[quote]twojarslave wrote:
For some reason I woke up this morning and the first thought that entered my head was that I should check panzerfaust’s log. So I did. And I am glad that I did.
Feel free to ignore this question or tell me to fuck right off if I am out of line, but now that you’ve been at this awhile is there a verdict from your oncologist on whether or not the lifting is a net positive for the whole process? You are obviously dedicated to this and it is definitely working for you, but I am curious what your doctors think about it. What you are doing is unusual, to say the least, and as you’ve pointed out, it flies in the face of what doctors generally advise people on chemo to do.
When my father was battling his cancer he seemed much better off physically and mentally when he was staying active. His oncologist would have never advised him to a lot of the things he did while he was undergoing treatment, but getting outside and working up a sweat did a whole lot more for his state of mind than sitting in a chair taking it easy ever did.
Stay strong.
“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general.”
-Mark Rippetoe
[/quote]
Hey bro, cheers for stopping by!
I’m always down to answer any questions, so feel free to shoot away. I enjoy discussing the treatment and illness; kind of helpful to externalise it, I think.
I’m treated by two people: my Oncologist, and my Oncology Registrar. She sees me every 2-3 visits, and her Registrar fills in the gaps.
Typical of cancer medicine in general, they have somewhat different views. My oncologist says she always encourages people to do some mild exercise; ie gentle walking but jokes about needing to tell me the opposite, and that I probably do too much.
The Registrar however, told me at the last appointment that he’s really impressed I’m doing exercise your average Joe would consider fairly serious, and said he thinks it will help give me the best chance possible.
So no real specific answers, but they are both in agreement that it benefits me mentally in a Huge way. Therefore they are happy for me to continue doing what I’m doing.
Personally I notice a correlation between the intensity increasing and the fatigue diminishing. Like I’m fairly far through my chemo now and the only Real side effects currently are fluctuating bouts of nausea.
I will be writing to the hospital voicing my opinion they are lacking in physiotherapy support for people like me. Example:
My flatmate injured his hand skate-boarding, and has free physio sessions 2 x weekly.
vs
I had a foot-long gut incision, lost 20kg, and am battling to rebuild my body just hoping I don’t bust my incision open in the process. I have been offered NOTHING in terms of physio.
Does that seem fair? No… but I can tell you why. We have a system here called ACC, or Accident Compensation Commission. It means when you get injured (through sport, accident, anything) the government pays 80% of your wages while you rehabilitate.
However, people off work with long-term illness (cancer for example) get nothing. All we can do is apply for the standard unemployment benefit, a paltry $200-$300 per week.
Thankfully, I am managing to work nearly full time, so I am not poor. But shit if I couldn’t do that, my life would be a nightmare.
So in short: the government is happy to provide extensive services for people who are costing the government large amounts of money… in order to get them back to work faster. But for people like me, they provide the minimum health care required by our laws.
------excuse the massive rant!
Sounds like your father was in a similar kind of situation to me then, and displayed a great attitude. I find people like that inspiring, particularly when they are older.
Sometimes I wonder whether the mortality rate of various cancers is skewed by the fact many people who have them are older and less likely to be exercising heavily or at all.
------awesome quote there, thanks 