Stage IV MBC Fitness
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It was my mother's birthday today, she would have been 83, my goodness. I don't feel sad anymore but usually do something for myself in the vein of celebrating her birthday. Ordered my favourite burger meal out of survey and game earnings and got cinnamon donuts for dessert. I am looking forward to it.
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Mara that sure sounds delicious, enjoy your treat! I'm sure your mom is watching over you as I believe my mom is also. I lost my mom 23 years ago to ALS she was only 63. That is a sad awful disease, so hard to watch the ones we love deteriorate before our eyes.
Well it's great that you are still getting out there and walking. Agree any type of movement no matter what pace it is helps us physically and for me mentally. I usually do a workout video on youtube in the morning then take my "mental health" walk in the afternoon. Love to put my earbuds in and forget my troubles, listen to my throwback 80's/90's music. Plus I walk my dog mid morning also, gotta keep the pup moving she is an 8 year old Lab and her hips are starting to bother her. Somedays it is more challenging due to HFS from Xeloda but I just try to push through.
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I am glad you are getting out there though I can imagine the difficulty HFS can do as well. Great job doing the workout though.
I am having issues with super sore knee out of nowhere but can find a way to step without pain. If it is nice tomorrow, may take the cane for some outdoor walking, we will see.
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mara, I am still here. I walked maybe 1/2 a mile today due to my foot pain but I managed to stand for quite a long time and chop vegetables and cook up some ramen and hard boiled eggs. Had 5 sessions of PT already and been on gabapentin about 1.5 weeks and not much has changed with my foot :-/
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Hi mara51506, please don’t think this thread is dead and you are talking to yourself. I don’t post here, but I do read to keep myself inspired. So thank you for keeping this going. Thanks to everyone else who posts as well.
I usually like to do 1-hour a day on an elliptical at least 5 days a week. This is my version of low impact walking, and I don’t get out of breath like I did when I could run. My routine doesn’t vary much, so it would seem redundant to post.
Lately, I’ve only managed 2 to 3 days a week. I’m dealing with lymphedema, Sjögren’s syndrome, and ear pain from blocked Eustacian tubes in both ears. The ear problems might be from Sjogren’s causing the inflammation. (I also have inflammation in my throat, stomach and lungs.). I know exercise is the best medicine for fatigue, but it is SO so tough to do some days.
I’m cheering for all of you (and myself) to keep working toward better health even when our bodies fail us
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I'm sorry to have said I thought the thread was dead and not accounting for regular life or physical pain or issues, I should not have done so.
Kikomoon, great job on the walking even through a sore foot. You are awesome as well.g
Cyathea, you are doing a lot for so many health issues at the same time, inspiring me to want to do more. There is a part of me wanting to get an exercise bike as well as the treadmill to keep legs stronger as well. I plan to do some Leslie Sansone walking, still working toward the 10000 steps as well. Still mulling over a gym as well for more strength and core training to counteract the balance issues I have had a long time, pre cancer in fact.
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mara51506, you are so sweet. I wish I could hug you for all you are doing.
This afternoon I attended the Sjögren Foundation conference and listened to Dr. Zoe Morris. She gave an excellent presentation on exercise, fatigue and inflammation. One thing that made sense to me, but I had never heard before is that there are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic. While chronic is obviously bad, acute inflammation is a necessary process that enables repair and cell turnover in multiple tissues. The pain we might experience with exercise is necessary for good health as long as we don't overdo it. Avoiding pain completely isn't good for us.
She emphasized that exercise IS medicine and just as we are careful with dosage for pills, we should be careful with exercise. My physical medicine doc tells me to "just do 5 minutes" on the days when I don't feel well enough to get on the elliptical.
Fatigue is a vicious cycle. Fatigue makes me more sedentary, which reduces my aerobic capacity, which puts me at high risk for cardio metabolic issues, which then makes me more fatigued. Dr. Morris said the key is to break the cycle. When I have an autoimmune flare, I listen to my body and do less but now I know how important it is to not stop entirely. Consistently moving a little is much better than not exercising at all.
Our body's response to exercise is really amazing. Dr Morris mentioned a long list that spoke to my love of science. This won't motivate everyone, but it works for me. Exercise increases cardiac output (more blood flow is good) which improves oxygen delivery to the body and brain. (Yay for oxygen!) Exercise increases blood volume and reduces blood pressure. (I don't have to take blood pressure meds anymore after losing 30 pounds.) It provides energy by increasing mitochondria, increases capillaries, insulin sensitivity and arterial growth. By reducing our heart rate, we put "less miles" on our heart muscle and improve our body's ability to fight fatigue and inflammation. We can improve our strength, endurance, muscle health, and brain function. Sometimes it is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is almost miraculous in its potential for good.
Small steps taken consistently lead to better health than running a marathon one year and being a couch potato the next. (Sorry for writing a book here.) Best wishes to all in their health journey
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Cyathea, the 5 minutes of activity resonates with me. If I really am not feeling it or have a lot to take care of, I will do quick sessions, even two or three minutes. Can still meet my step goals too.
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Cyathea love the explanation on exercise and our bodies response. I wonder if it helps in any way to slow down metastasis? You now how they preach 150 minutes a week of exercise for survival and to reduce recurrence. It just makes me wonder at times because I have exercised my entire life and here I am as I'm sure many of us are. I will never stop exercising because I have always enjoyed it and it's a great stress reliever for me. Obviously cancer has a mind of it's own.
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I am a firm believer in small bits throughout the day. I for one, do not honestly enjoy long walks anymore, I tend to get activity in the daytime with marching on the spot as that is what it feels like outside, I take short high steps as I feel like I will trip, use a cane as well when on my own too. As long as I get good movement throughout, a 2 min, 3 min or 5 min really fast walk all add up.
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Hi everyone,
This thread has slowed, but we're still finding ways to stay strong. I've had to cut way back on hiking due to hip pain unrelated to cancer. (or at least the docs think it's unrelated.) In my desperation to keep moving I'm swimming laps again. Not nearly as pretty, but it's non-weight bearing. And...I use my hiking pole as a cane...
The goal for me is to retain some muscle and try to push drugs through my system quickly. I'm hoping it somehow pushes cancer cells through without giving them time to stick in new places. Completely unscientific, but I'm ok with that.
I admire you Mara for continuing to keep moving!!
Let's hang in there. I promise to send pix of beautiful scenery instead of me splashing around
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iwrite Wow swimming is great cardio, good for you. I hope the weightlessness of the pool helps your hip. Yup, whatever you imagine is ok, push those cancer cells through! Look forward to some pretty pics, I'll have to post some too. Fall here in the east is really starting to look pretty!
Yes Mara keep on moving, you are an inspiration to all!
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Thank you for the kind words, good to see lwrite, cookie and everyone as well.
Nice night with my friend Tara. Went for a long drive through St. Thomas and Port Stanley, sunset was beautiful with the water but the hordes of wee bugs were quite terrible, we went back to the car quick. Before we left Port Stanley, we saw an older lady's car stuck in the sand. We pushed her car out of the sand and she was able to drive away. I just need to be careful as I almost fell due to the lack of traction. Felt good to help someone. Went back to St Thomas to the suspension park and got a nice photo of the leaves changing.
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Mara, that photo looks like a painting...so beautiful.
I am not doing much exercise right now. I haven't been able to do much for a while but lately the side effects have made the last couple of weeks pretty tough to even function. It has been a victory for me to make it through the work day and tend to my sick horse. I am doing some better today and hoping that I will improve and be able to do a little more again.
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Wow, gorgeous picture! Nice that you and your friend were able to help her out of the sand. Yup, always feels good to do a good deed.
cowgal, Some days are easier than others for sure. Here's hoping for an increase in better days for you and your horse.
Looking forward to my week off Xeloda starting tomorrow! Was supposed to be a rainy day here but turned out to be nice. Happy I was able to get a walk in. I put gel inserts in my sneakers and that helped me get a decent walk in. Trying to take advantage of the nice fall weather hoping it's a mild winter with little snow.
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I agree that mara is an inspiration to so many of us!
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I did my first 15 mins of walking on treadmill, did not feel like more. Slept really well last night, more than 8 hours. Going to do more marching type walking as I sort of feel like I march outside, trying to get 10000 steps. If it stops raining, I may try a walk around the block, still with cane, feel safest with that. Unsure what I want food wise but will post if interesting.
When I feel crappy, I listen to this song and it usually makes me feel better and wanting to take the day on.
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Hello to all you inspirational women!
Chiming in to let you know we've added an additional zoom meetup for people with MBC, as they others are very full:
STARTS TODAY! Tuesdays, 5:30 PM PT (8:30 PM ET)
Register Here and looking forward to seeing you later.
The 4 virtual meetups for MBC are: Mondays at 2:00 PM EST, Tuesdays at 8:30 PM EST (NEW!), and Wednesdays at 4:00 PM EST) AND for YOUNG (under 45) Thursdays at 1:00 PM EST.
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Still nice here. I am a crazy person though. The first walk to and from the pharmacy took an hour, sat around for maybe 30 mins and got a craving for the burger joint so instead of ordering on a delivery service, just went to the burger joint which is another hour there and back. Walked over 5 miles in those two walks, not fast and of course with a cane stopped for a few seconds here and there, sat on a bench as well for a moment and kept going. Pretty steady on my feet. I also put my purse in my knapsack so it would not pull me to one side and two straps on shoulders feels better than carrying the purse at the back. All in all 12721 steps for two separate trips. I was almost going to walk up to the grocery store but that would have added another 30 mins and thought I should just head home. Could not eat much lunch so got another bag and brought it home, will just add pieces of it to other meals for a couple days, no need to waste it. Guess I better drop the I'm gonna fall or bad balance, the cane helps a lot. I use when walking alone, if with Chris and Kelly, don't bother.
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Hi mara, It's a beautiful day here also, we are having a fabulous Autumn. I also got out for a nice long walk today, Feet have been behaving on my week off Madam X will restart Tuesday.
I admire your determination, you have a great attitude. Hope you enjoyed what your were able to eat of the burger. At least you will enjoy the rest over the next couple of days.
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Cookie, the rest of the burger was good. Kept black olives and scraped the buns to add my own stuff. Still walking but shorter. I found that because I walked so much in a shorter time I fell asleep the rest of the day. Shorter mats like a half hour are better.
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Mara ,Yum I would have kept the black olive too, I love all olives! I've been excising inside all week being the weather has been rainy here. I went to treatment this afternoon and the rain finally stopped when I left the office. So I was able to get a quick neighborhood walk in today. Looking forward to the sun tomorrow and a nice long walk in the afternoon. Glad your still able to get your walk in no matter long or short, it's all good!
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I am planning a walk to the grocery store this morning, need peanut butter. I have vacuumed my apartment already, got a new bissell stick vacuum. I killed my Dyson cleaning up drywall dust and even though I took it apart, cannot get the dust out. May post for free on facebook as is.
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Mara Hope you enjoyed your walk to the store. How is the Bissell stick vacuum? Stinks that you weren't able to get the dust out of the Dyson, someone may be able to fix it.
Beautiful weather here this week I have been getting long walks in everyday. Before you know it winter will be here so I'm trying to enjoy each day! Definitely need my "mental health walk" this week. Between myself and my DH with his heart issues now my dog is getting in on the action. She is an 8y/o Lab who has been healthy but now is going through testing for kidney disease. Her kidney lab values are high so we now started her on meds. I will bring her back to the Vet next week for recheck to see if it's helping, fingers crossed. Sometimes I'm just mentally drained as many of us are. Feel like I always have a fire to try to contain or put out. Oh and root canal for me tomorrow. I guess such is life......
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Cookie, in your pocket for both your dog's kidney issues and husband and may your root canal pass quickly. I do like the stick vac better than the dsyon, much lighter, don't love the cord but that is fine by me. Takes up less space than the Dyson did and was able to secure it to some cords near the kitchens with a zip tie to prevent it from falling. I do have the dyson stored under my bed as well and it can stay there for now.
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cookie, good grief! You have way too much going on!
mara, congrats on the new vacuum. My sister and I LOVE vacuums. Weird, I know. If I want to get her husband going, I just text him a photo of a vacuum I'm thinking about buying! Works every time. LOL
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I am like that with washers. I have two wash wands for bathtub bedding washing, two clip on bucket washers but those can be messy, finally got my portable washer which stays on step bench to prevent the bottom getting wet. Crazy.
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Thanks ladies for your well wishes . I survived my 1st root canal, geez 2 hours in the chair! So glad that's over, love doing fun things on my week off treatment lol.
Ha you ladies are cracking me up with your various appliance obsessions, enjoy!
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I am dealing with a depressive state, had it over the weekend and woke up depressed today. There is no real reason, just my normal amount of depression which overall I deal with it with exercise, doing that again today, not feeling like going out so am doing some indoor marching for a goal of 10000 steps in the day. At 3000 so far. I am also lifting my legs for a 10 count throughout to exercise abs and stepping side to side to exercise outer thighs as well. Each session is 1000 steps. Will also include the treadmill in these stepping sessions as well for at least a thousand steps.
The song I am starting each session with is Sia's Unstoppable, really helps a lot to get me motivated. As I go on, I do not feel as depressed. Again, there is no reason in particular, just a mood that can settle over me so I need to keep moving.
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Hey Mara, I hope your depressed feeling has lifted with music and your indoor steps. I hate when I get in a mood for no apparent reason and can't shake it. Like you I find music uplifting and it can be a mood changer. Big hugs to you.
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