Breast Cancer

jengollf

jengollf

Cathlete
I'm sure there are quite a few women on this forum who have either had breast cancer or know someone who had breast cancer. I have breast cancer and will be getting a mastectomy followed by chemo and radiation then reconstruction, so I have a long year ahead of me. My question has to do with my workouts.

How long before you (or your friend/family member) could lift weights again after the mastectomy and reconstruction? How did chemo affect your ability to workout? I have ideas of ways I can continue to exercise--lower body only barre and mat workouts, riding my recumbent bike, walking. However, I have also read you do have to keep your arms/shoulders conditioned even immediately after the mastectomy. So apparently using my upper body isn't completely out of the question. To what extent can I use my upper body during workouts during the recovery period? Are mat workouts where I am all 4s with weight on my hands or forearms out of the question?

Will some ladies please share your (or friends/family members) experiences so I can get an idea of the recovery/rehabilitation time line? I'm specifically interested in people who were very active before the diagnosis and were able to regain their fitness level afterward.
 
Dear jengollf,

My thoughts and prayers are with you during this time. Keep your outlook positive and thank you for sharing your health with us.
Sending you xoxo and a Cathletes' "Stay Strong, Be Strong"!
 
Jengollf, I wish you the very best in your recovery. I do not have any experience either but I will ask a couple women I know that have gone through the same. You are an amazingly strong woman!!!
 
Jengollf:

sorry I don't have any useful information for you on this topic? It sounds like a very useful source for an article for Cathe's newsletter, frankly. I'm sure you'll have many sources of valuable info available to you through your doctor/surgeon/oncologist, and I might assume, given the superior nature of your fitness and muscularity, you can probably add in a degree or two of "more activity possible" to whatever their literature recommends for the patient to take exercise throughout chemo and in post-chemo and post-reconstruction recovery phases, if indeed you go that route.

I think a lot may come down to the health and determination of the individual also. I have read articles, excerpts from memoirs over the years, written by people undergoing treatment for cancers and it suggests that some find ways to stay active through all aspects of their recovery, and indeed that the exercise helped them get through both mentally and physically, but a 'take it day by day' approach is a useful mindset to cultivate.

I wish I had more concrete information to offer you. I can only wish you well along the road that lies ahead. I hope for a clean surgery for you, empathy and expertise from all medical staff treating you, swift recovery and for there to be much support for you from family and friends to help buoy up your spirits along the way.

You know, something occurs to me: Ilaria Montagnani @ Powerstrike has just been going through this herself. Might you contact her and ask her directly? Who would know better than she?!? She seems a very personable lady and would help readily, especially since she has been making a film about her experiences that she hopes will help others faced with same and similar circumstances.

Wishing you all the best in the world and big hugs,

Clare
 
Hi Jen. My heart goes out to you. I’m sure your current state of health will benefit you. I don’t have any experience with this but I was going to say exactly what Clare said about Ilaria Montagnani. She would be a great source.

I wish you a speedy and successful year. I truly hope others who’ve had experience with breast cancer will post. Or any Cathletes who are doctors too. You’re in my prayers Jen. Through your blog you’ve given so very much to others, now it’s time for others to give back to you.
 
I suggest getting the assistance of a professional physical therapist that works with ladies in your situation. The folks that I knew that had been through that did not workout during treatment and had to abstain from lifting weights for 12 weeks post operation.

I hope you have a really good surgeon and oncologist to see you through. Hugs!
 
Thank you everyone for your well wishes. It does mean a lot. Even tho I don't post here as often as I used to, I still visit to see what everyone is up to. Obviously no one wants cancer, but I also know it is very treatable and has one of the highest survival rates of any cancer when caught early (something like 99%). So I know I will be okay but I have to get through the year of treatment. And that is what I worry about. My husband thinks it's funny that when my surgeon outlined my treatment one of my biggest concerns was when I could lift weights again.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I do remember when Ilaria got breast cancer and I had heard something about a documentary. I will visit her site and message her. That is a good idea. Maybe she will let me know how it played out for her.
 
Hi, Jen - my prayers are with you through your treatment.

A good friend of mine went through a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She was a hard-core runner but did not lift weights, so I can't give you insight on weight lifting. However, I do remember that she just sort of had to take recovery day by day. For instance, after the reconstruction healed, she felt ready to begin running. But when she tried, she found that the impact was still too much jarring. But she did have a faster recovery rate than most because she was physically fit and very, very positive.

She had a very aggressive form of breast cancer, which resurfaced. She went through chemo, but unfortunately she did not survive.
 
jengollf said:
I'm sure there are quite a few women on this forum who have either had breast cancer or know someone who had breast cancer. I have breast cancer and will be getting a mastectomy followed by chemo and radiation then reconstruction, so I have a long year ahead of me. My question has to do with my workouts.

How long before you (or your friend/family member) could lift weights again after the mastectomy and reconstruction? How did chemo affect your ability to workout? I have ideas of ways I can continue to exercise--lower body only barre and mat workouts, riding my recumbent bike, walking. However, I have also read you do have to keep your arms/shoulders conditioned even immediately after the mastectomy. So apparently using my upper body isn't completely out of the question. To what extent can I use my upper body during workouts during the recovery period? Are mat workouts where I am all 4s with weight on my hands or forearms out of the question?

Will some ladies please share your (or friends/family members) experiences so I can get an idea of the recovery/rehabilitation time line? I'm specifically interested in people who were very active before the diagnosis and were able to regain their fitness level afterward.
Click to expand...

Hi Jengollf - so sorry that you have to go through this. I didn't have cancer, so didn't need chemo, but I did have breast surgery a few years ago as I had some polyps in my milk ducts that were causing discharge. I also had liver surgery last year to remove a benign 9cm tumour and one of my ribs was cracked during the surgery. From my experience with both surgeries I couldn't lift my arms over my head for about 4 weeks after the breast surgery and 10 weeks after the liver surgery.

To get back into my workout regime I started off with light walking for about 15-20 minutes per day. After my liver surgery I was in hospital for 5 days and waited another week before I started doing proper scheduled workouts again. I have some Leslie Sansone DVDs that I used but Jessica Smith also has free 15 minute light walks on her YouTube channel. The best Leslie ones were her Mix and Match DVD and her Walk Off Fat Fast DVD. The Mix & Match I started out combining her light walk and recovery walk, 10 minutes each and gradually added other walks such as the lower body and brisk and steady as I got fitter. The Walk Off Fat Fast DVD has 3 walks a 20 minute Easy Burn, a 30 minute Big Burn and a 40 minute Super Burn. I started with the Easy Burn and worked my way up. Leslie often does moves where she raises her arms over her head which I couldn't do. At first I didn't do the arms but after a while I found I could either push my arms out in front of me and eventually raise them to 45 degrees. Where she stretches her arms to the sides I was able to do a smaller range of motion without fully extending my arms so that I didn't stretch my chest.

Once I was able to do 30-40 minutes of brisk walking I started incorporating Cathe's Basic Step. Then moved on to Low Impact Step and the timesaver premixes on ICE Low Impact Sweat. When I started using weights again, about 8 weeks after my liver surgery, I had to go very light, between 1 and 5 pounds depending on the exercise. I was able to do bicep curls, tricep kickbacks and front raises up to shoulder height. I couldn't do overhead presses, chest flys and rear delt flys or any other exercises where I was stretching my chest. It took about 12 weeks before I was able to start doing these types of exercises and about 5 months before I was able to lift the weights I was using pre-surgery.

With regards to plank work, I could hold a plank for 30 seconds after 3 to 4 weeks and do narrow grip push ups on my knees after about 6 weeks. I could also do leg raises on my hands and knees but not arm raises.

I hope this helps. Unfortunately I don't know how much the chemo will affect you. I had a friend with bladder cancer who went through 2 lots of chemo, the first one didn't affect him too much but the second one knocked him around quite a bit afterwards. Just listen to your body and be patient. Good Luck!
 
Again--thank you ladies for the information and experiences.

SRP--I am so sorry to hear about your friend. That is very scary.

Your suggestions are great Hazlady. Thank you for sharing your recovery experience. I own some of Cathe's beginner workouts and I have never done them. This is my opportunity to finally try them.
 
Hi Jen,
I'm sorry you have to go through this. I also had a breast cancer diagnosis last April and went through chemo and radiation that completed just before Thanksgiving. I'm a huge fan of your blog and have marveled at the number of workouts you manage to get in. This will serve you extremely well as you make your way through this journey. I tolerated my treatments well and think Cathe's workouts deserve some of the credit for that. I was in the middle of the Strong & Sweaty/Ripped with HIIT rotation and feeling great when I was diagnosed.

I think your questions about upper body have to do with the risk of lymphedema. I had a lumpectomy so my risk of lymphedema was lower, but I haven't had any problems with this and did not lose any range of motion from the surgery. The radiation made the area just to the front of my armpit tight, so I feel that with stretching.

I had 4 chemo treatments & the first was the hardest for me. I think it was just a shock to my system. I didn't exercise at all between treatments 1 & 2 because of this. However, after chemo #2 I was walking on the treadmill nearly every day - slowly after treatment but increasing until the next treatment. I also did yoga. I completed chemo at the end of August and started radiation at the beginning of October. My community rec center had a CancerFit program that I participated in that started about 2 weeks after my last chemo & I did some weight lifting in that. Energy became an issue about half-way through radiation (I had 7 weeks of treatment). About a week after radiation was complete, I could feel the energy coming back & it was greatly improved about 6 weeks after completion. I started with pre-mixes of ICE & FitSplit workouts keeping the times to around 30 minutes. I've been adding in CatheLive workouts lately, so extending my workout times. I've done a couple of STS workouts as well.

I'll pass along a couple of things I wish I knew before chemo:
I found out about L-Glutamine from my acupuncturist after my first treatment. There are studies that back up the use of this to prevent peripheral nueropathy. I was also told this can help with "chemo brain" but I don't know if there are studies to support this. My oncologist OK'd the use of this, but I wish I would have been aware of this before treatment started.

The nurses advised me to take Claritin right before the Neulasta injection for the pain caused by Neulasta, but after Chemo #1 I realized that I needed to take it for a few days to keep the pain away.

I hope some of this helps. There are some scary stories out on the web & I don't think they are balanced out by the people who come through this without terrible experiences. I was fortunate to find a yoga studio in my neighborhood that has a Yoga 4 Cancer program and meeting people who had been through this was an even greater benefit than the yoga - but the restorative yoga was great too! The night of my biopsies, the doctor told me that she & others in the department had been through cancer journeys and they wouldn't trade the experiences. I thought she was flippin crazy! The treatments are a bear and I'm not to the point where I wouldn't trade it, but I can say that there have been blessings in the experience.

I wish you well in your treatments & look forward to reading about your return to weight-lifting in the future!
 
Jen, I am so sorry for what you are going through. I have no tips or experiences to share, I just wanted to wish you well and courage for all you will be going through. Through your blog you have given many of us Cathletes so much. I wish we could give you something back, even if it is just a virtual hug.
 
lily64 said:
Hi Jen,

I hope some of this helps. There are some scary stories out on the web & I don't think they are balanced out by the people who come through this without terrible experiences. I was fortunate to find a yoga studio in my neighborhood that has a Yoga 4 Cancer program and meeting people who had been through this was an even greater benefit than the yoga - but the restorative yoga was great too! The night of my biopsies, the doctor told me that she & others in the department had been through cancer journeys and they wouldn't trade the experiences. I thought she was flippin crazy! The treatments are a bear and I'm not to the point where I wouldn't trade it, but I can say that there have been blessings in the experience.

I wish you well in your treatments & look forward to reading about your return to weight-lifting in the future!
Click to expand...

Thank you lily64! This is very, very helpful! I am seriously taking notes! This is great information.

As the day gets nearer I am getting very nervous but all of the great advice and well wishes from everyone here and on my blog is very uplifting and helpful. Thank you all!
 
Hi Jen,

I am a medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer. I have been a big fan of your blog for the past couple years, and I check it regularly to learn about new workouts. Thanks to you, I am really enjoying the Fit by Julia youtube workouts right now.

I agree with the other posters entirely--your young age and fitness, as well as your positive outlook and determination will help you through this marathon. This year will have its ups and downs. I think the goal would be to try to maintain as much as possible your strength and stamina, but many patients tell me it took them up to one year after finishing treatment before they felt fully "normal." On the other hand, my patients who were regular exercisers before the cancer diagnosis tended to recover fitness faster, and of course were more motivated to exercise again. I do have patients who went back to running marathons and playing competitive tennis after their treatment.

As for the chemotherapy phase, there is generally a 3-7 day timeframe after each treatment that people tend to feel the worst of it (fatigue, nausea, bone aches, numbness and tingling in the hands/feet) but there is always a "turn the corner" point when people start to feel better. This point is different for different people. You will usually have at least some time when you are feeling more normal and can do more of your normal activities. I do have patients who walked, jogged, did yoga, and even went to the gym during their chemo. It's important to note that you may have to eat differently during the chemo too, and this could affect your energy. The chemo can affect how things taste (too salty, too sweet, tastes like cardboard, etc) so it takes some trial and error in the beginning to figure out what works for you and does not upset your stomach. Usually the first treatment is the hardest, since no one knows how you are going to feel, but the subsequent treatments can go more smoothly since you know more what to expect, how to manage your specific side effects better, and you know how long the side effects are going to last.

As for the surgery, there are usually some specific restrictions on activity afterwards, and your doctors can specifically advise you. Most patients having a mastectomy followed by reconstruction will have a tissue expander put in at the time of the mastectomy (and this will get gradually filled with saline to stretch out the skin). Most of the plastic surgeons I work with recommend that patients minimize their overall activity (and especially upper body movement) for 8-12 weeks after the surgery so that there is adequate time for everything to heal. If you move too much after the surgery, there can be an increase in inflammatory fluid buildup (called a seroma) around the expander and this can cause discomfort, increased risk of infection and the fluid may have to be drained out. The subsequent reconstruction surgery (take out the expander, replace with implant or tissue flap depending on your choice) is usually an easier recovery, although the flap surgeries are more extensive and require longer healing time.

I agree with the recommendation to work with a knowledgable physical therapist, ideally someone who has lymphedema certification. Your surgeons may be able to recommend someone. The main goal is prevention--learning exercises and stretches to prevent scar tissue buildup, improve your range of motion in the shoulder and prevent lymphedema. Contrary to previous recommendations, we now recommend regular exercise and weight lifting to help reduce lymphedema risk.

I sincerely wish you the best.

Martha
 
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