Exercise During Cancer Treatment by Beverly A. Zavaleta MD
Arms up, arms down. Lift foot, bend knee. Wobble and catch balance. With my head spinning, I had to stop and lie down, put my face to the mat, breathing hard. Three minutes in and I was wiped out! This was me five years ago, attempting yoga. This was my attempt to exercise while in the middle of chemotherapy treatment for triple-negative breast cancer.
By that point in my chemotherapy I was severely anemic – my red blood cell count was so low that several times I was on the brink of receiving transfusions. I felt short of breath with minimal movement. My cocktail of four chemo drugs had caused severe peripheral neuropathy in my feet, legs and hands, and I had numbness, pain and balance problems. At the beginning of chemo I could take a daily walk around my neighborhood, but by the last few weeks I could hardly stand more than a few hours per day. I felt unrecognizable.
There were some things that sustained me through this time. A good friend, who happens to be a part-time yoga teacher, came to my house to guide (and sometimes prod) me through a customized exercise routine. I’m convinced that I might not have gotten off the couch during those last few weeks of chemo if it hadn’t been for her insistence. She created a routine that got me moving without overtaxing my battered body. After a few sessions I became more confident and I was able to repeat the exercises on my own without having to think too hard. This gentle exercise was good for my body and realizing that I was still able to do this small amount of exercise was good for my spirit – it gave me hope.
You may not think of undergoing chemotherapy and other cancer treatments as a time of personal renewal. Taking time to consider exercise may feel stressful because you feel ill or tired; just as I felt that my body was broken down, you may feel that way too. Alternatively, exercising may seem less relevant now because you’re busy with cancer treatment and keeping your life running! It can be a challenge to find safe and comfortable exercise to do during treatment, but it’s worth it because studies show that exercise benefits people during and after chemotherapy. To help you get started, here is what I suggest for getting gentle exercise during chemotherapy, excerpted from my book, Braving Chemo: What to Expect How to Prepare and How to Get Through It.
Tips for Exercise During Chemotherapy Treatment
· If you had a vigorous exercise program before starting chemotherapy, reduce your training and monitor how you feel.
· Try low-impact activities such as elliptical trainer, tai chi, yoga or swimming.
· Start with 10-20 minutes per day and work up from there.
· Don’t feel pressure to overdo it. Now is not the time for “no pain, no gain.”
· If you are capable of only minimal physical activity, try yoga breathing exercises, available at https://www.doyogawithme.com/yoga_breathing or http://insighttimer.com
· Get help from a physiatrist (a doctor that specializes in rehabilitation) or from a physical therapist, such as one of the therapists here at Cancer Rehab & Integrative Medicine!
· Choose exercises tailored for your type of cancer by searching on the site ChoosePT at https://www.choosept.com/Resources/Detail/top-10-ways-exercise-helps-during-cancer-treatment
I hope that you find something to help you on this list – but also remember that there is no “right” way to get through treatment. I had to stop putting pressure on myself to “be a good patient” or to experience my chemo in a certain way. Ironically, one of the best recommendations I can give you is to let go of any recommendations that aren’t working for you. With that, I wish you the best through your cancer treatment and beyond!
A version of this post was previously published on Dr. Zavaleta’s website at: https://www.beverlyzavaletamd.com/
Beverly A. Zavaleta, MD is a board-certified family physician, cancer survivor and long-time advocate of patient education. She graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a BS in anthropology and subsequently worked as an English teacher in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. After returning to the US, she received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where she designed and implemented an asthma patient education program. She completed her residency training in family medicine at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, Texas and spent several years practicing family medicine and hospital medicine. In 2015 she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer and underwent a grueling chemotherapy regimen. That experience, along with her experience as a doctor providing care to people with cancer, led her to turn her attention to filling the gap in chemotherapy-focused patient education materials by publishing Braving Chemo in 2019. Dr. Zavaleta practices as a hospitalist physician and her health-related articles have appeared in the Brownsville Herald and on KevinMD. She lives in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas with her husband, two sons and two dogs, and when not making a mess of her garden, she is reading or doing yoga.
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