss Kitty.

When it comes to the feeling of the house and then feeling badly because you did not move, it may not be total depression but a sort of lethargy or possible malaise that has hit. The brain knows it wants to and should move and then when it comes to the body, it can be hard to make it happen. I approach it like this, I start with 5 minutes of something. Does not matter if it is stationary bike, walking or just running an errand. If you can do it, do a 5 minute walk. Take an mp3 player too so it is not boring and you have your favourite tunes. I know you said you walk but are finding it difficult so dial back a little and start small. Once you are moving, it will be easier and some of that brain fog that comes with extended treatment will clear out. Yoga is also a good one to keep joints lubricated since I know from my own experience, menopause plus Herceptin for me will make me so stiff. I have to move so I don't walk like I have a broom jammed into my back.

When it comes to housework, if you can have someone help you out or just do the essential. Pick maybe one thing you can do instead of trying to find time on one particular day. If people live with you or you have friends, ask for help. Use a maid here and there if you can do it. My house desperately needs a mop but currently only manage keeping the bathrooms clean. My floors can wait.

For myself, once I could do some walking and stationary bike and even just running errands I started to recover a bit from the whole brain radiation. Tomorrow I plan to focus on the bike as I did pick up a cold and know this will make me feel even better.

I wonder if it's possible to do a plank properly after lat flap reconstruction. Or whether it's even advisable. Does anyone here know?

lulubee -

Plank may not be a good place to start with ab work because it is one of the harder exercises. My absolute favorite ab exercise involves lying on my back and just bending and extending one leg. You totally control the amount of effort you are using and it is very therapeutic. Bird dog is awesome.

This web page covers some of the accessible ab exercises. I am relatively hard core with my ab exercises but I still do these, a lot. Dealing with the letrozol joint issues I have, my workout is as much about moving certain joints and muscles as it is about gaining strength. I would get very good at the lighter exercises for their own sake.

when you feel like you really need a plank, do very short ones (5-10 seconds) or keep your knees on the floor. If you feel like you are working your core and not otherwise hurting you are good. if you do feel something wrong, lighten up and check your form. Have someone look at the picture and compare your form with the picture. It is hard to check your own form in plank. You should have someone check your form whether it "feels" right or not. Exercise done properly and in moderation rarely causes problem. However, we often don't do it right, particularly plank.

Planks are good for you but hard, and not super fun unless you are doing them with a group of people and can enjoy laughing at each others suffering. Planks came to mind when I thought of Mara on steroids looking forward to 10 sessions of whole brain radiation. It takes incredible strength and determination to get through a series of planks, IOW, a tiny little fraction of what Mara had to find to get through September (OMG!). It seemed like a way we could feel what she was going through, even if just for a moment, and send her some support.

I am very glad Mara is getting better, and I can go back to my easier ab routine!

>Z<

Oh Lulubee I'm sorry things are so hard. I admire your spirit. I wonder if you could find a yoga teacher who specializes in adapting poses for people with physical issues, and develop a personalized routine.

Thank you for the ideas, Zarovka, Mara, and Heidi. I will think about how to apply all these ideas. The one that helped me yesterday was the five minute thing Mara suggested. I don't think I can do a plank yet, so I got up and said, "I will do one of my dances for Mara." So I did. I hope you felt the love.

Well I did my half marathon walk yesterday. One of my group really struggled although she did finish. It did however slowed us down a bit as we wanted to finish together. The weather was perfect which was amazing as it had been so stormy leading up to it and it's misarable today. I went to yoga this morning and signed up for another half in November.

Keep on moving people. Remember how awesome we all ate

So what do you all think about a recumbent bike for my situation? I've never tried that.

Lulubee, A recumbent bike sounds like a great idea. It would have better back support and with the right shoes, would avoid friction and for the bottom of your feet. I also agree with Shazza on test driving them.

After being away for a few days I've read through the recent posts-lots happening and lots to think about.

Gracie-a puppy sounds like so much fun. Hope he is sleeping better at night. And Mara I hope your kitty is responding well to treatment.

I haven't ridden a recumbent bike, Lulubee, but my orthopedic oncologist has highly recommended them. Seems like it might be worth a try.

Your question about motivation has made me do some thinking about it, Shetland, and for me it's several different things. I think activity and fitness has helped me to keep going in general. When I don't move much, it very quickly becomes difficult to move at all. I get sluggish and stiff. I regularly try to do things that challenge my body to be stronger without injuring anything. I keep trying new things, adapting them to my capabilities-such as doing planks while leaning on the wall. As far as housecleaning goes, I don't do lots of big cleaning projects. Instead I pick away at it, doing a little everyday. The house is never super clean, but not totally embarrassing if someone drops in.

Hubby and I were going to do a bike ride yesterday but my trusty mountain bike flatted, so we did a walk. Today I rode my road bike on a 17 mile ride on a packed gravel trail. I thought of you, Z, because I nearly dumped it twice when I ran into soft spots. We've got to stay upright on these bikes!

Great job on your walk, Shazza!

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Hello everybody,

I have been away too long and just skimmed through several weeks of posts trying to catch up with all of you. Loved all of the picture! Shetland, the question about the plank cracked me up and Z's diagram cracked me up even more because that picture makes it look SO easy, when in fact it's the hardest thing in the world. (besides swimming.) I can honestly say that I haven't done a plank in years. Maybe ever, actually....so in honor of all of you I am going to start doing them. I need a variation in my routine anyway....I am still just running and hiking. We are now in California part of the year, so my husband and I are talking about getting mountain bikes. Z - very impressed with your abilities. I haven't ridden one in several years... at least not on a single track... so we'll see what happens.

Rseman - way late in responding to your marathon question, but just in case - I haven't run a full marathon since being diagnosed Stage 4, but have done a couple halfs. I find it way harder than it used to be, but I try to tell myself that perhaps it's because I am almost 50. That must have something to do with it, right? And I also stop my treatments for a month or two before the race...I definitely think it helps.

I am also thinking about the "motivation" question that someone posed. I sometimes questions my own personal reasons for trying to stay so active; I think I am trying to prove to myself and others that I am the same person I used to be. I also feel like I am trying to out-run cancer, which of course I can't, but I feel like if I keep moving, maybe it won't catch me. I just had a scan and am still NED after three years, so so far so good. However, I absolutely MUST add swimming (yuck, yuck, yuck) and yoga into my routine...... and the plank, of course!

Thinking of all of you and sending good thoughts!

XO

Andrea

Just back from our fall break in Italy. I am so sorry to read your news, lulubee. If it helps you, the recumbent bike was the only thing in the gym which did not give me pain and the only thing I used for quite some time. OK I was afraid of falling off the treadmill so I didn't even try that. The ergometer or a hand bicycle were two other possibilities but required too much effort at the time.

Congrats, Shazza on the walk and Andi on staying NED!!  Z, there is always a chance you could see NED, too. It is early days for you.

I was with you and Bionic on the bike trails. We had a family mostly downhill ride from a mountain pass where there was snow! On another day we had so much fog going uphill and saw so many dead frogs on the road. I couldn't believe one biker passed me! He greeted me in Italian coming from behind and I almost fell off my bike from the shock. I have an emountainbike and you have to be a pretty powerful biker to compete with my assisted pace. I was tempted to go into turbo mode instead of eco but I still had a long way to go up. On the nonassisted front I ran my personal best 5K at 35 minutes along Lake Garda

Hi ladies! I'd like to join you all! My kids bought me a three wheel bicycle beginning of august. I'm now doing around a hour a day slow and steady. Ends up at least 6 miles a day. I'm getting ready to tackle some nasty mets and I'm so glad I've been exercising. I feel stronger then I have in years. I ride my bike in the morning then I sleep or rest in the afternoon. I love it! I go to the store or the goodwill or the duck pond. It makes for a really nice morning. I've not lost weight really but I am down a pant size. From a comfy 22 jeans to a comfy size 20 jeans.

Andi, your comments about exercising to prove you are the same person or to outrun cancer made me pause and reflect. I think there is something like that with me. I'm not down yet! I'm not old yet! I'm fighting for my health in the face of cancer and treatment side effects. Just keep dancing, just keep dancing. As long as I am dancing, I'm ok. As Z said, it's "hard to self identify as sick after a workout".

See, I know about the benefits of exercise, and I want to do it. I just sometimes have such inertia. I'm tired physically and mentally and it's hard to get up and do anything. I have done a little better the past week. In addition to dance and yoga classes, I did a session of yoga and a session of dance on my own at home. I still need to get out and walk! And I need to do strengthening exercises. My goal is to do two fitness things every day.

It's good to read what everyone here is doing. HopeFaithCourage, what an awesome post. Riding in the morning to fun places, resting in the afternoon, feeling stronger. Go, Faith!