I have just signed up for an exercise programme similar to this one reported from the University of Alberta, Canada The video is worth watching because the results are impressive.
It looks as though there is a greater chance of completing chemotherapy successfully, a higher chance of complete remission, greater feeling of well being and perhaps a longer life with exercise.
Other studies have demonstrated that cancer-related fatigue is lessened by exercise and that, of course, muscles wasted by steroids can be strengthened again.
For myself I need to remedy my proximal myopathy, which the dexamethasone has produced and try to stop an hour's snoozing after lunch. The rest I will take on trust, but before I got ill, I used to attend a personal trainer every week and now i shall have one again thanks to the Oncology Center which is funding this project. It will be free for the first three months and if it seems to be working, then i shall continue to pay for it.
I forgot to say: when they measured my height I found that I had lost one and three-quarters of an inch from what I had assumed to be it. Perhaps they have been over-dosing me based on my body surface area.. I always thought that I was too short for my weight!
ReplyDeleteTerry
ReplyDeleteI ame 2 yrs into Gleevec for CML, quite successfully, and decided to combat the fatigue side effects with vigorous exercise. Not sure of cause and effect, but I am doing just fine and am stronger than I have been since college...I am 64. I have shrunk at least an inch over the years...old age and some scoliosis to blame?