Category Archives: exercise oncology

I’m Starting a Movement!

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You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. — Oprah Winfrey

I’m starting a movement! I haven’t ever started a movement, and don’t specifically know what it means to do so, but I’m going to do it anyway. This movement doesn’t have a name yet, and I’ve only gotten so far in planning as to determine that my mission is to circulate it’s core principles to as wide an audience as the oncology community can possibly reach. The idea is simple in theory, and perhaps a little more complicated in execution, but does that mean we can’t do it? Absolutely not. Will it take a substantial grassroots effort, and quite a bit of initial funding? Without a doubt. Will the long and short term benefits have a clinically significant effect on patients outcomes? Research says yes! In short, the central premise of my movement is cancer patients need access to safe, regular exercise, sometimes one on one with a trainer, as long as they have been cleared by their oncologists to do so.

Many patients like myself will be able to exercise independently, but for those who need more supervision, or are new to physical activity, it should be provided as part of cancer treatment protocols. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held their annual conference a couple of weeks ago, and my Twitter feed exploded with tweets about cancer and exercise, just like last year. This gathering is a big deal in the cancer world, and all of the major players go to present their findings, talk about hot topics in oncology, and get projections for where cancer care is headed. For the last few years the number of presentations and posters regarding exercise oncology have been a source of pride for physical therapists and exercise physiologists, exhilarated by the fact their research is making an impact, and also gathering steam in the form of how to make prescriptive exercise happen. American clinicians leave ASCO filled with inspiration and buoyed by success, but powerless to actually proceed because of the roadblock that guts so many beneficial medical treatments, who will pay, while their counterparts from places like Australia and New Zealand take a very long flight home to determine how to integrate solid new research into practice.

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Dr. Prue Cormie, Associate Professor at Australian Catholic University, Principal Research Fellow, and accredited exercise physiologist leads the Exercise Oncology Team within the Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research. She’s pretty much my hero. Please watch her mind altering TED Talk: A new contender in the fight against cancer

This is why I’m starting my movement, because other countries are successfully using exercise as a component of cancer care, and we should, too. Let me tell you my dream, and if you have any questions about why exercise should be an essential component of most cancer treatment protocols, I encourage you to read back through my old blog post, because I’ve written about this a lot. In my utopian world of  U.S. healthcare, when a patient was diagnosed with cancer part of their standard work-up would be a referral to PT or an exercise physiologist, just like going for blood work, scans, or any of the thousand other things you have to do at diagnosis. The clinician would talk to the patient about exercise and specific benefits during cancer treatment and beyond, find out what the patient is doing for exercise and determine how committed they are to their routine, assess for any preexisting debility, then if the patient is willing and shows need, enroll them in a prescriptive exercise program. Prescriptive exercise is exactly what it sounds like, physical activity that is meant to have therapeutic outcomes based on clinical exercise parameters (heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate), and designed by an exercise professional specifically for the individual. Patients who have not had a regular exercise routine in the past would learn how to workout safely and effectively while being monitored for oncological emergencies, or patients who have been physically active in the past but were now considered medically “fragile”, would be able to receive the medical benefits of exercise under the supervision of a clinical specialist. For patients who need a little less assistance, group classes would be made available. Exercise facilities would be adjacent to cancer centers, and/or infusion clinics, and would fall under the umbrella of the medical campus. I can’t imagine a better way to convey the idea to patients and their caregivers that exercise is medicine.

Imagine these patients exercising 2-3 times per week throughout the course of their treatment. Start to finish, say you had the opportunity to work with each person anywhere from 6-12 months on average, teaching people how to exercise for health, helping them to build lifelong movement habits (because exercise is a habit), educating them on movement systems that resonate with them, and on top of it all, improving their treatment outcomes and decreasing risk of recurrence. The social support mechanism of programs like this have the potential to provide incredible psychosocial benefits in addition to the physical ones, allowing patients the opportunity to interact with others undergoing a shared life event. They would find themselves surrounded by other cancer patients, enjoying the opportunity to cheer each other on, talk with others about their experience, and find a community of people facing a similarly sucky circumstance. In addition, this is treatment that is therapeutic for almost all types of cancer as opposed to just one group, so it can be applied to hundreds of thousands of patients. Some will, crudely in my opinion, ask why we can’t send these patients to Gold’s gym, because exercise is exercise, right? Of course it isn’t. 40+ years of research in cancer patients shows that exercise at certain percentages of heart rate max, VO2 peak, etc., provide the most therapeutic benefit, so the assessments and interventions need to be monitored. As well, while they are in active treatment the cancer population needs trained professionals to closely observe for oncological emergencies due to the toxic nature of every single thing happening to them.

Speaking from personal experience, exercise has provided me with the greatest value in terms of my ability to live well, tolerate additional surgeries, and recover, but we all know I have a unique skill set that provides me with the tools to exercise safely and independently, even when I’m in the trenches. From my conversations with other cancer patients I’ve learned many lack the confidence to exercise during treatment (when cleared by their onco), or weren’t aware it was actually safe to do so (also when cleared by their onco). And we all know cancer is incredibly expensive, so hiring an oncology certified trainer at this point isn’t manageable for most, but the medical benefits to healthcare savings and physical health, for both the patient and healthcare system, would warrant the costs. Please note, however, sometimes the cancer takes over, and there’s not a damn thing to be done, so this is in no way to insinuate that those who didn’t exercise would have lived if they had. That’s ridiculous, and while we’re at it, green juice probably won’t save your life either. Look at me, I exercise a lot and have had two recurrences, so I’m not talking a cure, I’m talking something to help you endure. And sometimes to help deliver the drugs more effectively, decrease inflammation, decrease peripheral neuropathy, decrease chemo-related fatigue, decrease risk of recurrence (I said sometimes), and diminish the effects of “chemobrain” (I said sometimes!).

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Pilates 10 months after my first lung surgery. Check it out! Exercise is fun!

Join my movement! Ask your doctors over and over what they will do to help provide you with physical activity. Ask your medical social worker what programs are available in your area for cancer patients. Ask so many times that it becomes important to the business office, and then maybe one day, it will become important to your insurance provider, and we will all be better off.

Yes, You Should Move During Chemo

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I’ve thought a lot about where the motivation to be physically active throughout cancer treatment comes from. At some point, and maybe multiple points, you are going to feel like absolute garbage. If you’ve had radiation, you might have burns, if you’ve had surgery, you will have incisions and bruised insides, and if you’re undergoing chemo, there are a whole hosts of side effects that could potentially arise, none of them desirous. If you’re doing any combination of the above, along with a number of treatments I have absolutely no experience with, well then, as we say in Texas, bless your sweet heart. So how, and even more importantly, why, in the midst of all this, will you find yourself motivated to move? Because movement is medicine.

Hopefully, you’ve already been practicing pre-hab, i.e., pre-rehabilitation meant to strengthen the body and improve endurance in preparation for a surgery, illness, or medical procedure that will likely require re-hab. You’re already in the habit of moving in a way you enjoy, and it makes both your brain and body feel good. But, the big but, you’ve hit the point where you don’t feel well in ways that you didn’t know you could feel bad, and you don’t want to do anything, let alone exercise! Do it anyways. Are you feeling muddled from chemo? Have you already forgotten two appointments today, and can’t remember why you’re standing in the middle of your bedroom holding a pair of shoes and socks? Chemo brain is real. Research says so. Best treatment? Physical activity, as if you didn’t already know the answer. A recent study published online on July 4, 2017 (“The effects of physical activity and fatigue on cognitive performance in breast cancer survivors.”) involving 300 breast cancer patients during active treatment, revealed that the participants who engaged in more physical activity each day than their counterparts demonstrated better performance on cognitive tasks measuring attention, memory, and multi-tasking. They also reported less fatigue. Depression and anxiety are among the most taxing side effects of cancer and its treatments, and a 2012 study directed by Dr. Karen Mustian, showed that 10-45 minutes of aerobic exercise 4-6 days per week was enough to significantly reduce not only anxiety and depression, but sleep disruption, too, which is also a common side effect of cancer treatment. As well, a more recent study by Dr. Mustian showed that a walking program and gentle resistance-band training at home reduced the chronic inflammation that’s common in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Starting to feel the effects of neuropathy? Maybe your extremities are always tingling, asleep, burning, aching, numb, or clumsy? Studies show that exercise is one of the best ways to reduce the effects of peripheral neuropathy. And, as I’ve mentioned before, most importantly of all, research also indicates that physical activity during and after infusion helps to deliver chemo drugs to the tumors when they are most readily available in your body by increasing vascular normalization. Huh? The researchers say it best, “Tumor vessels are highly disorganized with disrupted blood flow impeding drug delivery to cancer cells… We show that moderate aerobic exercise with chemotherapy caused a significantly greater decrease in tumor growth than chemotherapy alone through improved chemotherapy delivery after tumor vascular normalization.” (Tumor vessel normalization after aerobic exercise enhances chemotherapeutic efficacy). Could “greater decrease in tumor growth” possibly be so simple as taking a few short walks a week? Yes, apparently it is.

Importantly, each side effect that you are effectively able to improve increases your chances of completing your entire treatment protocol, thereby improving your overall response to treatment AND your cancer experience. Trying to have a decent cancer experience should be a thing, and movement is a huge part of that thing. Physical activity is kind of like that wonder drug that we always want, the one pill that will address multiple issues at once without creating more unwanted reactions. There are pills for neuropathy, sleep, depression, and fatigue, but I can promise you they don’t work as well as exercise. It is low cost, self-driven, simple, and one less foreign substance moving through your body. And the absolutely, positively, most fantastical finding about physical activity in cancer patients, is that it doesn’t have to be hard or vigorous to be effective! This is not an ass-kicking, no pain no gain, harder/faster/tougher mentality. At all. Consistent and moderate are the words you see over and over. This is an act of kindness for your mind and body, so treat it as such. The majority of this research has been done utilizing moderate aerobic activity, like walking, and gentle resistance band exercises, and most often given as a home exercise program to patients. The key to unlocking the treasure trove of benefits as you go through treatment is simply to stay physically active.

If you are unsure of where to begin, always discuss starting a program with your oncologist(s), and if you’ve started feeling generally funky and don’t know how to safely continue, once again, speak with your doctor, and maybe schedule a few visits with a cancer rehabilitation PT, or an exercise physiologist who has expertise in working with cancer patients. There are so many resources available! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • In the infusion clinic, at least once an hour, get up and take a couple of laps. If you feel unsteady have a friend join you, or grab a volunteer, but help your body move all those drugs through your system! Personally, I found that this helped my nausea a bit, but that might not hold true for everyone
  • Purchase a pedometer. I’ve found multiple online for less than $10. Whether you set a goal of 10,000 steps a day, or 5,000, research indicates that most cancer patients are walking far less each day than they were prior to diagnosis, so check your steps!
  • Theraband is also relatively inexpensive and can be purchased online. Buy a couple of resistance bands, and take them to the infusion clinic with you, or keep them at home. Sign up on the Thera-band Academy website for a gazillion exercises that may be done in sitting with a resistance band. This is a great way to maintain strength and flexibility.
  • Do it yourself. Put laundry in the washing machine, go to the grocery store, plant gardenias, dust your furniture. These count as physical activity, and you’ll watch yourself racking up the steps!
  • Rest as necessary, none of this is meant to wear you down further.
  • Don’t rest all the time.
  • Remember that movement is medicine.

 

 

For Those of You Who May Be Reluctant Participants…

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Exercise. All of these things are exercise. I want to say something more intelligent, but I can’t, because I keep looking at Tom Hardy walking this dog. Oh yes! Exercise, Tom Hardy is exercising. Oh mah god, this man is gorgeous. And exercising. See? Exercise is fun! Tom Hardy photo by the incomparable Greg Williams Photography

The best way to get started with a movement program is just to move, but if it were that easy, based on all the research showing how imperative it is to a healthy lifestyle, everyone would already be doing it. Current data suggests that 50-70% of cancer patients do not meet the weekly recommendations for moderate intensity aerobic exercise (like walking), and the numbers for resistance training recommendations are abysmal. Therefore, if we want to encourage cancer patients to incorporate exercise into their lives as an added measure to improve prognosis and outcomes, then it’s important to make movement part of treatment protocols, and to do that we’re going to need to change the dialogue. For many, many years, many years ago, conventional wisdom said, “rest.” The unfortunate souls with cancer needed to conserve their energy, and most physical activity was considered simply too rigorous. The treatments were more savage, survivorship less common, and survivors themselves generally less vibrant. Quality of life took a backseat to quantity. Fast forward to the 1990’s with Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France 7 consecutive times after being diagnosed and treated for metastatic testicular cancer in 1998. The treatments, while still brutal, were improving, patients were not only considered less fragile, but finishing a mini-triathlon became almost requisite in the first year after treatment, and survivorship was en vogue. The conversation turned to the extraordinary physical feats that someone could accomplish “in spite” of having a cancer diagnosis. This was excellent. It motivated people who might have been a little reluctant to get up and move to do so with enthusiasm and purpose. Today, I think it’s once again time to advance the conversation: we don’t exercise in spite of cancer, we exercise because of cancer. Instead of thinking of physical activity as simply being good for you, consider it as part of a treatment protocol initiated to increase your chances of survival and maximize outcomes. Remember, it’s science, and even the American Cancer Society and National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommend exercise as essential for people with cancer. I dream of a day when your oncologist says, “We’ll be prescribing 20 rounds of i.v. chemo, and 24 rounds of [insert movement option of choice].” Can you imagine?!? I can, and I get giddy at the thought.

It seems that the place to begin this conversation is with the word “exercise” itself. For some, the word is associated with an addictive endorphin release, for others, and that is who this post is for, not so much. I have a very dear friend who cringes every time I say the word, and respectfully begged me to use words like “movement” and “physical activity.” Because there are definitely many who share her sentiment, please note that exercise is movement, movement is exercise, and they both equate to physical activity. I read a study a number of years ago that was performed on the housekeeping staff in a hotel. During interviews, most of the housekeepers stated they did not believe they met the criteria for an active lifestyle, despite the nature of their job. Researchers took half of the participants and broke down how many calories were burned during different job related tasks performed each day, and explained to them that they actually met the surgeon general’s definition of an active lifestyle. One month later, this group saw a drop in systolic blood pressure, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio. They had been exercising all along and didn’t even know it! All it took for them to reap the rewards of their active lifestyle was the knowledge that they lived active lives. What’s the point of that story? You don’t have to slog away on a treadmill for an hour or sweat through a crossfit class to gain the benefits of physical activity. You do, however, need to move.

So, in the beginning you are told you have cancer, and it sucks. You are going  to be very, very, very busy with scans, doctors appointments, and blood draws. Once they know, they have a lot more to find out. Between medical visits and Google searches, you’ll feel as though you don’t have a moment to spare. If exercise is already part of your routine, keep at it, or get back to it. Now is not the moment to decide you don’t have time. If you haven’t been physically active, talk to your doctor about moving your body early on. Think about it this way: it will improve your treatment, and it is almost completely under your control. Take charge! Cancer treatments are brutal, so you want your muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance, and tolerance for physical stress to be good going in, and there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that patients who move more have fewer complications and side effects in both the short and long term. The difficulty with trying to begin a movement program after treatments have started is that at some point you feel lousy, and then it becomes almost impossible to even motivate yourself to get from the couch to the kitchen. Physical activity is simply a habit like everything else we do, so start in the weeks after diagnosis and before beginning treatment, and by the time you start feeling the affects of whatever it is they do, you will already be enjoying the benefits of increased activity.

Some notes on getting started:

  • Discuss movement with your doctor! They will ask on forms if you are physically active, they might suggest that you walk, but this isn’t their primary concern. Make it part of your treatment plan, if appropriate, and make that an ongoing conversation you have with your oncologist. No matter what, make sure you are safe and cleared before beginning
  • Exercise recommendations are the same for cancer patients as they are for the general population: 30 minutes 5 times a week, and strength training 2 days a week
  • Don’t be afraid to start slowly. If 30 minutes at once seems like too much, break it down into 10 minute intervals. Research demonstrates that aerobic activity throughout the day is calculated cumulatively!
  • If you are new to exercise, or have been out of the loop for a bit, look for an oncology based physical therapist in your area, or even an exercise physiologists with an oncology background. As well, many personal trainers are certified in working with cancer patients, and your oncology provider should have some recommendations
  • Do it with a friend. Few things are more enjoyable than a nice walk and talk, and it’s harder to back out if you’ve made a plan. Also, this is a great way for your loved ones to feel like they are getting to be helpful. Many cities also have group programs for cancer patients, so look for one in your area
  • Find something you enjoy! I love bollywood dance, and wouldn’t you know that there are actually bollywood dance workout videos that I can access through YouTube. What I lack in skill, I make up for in style. One of my moms good friends used to put on her favorite music, and dance around the house as she dusted her furniture and vacuumed the floors. Walk out to your mailbox, clean out your closet, two-step with a partner, take your dog around the block, or get out in your garden, because gardening is excellent movement! It doesn’t have to be hard to be good, but if you could breathe a little heavily, that might be nice…

After getting the okay from your oncologist, the only way to proceed is to simply do something. Be unconventional in your approach, try everything, and learn what feels good. The only magic pill, potion, or spell that will make you want to move more is actually moving more.

One life on this earth is all that we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can

Frederick Buechner

A Case for Exercise Throughout Cancer

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November 2015. In the studio 1 day after chemo, and looking a little nauseated. In fact, I’m quite sure I was nauseated, but moving around always lessened it a bit.

It will come as a shock to no one that I’m a huge believer that movement heals, and should be considered an integral part of almost all cancer treatment programs with rare exception. The human body is a dynamic machine whose mechanisms thrive on the power derived from the processes initiated by physical activity. Last year, the following headline validated much of what I have preached throughout my cancer experience: Exercise is the Best Cure for Fatigue Caused by Cancer. I believe my exact response was an eloquent “duh,” and from there I dove down the rabbit hole of investigating the importance of exercise before, during, and after cancer treatment. What a thrill it was to find myriad scientific articles and studies proclaiming that not only was exercise a good thing for cancer patients, but that oncology rehabilitation “must” be a component of survivorship programs.

I learned that in places like New Zealand and Australia, depending on the chemo drug administered, they will escort patients directly from the infusion clinic to physical therapy because there is evidence to show that exercise may increase blood flow to tumors at the time when the drugs are most readily available in your body. That there is irrefutable evidence that exercising during treatment reduces the severity of side effects with certain types of cancer, increases the likelihood that the full treatment regimen will be completed, and increases life expectancy by up to 28-44% after particular cancer diagnoses. On multiple occasions, I have been nonchalantly informed that because of the 29 rounds of radiation to my pelvis during the summer of 2015 and subsequent chemotherapy, I have an almost 100% chance of suffering a spontaneous hip fracture by the time I’m 75. This sounds horrifically painful. Apparently, chemotherapy may cause a woman to lose as much bone density in one year as she would in a decade. What is the best way to maintain or improve bone density? Weight bearing exercises. Many patients suffer from peripheral neuropathy, an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous side effect of chemotherapy, in their hands and feet. The condition may cause tingling or burning in the extremities, making sleep elusive, and/or loss of sensation leading to falls and fall-related injuries. One of the best ways to treat peripheral neuropathy, especially early on, are exercises that increase blood flow to the peripheral nerves to improve sensation, and activities that improve strength and mobility to decrease fall risk. Infinitely more simple than the drugs often prescribed with side effects like drowsiness and dizziness. Cancer patients don’t really need anymore of that.

To boot, exercise may also lessen nausea (woohoo!), decrease feelings of anxiety and depression, improve your ability to maintain a social life, decrease fatigue, and improve your ability to take care of your own needs. While it is always lovely and heart warming to have friends and family care for us, it’s important to your spirit and sanity to maintain a sense of independence, even if it’s just doing your own laundry and grocery shopping. Exercise is proactive, and inspires a sense of self care and personal empowerment that helped me to feel in control in a situation that often makes you feel vulnerable and helpless. And please keep in mind, that while I have written the word “exercise” roughly 1,001 times in this post, that could mean a languid walk around the block, or perhaps even the infusion clinic. It’s all relative, but as you can see, the clinical evidence for oncology rehab is screaming at us, and it’s screaming at us to move.

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January 7, 2016. I was wearing my chemo pump this day. I can see that blurry, dulled look in my eyes, but it was a beautiful winter afternoon, and those should always be given the appreciation they deserve.

To most people all this jumping up and down (haha) about movement seems like a no-brainer. Of course it makes sense, but for many, many years of cancer treatment, patients were told not to tax themselves, and everyone knows the treatments make you profoundly exhausted. Exercise becomes counterintuitive, but the less you move the less you want to move. I really, really love Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion:

Every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.

Or, bodies at rest stay at rest, bodies in motion stay in motion. If you’ve been at rest too long, you must exert a little external force to get moving again. It’s science. As well, in the midst of the insanity following a cancer diagnosis, exercise often takes a back seat to all of your appointments, treatments, and general life management. Hear me when I say that in many cases exercise is NOT a luxury, it’s treatment. Refer to clinical evidence above.

It is important to consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise program, and this is even more true for cancer patients. Certain types of bone cancers increase risk of fractures, some chemo’s are known to lower blood pressure for a few days following infusion, some people develop peripheral neuropathy that may increase risk of falls or injury, and some people might have compromised immune systems that preclude time in the gym. For these and numerous other reasons, you want to speak with your doctor and make sure you’re safe, but once that’s done, there are many advantages to implementing a program, keeping in mind that for the cancer patient the intensity and/or types of activities may change daily based on their ever changing cancer body.

In the following weeks we will look at how to get started, different types of exercise that might benefit you or your friend with cancer, and some general guidelines on movement.

As always, thank you for reading!