There is no doubting it - Cancer is horrible. From the testing, the wait, the diagnosis, the symptoms, the treatment, the side effects and the ongoing thought of recurrence - it is never something that you want to hear or experience.
When it comes to treatment, people tend to know about chemotherapy and radiation therapy - toxic drugs and dosages that try to kill off the cancer. But they also attack the bodies cells - causing hair loss, nausea and fatigue, amongst other things.
But, exercise has emerged as a crucial part of cancer management - all the way from diagnosis through medical treatment and after treatment. So much so, that the evidence and expert opinion suggests that if you withhold exercise from people with cancer, that it is very harmful! Exercise helps to reduce the side effects of medical treatment, helps patients to feel less fatigued, stronger, more resilient and will increase the chance of survival. Not only does it do this, but it also helps to reduce the chance of recurrence!
The expert opinion from Associate Professor Prue Cormie from the Australian Catholic University notes that patients shouldn't rush out and hire a personal trainer who will flog them and leave them with fatigue that lingers and becomes counterproductive. Appropriate graded exercise is critical, and should be completed with a physiotherapist with extensive training in cancer rehabilitation.
Brendan has recently become qualified as an Cancer Rehabilitation Physiotherapist and is one of the few in Melbourne to be providing services for cancer sufferers.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the clinic on 95801985 to learn more about this vital link in cancer management and survival.