Lets Post our Daily Exercise
Comments
-
Walked for an hour and a quarter tonight. What a difference a good night's sleep made. I feel human again!
0 -
Woke up to snow and DH singing "I'm dreaming of a white Halloween"
I've never seen snow in October! Worked in an hour of pilates last night. Feeling better - if the dog is up to it, we will both get out for a walk this afternoon. ruth LOL smart cat
badger Thanks but no thanks for the offer of your mail
I mostly complain about being out of touch with US news, but it's so good to not be bombarded with election news! Thoughts out to those in the northeast - go away Sandy!
0 -
We were also covered by a blanket of snow, which is mostly gone now. Lol, on your cat story, Ruth.
No formal exercise either (yet) but I did download a kettlebells training app.
Hope everyone in the northeast stays safe through Sandy!
0 -
C25K W6W1
Be safe
0 -
Lazy day - work was closed today due to Sandy, so we're hunkered down here at home. It's been raining heavily all day, and the wind picked up significantly an hour or so ago. We still have power at this point, but I'm not counting on it lasting - we've laid in supplies of food, water, batteries, and candles, so we should be able to hold out for a while if/when the power goes out. Scary stuff!
0 -
One glorious hour of personal training
0 -
Bought a Leslie Sansone walking DVD in a sales bin. A little to sedate for me, but did it all the way through (75 minutes) just to see what it was like.
Hope all our East Coast ladies are doing O.K.
0 -
Barely made it in time but did a fabulous spin class tonight, it was one of the regular girls birthday so all the songs were birthday related with the last song the Beatles "you say it's your birthday" and the birthday girl gets a cupcake with a candle and everybody sits on their bike clapping their hands and singing, just so much fun to celebrate.
Heidi be careful with those kettlebells they can be dangerous
Stay safe east coasters.0 -
I had a break in the action. Planned a ride, but too windy, so climbed up Queen Anne Hill instead and walked 3-4 miles in the sunshine. Better destination anyway, as took myself to Le Reve, the real deal in French pastry. The hazelnut frangipain/pear tart was delish! (I learned that the pastry chef has cooked all over the world, and now does as a hobby.)
Think an early night as lots to do. Got to LinkedIn today and was very easy. This has everything to do with focus. However, need to venture into new territory - a company page for the nonprofit.
And GOT PAID!!!! Yay!!!!!!! Screw this spiritual health crapola. It's financial health for me!! (Actually I think I do OK at both.)
Hoping everyone in the East comes out OK. However, storms happen, not to mention the BC earthquake that didn't make the news because of the storm. But worrying nonetheless.
Glad I had a great dinner and wine.....and wonderful dreams ahead. Wishing everyone a great warm-up to Halloween. Saw a Monster Mash video to get my brain in gear. Planning the evening at the wine bar where we will be doing some sort of appropriate board game. - Claire
0 -
0
-
Claire, what a great story. Yesterday one of my friends mother came with us to the wild animal park and at 90 she was walking faster than some in our group, her daughter made her take a walker where there is a seat and the only time she used it was when there was a steep hill, unfortunately at the top of one of the hills the wheels got stuck in a rut and the walker pitched forward I was was beside her and I managed to get underneath it before she hit the ground but she tipped backwards and she got a shock but she dusted herself off and carried on, she's a real pistol, I'm so envious of my friend to still have her Mum.
0 -
Great story, Claire!
Stuck in meetings most of Mon. but walked at lunchtime and logged 3.7 km = 2.3 miles.
0 -
Hope you ladies up north are able to get out...probably too much to ask that you have power too, but I hope you do. Whaevah I'm glad you're able to get some exercise in and Ann I'm with you on the bone pain and bad chemo days. Just got over my worst days of chemo so I'm eager to start walking again today. It's cold (ok cold to me) and windy here in the south, but I think I can handle a mile walk at lunch and then a mile walk with the dogs later this afternoon. I will just be past the two week point of getting my port this Wednesday so I'm hoping that I will be able to do my water class on Thursday. Then next week I should feel like normal and be able to do my spin/cycle classes. My arm is still tender where the port is at so I'm not sure what's up with that. There's no bruising or anything such as that but I still feel twinges of pain shoot up my arm from time to time just from moving it certain ways. Not sure if they hit a nerve in my arm or what. I keep hoping that will settle down. And it is happening less and less, but still almost two weeks out I was hoping to not feel it at all by now. If anyone else has expereinced this problem I'd appreciate knowing just so I know that I'm normal and just so I know that eventually it will go away. I would like to know that I can lift some light weights, but I'm not sure that I can yet. I guess all in due time. I've never been a patient person!!
0 -
Sonson, I think that it's normal to have some pain, but mention it to your doctor or nurse at your next appt. if it still hurts.
Love that story, Claire! The guy lives in Switzerland and looks familiar. I might have seen him rowing on the lake when I used to go rowing as therapy for my arm. Reminds me of Jack LaLanne, who died of pneumonia at 96 and was still exercising everyday.
Went to my exercise class today and will do Zumba tonight.
0 -
Hi girls-
Glad to be back on here, reading your exercise encouragement, and getting focused. I had to skim through a great deal, but I think I got generally caught up. Ruth, so sorry about your friend. It definitely hits us in the gut when we have someone close to us get stung by this horrible disease. It seems like it happens far too often.
I've had what I consider a pretty spotty exercise record since April. I am always active to some degree, but last year, I was so much better. Over the past several weeks, I've picked up the pace and as I write this, I went for a 4 mile fast walk this morning and am getting ready to go to yoga in 1/2hour. I've done this thing where I will stay on track for a few days-a four mile run or fast walk, Pilates, golf, gardening or a bike ride-and then revert back to nothing for a few days.
I think I have what I will call cumulative side effects of Arimidex. I did really well on it until about 4 months ago, when I started having the feelings of a bladder infection/irritation combined with extreme vaginal dryness, so extreme that I would bleed upon the simplest contact. When I say bleed, it's the type of bleed you get when you have a dry nose...just a few tiny spots on a tissue. Went for my annual gyno and I told her how sensitive every thing was...so what's she do? Right after the pap smear, she slaps on SILVER NITRATE on my cervix, unannounced! It hurt so much! I had explained that everything was really dry and inflammed due to the Arimidex, but I don't think she listened. After that, things went downhill. Every week I felt like I was getting a bladder infection, so I drank a ton more and started using replens. Seemed to help, expect I wasn't sleeping well. And then I made the biggest mistake I think I've made in this journey. I really started overusing my sleep meds. After several weeks (I've been on and off these things for two years), I decided to totally stop.
I have had the worst withdrawal symptoms, mainly internal tremors and shaking. They come and go during the day, but they are really frustrating at night. They aren't an outward shake, but feel like they are inside. They move around in my chest and upper abdomen. My BP and pulse are really good, and other than the shakey insides, everything else is ok, but I can't sleep. The onc talked to me over the phone, wasn't too concerned. I did change my 3 month appointment that was due at the end of this month to next week. It seems like they are slowly getting better, but it's been 10 days. Everything I have read about this type of withdrawal points to these symptoms...I just wish I would have known this was going to be an issue or I would have never taken them in the first place. Meanwhile, the vag. dryness just keeps hammering me-and I'm due for a bone density-I'm really thinking I need an arimidex holiday.
Sometimes I feel that because my cancers-high grade DCIS, but not a huge amount, and a very small low grade IDC-make my medical team complacent. Not that I don't have the right treatment, but I worry about overtreatment. I had osteopenia to begin with, and while I have worked relatively hard to stay on it, it gets a bit worse every DEXA scan. I feel like my body is so toxic right now and I can't seem to get on top of it. I do calcium in food and in supplement, Vitamin D, fish oil, b vitamins, don't drink ANY alcohol, eat pretty well, have kept my weight reasonably well...and I feel like my body is giving out on me. Sorry for the cry baby attitude tonight girls, especially those of you who have had it much worse. I SO respect everyone on here and their situations, but sometimes I just don't know what I am going to do next.
Meanwhile, I'll get my ass to yoga.
Many xs and os and those of you on the East Coast, please stay safe!
Kim
0 -
Kim - I'm so sorry that the armidex has thrown you for a loop. You may be right on target with your thought that you need an armidex holiday. I've been on letrozole for over 4 years, but in that time I've negotiated with my onc for 3 different one-month vacations from letrezole. I can honestly say that without those vacations, I'd have marched into my onc's office and said, "No more!". I did have one advantage with my onc when I wanted to discuss the vacation option - she's a b/c survivor who was on tamox for 5 years. She confessed that she also took "vacations" and would have never gotten through her 5 years without a few of those breaks, so she totally understood the QOL issues and the risk/benefit calculations that go into opting for a vacations.
Secondly, for the vaginal dryness, have you talked to your onc about an estring? I had a grade 3 tumor and I'm strongly ER+, but like you the vaginal dryness and atrophy had gotten to the point of bleeding. My onc suggested an estring. Yes, I know it's estrogen, and it's use is not well studied in b/c patients, and my onc went over all of this with me. However, the few studies that have been done suggest that upon initial use, more estrogen does go through the vaginal walls and gets into the bloodstream. But as the vaginal tissue plump up again, less and less estrogen passes into the bloodstream, and after 3 months the amount of measurable estridiol in the bloodstream is pretty much the same as before the estring was started. In the end it comes down to how much risk you're comfortable with in order to get a bit better QOL. Your onc can do tests to measure your estradiol. I've been on an estring for 3 years, and my onc has tested my estradiol levels. My last test this spring showed a 7.5 level -my onc said anything under 10 is great.
You are not being a crybaby - and you're smart enough to realize you were overdoing on the sleeping meds. We all need the occasional help - whether it be sleeping meds, alcohol, high fat foods, chocolate, hunkering down with a trashy novel, etc - to get through this. And my guess is that just about everyone one of us here has overdone something in our efforts to cope. But the real strength is in realizing it - and you've done that.
It seems your onc isn't taking your QOL issues as seriously as he or she might. I had a great onc who got me through active treatment, but once chemo was done, he totally tuned out on the QOL issues. It was like he thought that he'd done his best to save my life, and any lingering QOL issues weren't his issue. I eventually changed oncs, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. If your onc isn't taking these serious, very real QOL issues seriously, you may want to at least get a couple of second opinions to see if you can find an onc who treats the patient, not just the cancer.
Hang in there girl - we're all behind you and pulling for you!
0 -
Kim- I had the same dryness with letrozole and both my onc and GYN said to use vagifem. Initially, a little gets through the vaginal wall but then it stays and does not go into your bloodstream. It helps!
I am presently on a 10 week break from Letrozole and am enjoying feeling more like myself.
Got some walking in around Boston today.0 -
Kim, great to hear from you, even if you have been having a tough time. Totally agree with Mary that, if your onc. will not take your concerns seriously, you need to look for a new one (maybe a new gyno too!). Remember they are supposed to be working FOR you. Another option to consider (along with an arimidex holiday) is to try a different anti-hormonal, often ladies who have trouble on one, do better on another. Keep bugging them for solutions. You should not have to feel crappy!
Sonson, start slowly with any upper body exercises. First just go through the motions and then very gradually start with the lightest weights and slowly move up. Is your port in your arm itself? Mine was up by my collarbone,and yes, I felt twinges. I really hated that damn thing (but am glad that I had one....fried veins would be worse).
The snow has temporarily melted and it is still (also temporarily) light after work, so I bundled up and walked for an hour. Also did 15 mintes toning with Richard Simmons.
Talked to my N.C. sister & they survived fine with just some power outages. They are far enough inland and south of the main course. Very scary weather!
0 -
(((KIM))) Rant on! Vaginal dryness and the feeling of a UTI is awful! I finished Arimidex in August and I am still protection of my urinary system: lots of water, bathroom breaks, etc. I know how you feel as I also had/have that problem. Sorry your onc is not so proactive with you on this suffering side effect.
I've been busy but still doing my exercising. Ruth: I have a Leslie Sansone CD. As a matter of fact, that's what I did tonight. She does a mile in 12 minutes on the CD I have. Some of hers are a lot slower.
Mary and everyone else on the East Coast: Hope you are okay.
Have a good night all!
0 -
Kim, I agree on the holidays. I've taken them too and couldn't have continued on Femara without them. I've taken "pure" holidays and a one-month holiday with Arimidex, then back to Femara. This time I'm on Tamoxifen for a while.
Cheryl, thanks for the warning on kettlebells. I plan to use the lightest weight only if ever I get started. Just looking for new things to do.
I've been reading up on Charles Eugster. From an interview in the papers 2 years ago he says (my translation from German): "Endurance exercise is the foundation for everything. It preserves the elasticity of blood vessels and should never be ignored. But in old age, one has to add strength and speed strength training. Finding the proper balance between endurance and strength training is not easy. It's not just a science, it's an art."
One has to evaluate and change one's training program constantly to surprise the muscles. Every four weeks a completely new program. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he rows on the ergometer. Thursday is a rest day. Fridays he does weights and rests over the weekend. As an experiment he uses a solarium right after training to specifically increase Vitamin D levels.
As I sometimes feel like a 90-year old I thought I could use some tips from him and share with others.
0 -
Good morning-
Thank you all so much for the feedback! I'm feeling so much more positive about ultimately staying the course with the hormonal therapy-sounds like the holidays are common and necessary. I've been very diligent with Arimidex for 29 months, so I'm really looking forward to a holiday and rebooting. And the twitching finally stopped last night, thank the LORD! I went off those sleep meds in the completely wrong manner, but I'm off them and slept well last night.
I did go to yoga last night and as always, it makes me feel so much better. Today will be another brisk walk until I get my normal endurance back for a run. Will try to add some weight training in tomorrow. I need to run out and get some candy today; completely forgot Halloween was coming up.
Thanks again girls. I hope everyone has a great day. Going to go check on the news and hope the East Coast is climbing out of the wreckage...
xo
Kim
0 -
Kim.....think you are on your way now. So sorry you went through the withdrawal. However, with such a miserable time, you won't be tempted to try them again. I think you will be back running sooner than you think. For whatever it's worth, I sleep a lot better when I get plenty of exercise. (I seldom have sleep problems, but exercise means much deeper sleep.)
I think the "balance" part is great. I don't vary my exercise, but use a formula for the (extremely boring!) weights/crunches. This has served me well for years. Otherwise, I get my exercise outdoors....walking, cycling, skiing, hiking, swimming. What I do varies according to the weather, but I walk year around.
I walked three miles each of the past 2 days, and most likely 2 miles today as attending a Halloween Party at the wine bar. Wait....make that 3+ as also need to do a supermarket run for hair color and milk.
I am at an age where I see an enormous difference in people I have known a long time between those who exercise and those who don't. Not just in body composition, but in what we are able to do. I would be just fine doing hut-to-hut skiing for example (now there's something for my bucket list). They get winded shopping.
Then, I get to eat the pear-hazelnut frangipain tart, while they drink a diet coke.
I need to get to work now....have been recharging the past 2 days. Yes some work, but mostly rethinking and recharging. I need to check in with my clients back East. I need to move forward on some of the proposals I am writing. Yesterday, I bought myself the coolest Givenchy necklace as a present. It's been YEARS since I bought a piece of really nice costume jewelry, and this piece is special.
Because I have so much to celebrate! - Claire
0 -
Finally getting back to some semblance of a routine after hunkering down Monday and Tuesday. We had some minor flooding in the basement - weirdly enough the water was coming through the walls at the back of the fireplace. So we spent Monday night making small sandbags out of anything I could find - kitty litter, mortar mix left over from when we tiled our kitchen, grout mix, etc. - stuffed into old socks and small canvas tote bags. We stuffed the bags in the back of the fireplace and finally contained the water. Then we spent Tuesday ripping up the basement carpet - we must have had slow seepage for a while, as the padding and rugs had mold underneath, so it was good to get those out of the house. Didn't do much of anything else but eat! Now we need to find a contractor to figure out what we need to do about the leak.
We were lucky - we never lost power, and only a few branches down in the yard. But it was a wild event, with a couple of days of rain and some wild winds overnight. My thoughts now go to those in NJ, NY and New England who really got socked.
Half hour walk with Mikey today plus Lebeds. It was good to be able to get him out - he's got a TON of energy from not being walked for two days. The storm unnerved the 18 year old Chihuahua, Molly, who decided that the way to cope was to develop the runs. Nothing like being cooped up for two days with one dog bursting with energy, and the other dog bursting with, well, you know.
0 -
The port is actually in my arm just above my elbow so taking my arm above my head still gives me a sharp pain that I don't really like. I've read on some internet sites that I'm not suppose to lift more than 15 lbs. with this arm while I have this port in my arm although I asked the radiologist about this and he said that I could. I talked to him about Body Pump and he said that I could do that. Although I'm not sure if he truly understood what kind of class Body Pump was. I have a couple of three pound weights at home. I guess I can start with that and see how that feels before I start doing classes again. Or I could just wait for all this to be over with and this port to be out to resume doing that class. Again I'm not the most patient person.
NatsFan- loved your story...hate that you had to deal with a poopy dog for two days, but thanks for making me laugh!
0 -
I'm hearing the voices.........
C25K W6W2
Happy Halloween!
0 -
Kim- Great to hear from you! I am glad you seem to be on the other side of things.
Sonson- My port was in my chest but it was still ridiculously difficult to move in certain ways and I had alot of twinges and pain. I was very careful with the weight I lifted-5-8lbs max. You'll get back to higher weights when chemo is over.
Claire- fabulous story!
Hot yoga last night, Les Mills Combat this morning. Nothing on Monday but bringing a boat load of wood into our house before tthe storm.
0 -
25 mins on the treadmill and have to add...had Taxol#9 yesterday, counts were fine
It seems that after #8 things just got better, minus the wonky eyes, anyway i am committed to the exercise clinic and they guarantee I will be running in 6 months
so much to look forward to. Happy Halloween all.
Great story Claire *waves* to all and thanks for the shout outs
0 -
Walked and did 30 minutes of toning. Now I have been getting exercise running up and down the stairs answering the door for Trick or Treaters. It is pretty nice out for 'Halloween in North Dakota', so I may run out of candy before the night is over!
0 -
Sonson, I would not be doing 15 pound weights with a port in my arm. Go light for now.
0 -
My exercise tonight has been walking with my Leslie Sansone CD plus walking back and forth to the door for trick-or-treaters.
Happy Halloween everyone!
0
