alt Hacker NewsOf course, you have to be well enough to exercise.
My mom was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer 11 years ago, at 59. She wasn't super into fitness when I was growing up (no time with 4 kids to raise). But ~5 years after her diagnosis, still doing regular treatments and on loads of medication, she picked up running as a hobby.
She is absolutely incredible and I'm so proud of her. But she would be the first to tell you about all of the friends she made who died of cancer, including many much younger and fitter women, and I know this is obvious but I'll say it: it wasn't because they didn't exercise, it's because they didn't respond well to treatment. She had to stop going to her support groups because literally everyone she met there had died[1]. She is so fortunate that she's responded well, enough that she was afforded the time to emerge from the shock and depression and realize that she had a lot of life left. We are so lucky that she's here with us and well enough to develop new hobbies, etc.
I do think the sort of information in the study is interesting on a population scale. On an individual level the fact is that some people will respond to treatment and others won't. The ones who do may just feel well enough to start an exercise program. If they can, it may well improve the quality of their life, and may extend your time with them, and that's an amazing gift.
I'm not sure why I felt compelled to share my anecdote. Maybe just to share what the messy human side can look like.
[1] I should note that her support group was specifically for people with a terminal diagnosis. People in any other type of breast cancer support group won't have this experience.
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Thank you for sharing. I have a similar experience with my father who was diagnosed a few years older than your mother. Chemo made it really difficult to do anything for a day or two after. Winters made it worse. I'm not sure how much exercise he could even participate in with a colostomy.
individual cases have so many differences. Cancer is a nightmare
11 years is a incredible. All the best to you and your family
In this study they assigned people randomly to get either an exercise program or health education. So it's not a self-selected group of exercise fanatics vs couch potatoes, and so long as they track people assigned to the exercise group who drop out properly it should be valid.
I think the biggest benefit I get from exercise is psychological. If I am having a busy day and I skip exercise to get more work time it is almost always a mistake because I wind up spinning my wheels.
Responding well to the treatment = basically the cancer cells haven't picked up any of the worst gene mutations that we don't have an effective countermeasurement against. So it's all about luck. And fate, if you believe fate is just a manifestation of luck. I wish the best will still keep coming to her.
They need to separate all these studies by age group. Age is the biggest risk factor in cancer.
Nothing really works if you are old.
I used to believe exercise was for people who were "into fitness". I have come to realise it's for everyone, at the level of their capacity.
Exercise should be thought of like brushing teeth and other forms of basic self-care. You don't do it because you're interested. You do it because you were born into a body that needs it.