The Cancer Patient After Treatment
March 24th, 2008 | by askadmin |Following my cancer treatment I was weak and fatigued. This is
not at all unusual for cancer patients. Especially for those of
us who endured chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Quite often, cancer patients, weakened by treatments are simply
sent home to rest and recuperate. We are left to regain
physical strength on our own.
Things are changing. Today, many hospitals and oncologists are
recommending exercise and other physical therapies and fitness
programs. Cancer survivors and patients who participate in an
exercise or a fitness program, often experience fewer side
effects from chemotherapy and make greater advances in regaining
strength and energy. Ask your trusted health care professional
to recommend an exercise program or physical therapist.
Unfortunately, patients suffering from the severe fatigue,
weakened muscles, and depression are often sent home without
having an exercise or physical therapy plan. This means, it
could take years to fully (if ever) recover.
Fortunately, physicians are beginning to look past the
chemotherapy, radiation and the surgical knife to consider
the patients’ life when we go home. Being “Cancer Free” and being
healthy are two different things.
A healthy person who has never experienced cancer or another
major disease will feel fatigued without exercise. This is even
more so for the cancer patient. Cancer-related fatigue does not
go away with rest; it requires some form of physical fitness
activity.
My suggestion is to fine a well trained physical therapist. They
are trained to keep you within a well-defined range of sensible
activity.
According to an assessment by the Memorial Hospital in Colorado;
“One patient’s pain declined by 50 percent in a month.” During
that month, his oxygen level improved by 53 percent. The patient
also reported 39 percent less fatigue. (Memorial Hospital physical
therapist Liz Bauer)
The increase in our oxygen level as a result of exercise is
crucial to our well-being and over-all health. I don’t always
exercise as I should. However I do take an oxygen supplement on
a daily basis. I believe this was a major factor in my recovery
and ongoing health.
One Response to “The Cancer Patient After Treatment”
By JoAnne on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
A very interesting article and so true. I was one of the lucky ones I guess, I did not experience fatigue; but did experience weakness in my body. I took on an exercise program a little too vigorously after my chemo and had to slow down some. Thanks for alerting people to this phase of life after cancer.