Arms up, arms down. Step back, bend knee. Look ahead – oops – catch balance. Head spinning, dizzy. Stop. Lying down, face to the mat, breathing harder than I should be. Wiped out. This was me four years ago, attempting yoga. This was my attempt to exercise during the last few rounds of my chemotherapy treatment for triple-negative breast cancer.
By that time 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 period. A good friend, who also 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 that she could make a routine that would get me moving without overtaxing my battered body. She led me through a few sessions and then I could repeat the exercises on my own without having to think about it. I became more confident about the little that I could do and seeing that I could do it gave me hope.
Speaking of lying on the couch, I also survived that time of severe debility with a good dose of family couch-potato time. My husband, our boys and I probably binged-watched 100 hours of movies and shows during the kids’ holiday school break that year. We geeked-out for Star Wars Episode 7, dressed up in vintage costumes. We snuggled in front of the fireplace. No one complained about not going on vacation and no one whined about the lack of gourmet cooking. Turns out that I needed a bit of hibernation as well as exercise!
The turn of a new year usually focuses us on personal renewal and topics such as nutrition and exercise. This can feel stressful for people undergoing chemotherapy, or any cancer treatment, because even though studies show that exercise benefits people during and after their chemotherapy, it can be hard to find safe and comfortable exercise. Just as I felt that my body was broken down and could hardly move, you may feel that way too. 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 doctor specializing in rehabilitation, called a physiatrist, or from a physical therapist.
Choose exercises tailored for your type of cancer at ChoosePT at https://www.choosept.com/Resources/Detail/top-10-ways-exercise-helps-during-cancer-treatment
If you find this list helpful, great! But, despite all the studies of exercise, tips and movie binges, what helped me the most was this: letting go of my expectations. I had to stop putting pressure on myself to “be a good patient” or to get through chemo in a certain way. I had to accept that my body felt how it felt, and that things were how they were. It’s hard to “just be” but doing that for even a few moments is freeing and healing.