Stage IV MBC Fitness

Hi all. I've been absent for awhile and not sure I can catch up with all the past posts, but I'm trying. So nice to see everyone being so active and posting about it. It's inspirational and motivational. I've been really brain foggy and fatigued since the shingles and my last fulvestrant shots, but I have managed to keep walking most of the time. I did some shorter walks this last week due to some awful gastrointestinal mess I wound up with, but that seems to be improving. At my best I walk for about an hour and get in about 3 miles. Then I have various shorter walks that I do sometimes if I'm not feeling great or whatever. Somehow over the spring I stopped going to PT. It started with either the PT or me needing to cancel, but we never got back on track and then in the middle of everything else, I just quit doing the exercises here at home. I've really learned how much they helped since then. I think I'm turning to jelly when I sit, etc. It's that "core" stuff. What I was doing didn't seem like much at all or necessarily worth it, but I think it really has been (don't know what you've got 'til it's gone), so my goal now is to try and get back with the PT and start up again. I'm scheduled for a liver biopsy at the end of the month though, so wondering if I shouldn't just wait until that is all done before I start back up.

Hi AJ - Thanks for the idea of getting started ahead of time. Interesting, even though I'm not currently going to PT, I did start doing a couple of the exercises/stretches he's given me, at least here at home, over the last couple of days. I might try to catch up a little on those before I call the PT again. I'm embarrassed to tell him that I just plain stopped a few months ago, and am essentially starting all over again. Ugh. I'm thinking that if I can get going before the biopsy, that too might actually go a little better.

Actually my shingles wasn't nearly what a lot of people go through. Overall I lucked out. I had a real small rash, got the anti-viral right away, so it never progressed, and I had minimal pain. It did however make me super tired, and I guess the fatigue can linger for some time (weeks and months), even after the rash is gone. I think that's a big part of what I'm dealing with now.

Glad to see that you're walking and doing your Enhanced Fitness program. I think the walking and then some added exercises like I get via PT and you are doing through Enhanced Fitness is probably the best way to go. A nice mix and not too much of any one thing.

@chicagoan hope your consult at MSK goes well and provides some good guidance ! ❤️

AJ - Yes, re the movement, I'm trying to be more conscious in general of just how much I move throughout the day, even around my apartment, not just outside on walks. I think it all adds up and counts a lot.

I needed a lot of time to process the idea of getting the biopsy - I'm like that; need lots of time to mull things over, "sleep on it", etc. I'm also just generally a big baby about anything that might hurt. The idea is still absolutely terrifying to me though, but I will get myself through it somehow. Your previous description of how your biopsy was "a piece of cake" runs through my mind frequently, and I want to thank you again for it. When I start freaking out, I think about what you said. The IR told me that a lot of it depends on just where the lesions are and at this point he didn't see where any of them should cause a problem.

I also think some of these drugs can contribute to balance issues. In my case, I think it's the fulvestrant. I get so stiff that I can't always keep good balance, because if I go "off" at all, it's really hard to right myself again when so, so stiff in the muscles and joints. The Verzenio can cause lightheadedness too and that also can lead to balance problems.

Is a never ending mess, isn't it?

TThreetree Goodluck with the biopsy. I'm a big baby about that too and need time to wrap my head around it and accept it.

Good to hear your shingles wasn't so bad. I'm still struggling with it. It took drs a while to convince me cause no rash and in a different location this time. Also had a strain to ligament in back. Cortisone shot yesterday helped some. The bulging discs cleared up with a bunch of antionflamatories. I think the Injury to my left side in February started it. The new excess stress and chemo contribute.

So yes exercise important. Sometimes I walk the big stores a few round. Not enough. Today too muggy. I'm deep cleaning bedroom today.

Hi everyone, I was diagnosed stage four de novo just over two and a half years ago. Had six rounds of Docetaxel and managed to do 15 minutes 5 days a week. Currently on Enhertu fifth treatment, and for the first few days I struggle to keep up. Maybe I will adjust to treatment and find more energy going forward.

@stirfry , welcome. Yes let's expect you will adjust.

I'm happy to report my middle is feeling a bit better. Cortisone shot Tuesday in back and maybe the shingles is finally fading away?

1.5 hours in garden yesterday and 2 hours today plus a little walk each day. And a little sewing and reading.

@chicagoan I was also in NYC last week for a couple of days, right after my Zometa infusion, but I soldiered on. @AJ @gailmary @stirfry @threetree @rlschaller @illimae We take a lickin' and keep on tickin' as the old Timex commercial used to go.

I did water aerobics today. Haven't done this in years-once I took up pickleball, I had little interest and the pool closest to me closed during Covid. But I decided to give it a try today since I am so limited by my right hip. It felt great! It was so nice to be able to move freely in the water.

I went lake swimming today. We swam .69 miles. I’m so tired.

I've been out walking most days this week; about an hour each time. Still lots of blooms out there, along with the sunshine and warmer temperatures. Sometimes I get lucky and see things like rabbits just a few feet away from me. Today I got a little treat, watching a mother racoon and two young ones cross the street after refreshing themselves in someone's little stream/waterfall that they have in their very nicely landscaped yard. Life can be good at times!

@threetree where are you that there are still lots of blooms out there.

I'm in rural SE Wisconsin and annual and wildflowers are just reaching their peak now. It seems few people grow perennials anymore except those favorite long lived things. Really few people even have many annual in their gardens. More like what gardens? But there are a number of prairie plantings around here that I get to hike by depending the direction I hike. That includes my own prairie garden.

RHONDA, I wish I were so disciplined to hike the treadmill on these humid days.

You have mentioned só many vídeos you enjoy. I should have kept a list.

@gailmary - I'm in an urban Seattle neighborhood. I actually live on the main drag of a business district, but if I go out a few blocks I get to an older residential area that I just love to walk in. Parts of the area have no sidewalks at all, unpaved driveways, and lots of big and old fir and cedar trees; lots of birds and a little other "urban wildlife". It's as close to "woods" as I can get around here without having to drive, and I really dislike driving to get somewhere to exercise; seems like an oxymoron to me. That's one reason I'm not crazy about the idea of going to a gym or pool. All that driving and then having to change clothes a couple of times, etc. That would take some of the joy out of it all for me, although I totally understand how being in a pool can be so wonderful for so many. Back to the blooms: Most of the real nice spring blooms have peaked and gone away here too, but there are some late blooming things like roses and a shrub called a "Rose of Sharon". There are also a lot of things that I don't know the names of. I only really know a few common plants, but I do see quite a lot of new blooming things in people's yards, but not all the stuff that came in the spring. Around here people do have gardens planted with a lot of annuals, plus they have a lot of old overgrown stuff that I really like; the stuff that makes it all "woodsier". I've never heard of a prairie garden. That sounds interesting for sure. All our different locations and climates produce all these different and interesting things.

I think I might want to check out some of @rlschaller 's videos too. She's really found quite a treasure trove of them it seems.

@tougholdcrow - I get lots of gulls too being where I am. If I go west a little I can also see cormorants, etc. I'd love to see the deer and wild turkeys you get. The only larger animals I see are racoons, squirrels, and rabbits. There are coyotes out there, but so far I haven't seen any. Some areas I walk in have some woodpeckers and hawks. There are occasional eagles too in addition to the routine crows, etc. You've got lots more energy than I do. I couldn't even consider anything like a long bike ride. Wow!

I made the 40 minute swim across the creek and back. I've been swimming since childhood, so it felt fine, and the saltwater (as well as my chubbiness) makes for good buoyancy. The long bike ride will escape me this year, I'm afraid. Maybe next year, the god(s) willing.