Take Back Control of your Health after Cancer Tries to Steal It
By Sheri Sheriff, PT, DPT
Faith Regional Health Services, Norfolk, Nebraska
As an oncology physical therapist, I understand people with cancer may feel a sense of loss of control after their diagnosis. The treatment regimen can be grueling, and the treatment side effects are anything but pleasant. It is understandable that cancer can turn one’s life upside down. It is normal to feel out of control during cancer and its treatments. The future can seem uncertain. Control of one’s life can seem like a thing of the past.
The good news is, there is a way for cancer patients to regain a sense of control of their lives and future health. I’m not saying it is always easy, but it is proven to be effective. Exercise may be an important key to the future.
So, let’s get the negative out of the way. As a physical therapist, I have heard every excuse from people that do not want to exercise. I have concluded that people do not start or keep exercising for one or more of the following reasons.
Although many excuses to avoid exercise exist, the benefits of exercising outweigh all these excuses combined. So, take control and schedule time to exercise, talk to a physical therapist to get educated, understand that it won’t always be easy, expect and plan for distractions, realize the rewards are greater than superficial appearances, and know that this is a lifestyle change, not just a one-week trial.
You can be back in control of your health and future. Regardless of where you are in your cancer journey, it is never too late to begin a commitment to a lifestyle that includes exercise. Having saved the best for last, the following are a few of the positive and powerful reasons to exercise during and after a cancer diagnosis. There are three distinct times that exercise may benefit a patient with cancer. Let’s review.
The good news is, there is a way for cancer patients to regain a sense of control of their lives and future health. I’m not saying it is always easy, but it is proven to be effective. Exercise may be an important key to the future.
So, let’s get the negative out of the way. As a physical therapist, I have heard every excuse from people that do not want to exercise. I have concluded that people do not start or keep exercising for one or more of the following reasons.
- Time: People don’t think they have time to exercise, or it takes a lot longer to see results than they expected.
- Fear: Many people have never exercised and do not know how to get started or what is safe. Others are motivated to exercise, begin with too intense of a workout, get sore the next day, and stop exercising altogether.
- Effort: Exercise can be harder than expected. Staying with a program also takes effort.
- Distractions: People do not expect a change in one’s routine or a “crisis” to emerge that prevents them from staying with the program. Once distracted, it is easy to use the distraction as an excuse to stop exercising altogether. Sometimes the distraction does call for a break from exercising, and it can be difficult to get started again.
- Rewards: After they see some improvement in their appearance or strength, people may not get the response from others that they expected. Sometimes the person exercising doesn’t get the “fix” they thought losing weight would give them.
- Maintenance: Once they hit their goal, people forget how hard it is to stay in shape. Not understanding that they’ll have to stick to some sort of exercise program for life, they slowly regress or give up completely.
Although many excuses to avoid exercise exist, the benefits of exercising outweigh all these excuses combined. So, take control and schedule time to exercise, talk to a physical therapist to get educated, understand that it won’t always be easy, expect and plan for distractions, realize the rewards are greater than superficial appearances, and know that this is a lifestyle change, not just a one-week trial.
You can be back in control of your health and future. Regardless of where you are in your cancer journey, it is never too late to begin a commitment to a lifestyle that includes exercise. Having saved the best for last, the following are a few of the positive and powerful reasons to exercise during and after a cancer diagnosis. There are three distinct times that exercise may benefit a patient with cancer. Let’s review.
- During Treatment: Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment. The idea is to put medication into the bloodstream so it gets delivered everywhere within the body. Some medical oncologists suggest that their patients exercise right before chemotherapy to increase their circulation to help distribute the medication. Exercise could be as simple as walking 5-10 minutes before the chemotherapy appointment. If one is not well enough to walk, he could merely sit in a chair and raise his heartrate by marching his legs or lifting his arms up and down several times. Once chemotherapy is complete for the day, exercise should not be performed until the following day. Talk to your medical oncologist to get his or her approval before implementing exercise prior to chemotherapy.
- In-between Treatments: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) affects at least 75% of patients with cancer. It is described as an overwhelming exhaustion that continues despite the amount of rest one achieves. Cancer-related fatigue decreases the person’s capacity for mental and physical work and therefore can negatively affect one’s ability to work, socialize and emotionally feel well. Although rest is important, the answer to CRF isn’t necessarily more sleep. What may seem counterintuitive is that exercise is the key to conquering CRF. Studies have shown that exercise can reduce fatigue levels by 40-50%, even while patients are in the midst of their active treatment regimens.(1-5) Be sure to discuss exercise with your oncologist before beginning. It is often helpful to be referred to an oncology physical therapist to help you get started.
- After Treatments are Complete: Cancer-related fatigue may persist for months after treatments are finished. Exercise may continue to assist with negating the overwhelming fatigue that lingers well beyond the completion of cancer treatments.(6)
Another way to regain control after the cancer diagnosis is to engage in lifestyle changes that reduce the risk of one’s cancer returning. A study published in February of 2017, concluded that “physical activity can reduce breast cancer mortality by about 40% and has the most powerful effect of any lifestyle factor on breast cancer outcomes.”(7)
The National Cancer Institute reports that not only has exercise been shown to reduce the risk of developing colon, breast and endometrial cancer, it is also effective at reducing the recurrence of several cancers, including breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. Breast cancer survivors who walked 3-5 hours per week at a moderate pace, reduced their risk of breast cancer recurrence and death by 40-50% compared to women who did not exercise. Colorectal cancer survivors who participated in leisure-time physical activity reduced their risk of death by 31% compared to their sedentary counterparts. For men with prostate cancer, those who performed 3 hours or more of vigorous activity per week lowered their risk of death from prostate cancer by 61%.(8)
References
|
1. Cramp F, Daniel J. Exercise for the management of cancer-related fatigue in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Apr 16: (2):CD006145.
2. Mishra SI, Scherer RW, Geigle PM, et al. Exercise intervention on health-related quality of life for cancer survivors. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;8:CD007566. 3. Mishra SI, Scherer RW, Snyder C, Geigle PM, Berlanstein DR, Topaloglu O. Exercise intervention on health-related quality of life for people with cancer during active treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;8:CD008465. 4. Mock V, Atkinson A, Barsevick AM, et al. Cancer-related fatigue. Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 2007 Nov;5(10): 1054-1078. |
5. Mock V, Frangakis C, Davidson NE, et al. Exercise manages fatigue during breast cancer treatment: a randomized controlled trial. Psychooncology. 2005;14:464-477.
6. Heim ME, v d Malsburg ML, Niklas A. Randomized controlled trial of a structured training program in breast cancer patients with tumor-related chronic fatigue. Onkologie. 2007;30:429-434. 7. Hamer J, Werner E. Lifestyle modifications for patients with breast cancer to improve prognosis and optimize overall health. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2017 Feb 21;189(7)E268-E274. 8. Physical Activity and Cancer. (2017, January 27). Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/obesity/physical-activity-fact-sheet#q6 |