Stage IV MBC Fitness
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I am debating joining a reasonable priced gym that is nearby. Found out yesterday that my heat tolerance sucks the big one, was not super hot but got dizzy and lightheaded and had kind people lower me to the ground so I could just lay there.
I was able to walk well only a couple years ago but I realize that was d ueto having a treadmill. I no longer have room for an in house treadmill but could afford a gym and the ability to get there on specialized transit that picks me up at the front door and drop me off at the same place. Still weighing it all out, would probably be 2 to 3 times a week I think. I am still pondering.
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Sounds like a good idea @mara51506 ! It can be inspiring to workout with others, and an opportunity to get out.
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I love going to the gym. I go at the same time. It helps I have people I see everytime I go and that helps keep me motivated.
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Even on days when I don't feel like going to the gym, I find that if I go, I feel much better afterwards, both physically and mentally.
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@mara51506 I think the gym is a great idea. Maybe you could do some gentle yoga or something like that for balance since you've expressed concerns about that from time to time. I'm a senior citizen, so I worry about falling and do some balance work myself.
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So glad you made the reservation for 2026. Having something like that to look forward to can be incredibly helpful on the not so good days.
The retreat sounds awesome. Wish there was one on the East Coast.
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@eleanora here is one folks have talked about and loved ! It’s on the Jersey shore. I havent been, it a close friend went and loved it. ❤️
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@tougholdcrow I believe you will do it! Rooting for you!
Too much a newbie to qualify for some of these retreats but so happy I now know they are out there for the future!
This topic has been inspiring. Just recovering from Covid (!) but walked 4 miles today.Keep on keepin’ on!
xoxojuliana
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I had been in a good regular exercise routine but then I did a short stint of radiation and went back to work full time so I lost the wind in my sails with the fatigue. Finally got up and did a strength routine this morning. You all have been helping motivate me to get back to it!
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Exercise can be considered a first line treatment for breast cancer patients. https://wapo.st/47EINFQ
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@chicagoan Really interesting. this is really advocating HIIT (like Japanese interval walking)—short bursts of intensity. I can get my heart rate up in Pilates, but I'm also trying to get some bicycling in. Good motivation. Guess I'd better get out for a walk tonight!
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I believe this is true. When the miniscus tore off my knee i had to reduce my interval training due to pain. Within 5 months.my cancer had returned. I had my knee replaced. I still lift but I don't do as much interval work. Maybe it is time to change that. My guardant showed instill have a very small amount of cancer cells in my blood. I will have to rethink my workout program.
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I remember one of the members here who I think was an early-stager used to say something like she enjoyed feeling the blood coursing through her veins when exercising and visualizing the cancer cells just getting knocked around the walls of her blood vessels so hard that they died.
I’ve adopted that visualization when I get moving.
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Morning all, as hard as it is, the more fatigue the more moving helps! When I was first diagnosed my surgeon arranged for a personal oncology trainer from The Maple Tree Cancer Alliance . https://www.mapletreecanceralliance.org/ They have free downloads of excerises, and links to YouTube videos for those looking to get started moving. I also get a Monday reminder email with links and inspiration lol. Super helpful. Here’s my newest YouTube find - mobility and energy flow:
Happy Saturday ❤️
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Thank you for the video! My gym sent a note this morning to announce the Sunday 9am spin class is back….yay 🥳. Just have to wake up early enough 😝 After a short trip next week, I will force myself back into a regular schedule, as hard as it is. For my mental health as much as everything else. You gals keep me motivated. Thank you!!
Happy Sunday!!5 -
I saw an article today saying that exercise slows cancer cell growth. Went swimming yesterday, the last weekend that the outdoor pool is open. Darn! So after I saw the article today I went out and took a two mile walk. I don’t walk very fast . Need to work on that. It’s just that the neighborhood is so pretty with the fall flowers and birds. There’s a Coopers Hawk nest across the street and the babies have been flying all around. So cool to see!
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AJ One of the things I have seen is High intensity interval training is the best form. Any type if worknout is good. I do weights for bone strength but I need to do more interva training. In the past when I did it, it was 30 seconds on 30 seconds rest on the bike. Everything else was 20 or 15. Right before my mets diagnosis ininjured my knee and had to stop. I would like to get back to it but these meds really zap my energy.
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@AJ My walks are not very fast either because my dog has to smell every flower, but I'm trying to go up more hills now because that gets my heart rate up. Cooper Hawk babies!
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@AJ - Is the pool you're talking about the saltwater one? If so, it's a classic! Good for you for both the swim and the walk.
@brutersmom - Interesting about the interval training being best. Unfortunately, it's the kind I like the least. I like that gentle flow sort of stuff, like walking, and can see why those who swim like that too.
@tougholdcrow - I too walk slowly, but it's not because of a dog. In my case, I'm the one who wants to stop and smell all the flowers, observe the birds up in their trees, stop for a few seconds and look down the hill at the territorial view, etc. Like you though, I have put 2-3 relatively challenging and spaced out hills into my walk routine, so like you said, that heart rate does get up.
I can't seem to do anything just for the sake of pure exercise. I have to get something else out of it like completion of an errand (walking clothes to dry cleaners) or stopping to watch the birds, appreciate the foliage, etc. I find "pure exercise" for it's own sake grueling and boring. I am still wanting to go back to PT though, and that comes close to "pure exercise", but I think I can manage some of that, and maybe it will help.
I'm still suffering from some form of additional fatigue these past few months but don't know if they are from the drugs, a post shingles/viral syndrome, or even cancer progression at this point. The oncologist and NP told me there is no test for post viral fatigue, so it's not a solid yes or no from them about it. They do acknowledge that many people do report such a thing and that it can't be ignored, however. Two of my three scans that I got on Friday have come back and showed an essentially stable situation, so unless the third one (chest CT) that isn't in yet shows something new and different, I don't think this fatigue is from cancer progression either. I did get my fulvestrant shots last Wednesday and I tried my usual good long walk on Saturday, following the shots and a scan day Friday (with contrast and long periods of lying still on the table, etc.). That did not work out well at all, and I reached point where I really wanted a place to sit down for awhile before I made it back home (never happened before), but there wasn't one, so I trudged on and made it, but was totally wiped out and had to lie down for about an hour to recover enough strength to get up and do anything else. Consequently I stayed in yesterday, but am going to try the walking again today, but maybe do a shorter, flatter round.
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@threetree , yes it’s the 50 yard saltwater pool in West Seattle. It’s a great pool!
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@AJ - Lincoln Park? I so remember that pool from long, long ago. Had a first couple of swim lessons there when I was about 6. I thought I'd heard something many years ago though, about how they were going to have to close it down? I could be wrong, but hope it's still there. It's a real local landmark sort of thing. Glad to know people are still enjoying it. I used to just love that whole park. I lived in an apartment complex a few miles south of there in the 1950's and groups of mothers there would organize trips to the park for some of us. My mother didn't drive, and I was always a "tag along", but sure remember loving that place. Thanks for letting me know.
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@tougholdcrow - I'm wondering if those of us who walk more slowly and take some time to stop here and there aren't actually getting a bit of the interval training that @brutersmom noted. If I go up a hill and then stop for a minute or so to take in the view, isn't that an "interval" thing? If I stop to watch a flock of crows chase an eagle in the sky (as I once did), wouldn't that count as an "interval" sort of thing; or something like the Japanese walking? I'm just thinking it might be better for us than we think. (Random thoughts this morning.)
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@threetree , yes! Lincoln Park! The pool is still going strong. And I just got back from a two mile walk in the park! I go there all the time.
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What a pool! I hope to visit it someday. My hip still hurts-I have an MRI on Wednesday. For some reason, lifting weights doesn't hurt so I've been doing that a few times/week. Walking is very painful so I only do that if I need to. Waiting to see what the MRI says b/c I'm worried I might injure it more.
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@AJ - Wow, that pool's probably been redone umpteen times since I last saw it. It still doesn't really look all that different though than it did in the 50's😮. That park is so, so nice and I remember having wonderful times there as a kid. Also, there's a little row of small tudor style houses across Fauntleroy from the park and when I was a kid I used to really like them and I would look across that street and say to myself how I was going to live in one of those houses someday. Well it never happened, but I do still once in awhile enjoy that very old memory and the dream. If you've been walking around that area, it would be great! A real pleasant and scenic place to walk. You've got the ferry to watch there too. Thanks so much for the photo and the info that it's still going strong, as I do seem to remember there was talk that it might not be kept up. I haven't been by there in a many years now, but I used to drive by from time to time way into adulthood, and I've always enjoyed it; and those old childhood memories. A real treat.
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Wow you gals are making me tired reading about all you do. Well, it's 8:20pm. I have a very hard time doing formal exercises. I've always been one to walk. I grew up in Milwaukee,WI without a car. It was 6 blocks to the bus stop. May as well just walk the extra mile. After I was married and out in the country it's 12 to 15 miles to walk "around the block". So never did that but I love to garden. The last 10 years I'd get my exercise in our 12 acres of woods. Steep hills there and bending to pull weeds and stacking brush from fallen trees to burn in winter. I've put a few switchbacks to the trail so I can put in more steps. Can't go much when it's slippery wet or snowy and now TOO MANY mosquitoes.
This week I helped a neighbor a few days to burn some brush from a fallen weeping willow. I like to think all that work counts as exercise. Don't tell me otherwise.
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I've discovered that recovery from things that I used to "shrug off" now sadly takes much longer than I expect. Think it's partly age and partly an accumulation of SEs from medication. Perhaps you simply need to give yourself more time and grace.
Working outside was always a great joy for me. Miss my gardens now that we've moved to a townhouse.
I sympathize with your pain. It's such a deep pain and no painkiller I took lessened it, although I did refuse opioids. Prior to my right hip replacement, I often spent hours lying on my left side on the sofa, as I couldn't even sit on that side. Hoping the MRI identifies something that can be quickly and easily remedied.
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@eleanora - I agree that age and especially the accumulation of drugs really adds to all of this. I quit doing PT too at around the time I got shingles, and now I'm realizing it was a bigger help than I knew. The straw that broke the camel's back here for me was the soreness that I've now added from lying on those scan tables last Friday. I am more sore than ever now, and have not recovered, whereas it usually only takes a couple of days. Just this morning I started doing some of the PT exercises (just a couple and very slowly) and I think if I continue it will help. I'm going to try and call the PT sometime maybe later this week and see about starting back up. I think you're right about the gift of time and grace being needed, but it's so much easier said than done. Thank you.
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