I am sick and tired of being, what feels like ‘blamed’ for my bc! I look around at some of the laziest, fattest people and they don’t have bc. Nor would I wish it on them. I am a firm believer in ‘everything in moderation, and nothing to excess’, including excercise!! Give us a break pleeeeeeeease!!! J.
I don’t put the blame on the researchers or Macmillan but on the media who haven’t got a scooby-doo about how to report this kind of thing. It really is relentless, isn’t it.
Did they mention that chemo kills off red blood cells, which carry oxygen round the body? Did they explain how the **** you exercise when you’re breathless from poorly circulating oxygen? When I was on chemo, I got breathless walking upstairs.
Now I’m ‘only’ on herceptin and tamoxifen but back at work, which takes a lot of energy. Should I tell work I need to reduce my hours to save some energy for exercise?
Sick of the B lot actually…One thing one day… another the next How many guilt trips do we have to take.!!! Exercise during chemo…all I did was chuck up and poo through the eye of a needle. Put on two stone on Tamoxefin know on Exemestene …feel like chucking them down the loo and taking my chances… Think I might just start smoking , eat chocs till I am sick… Sod everything become a couch potato and die happy.
Bobbie
Yep, choccers has it. It’s the way it is delivered that pees us off.
I mean, exercise, yawn, cancer, yawn…it’s not exactly new info is it? I think it’s the idea that non-cancer (ordinary? lol) people will see it and think I’m some lazy bum that asked for it that annoys me. As it goes I do three miles every day with the dog, but that’s neither here nor there. I don’t fit ANY of the other criteria for bc either.
I had lunch the other day with a work associate who I’d only ever spoken to online. She knew I had bc. When I met her she said “Oh, I thought you’d be really fat or something, what with having cancer”. (Probably one for the ‘stupid things people say’ thread too). I’ve never been overweight and even if I had, it doesn’t follow that all overweight people are going to get cancer. Clearly though that was her impression.
So then. Following the risk factors, we are all steak-munching, idle, fat, very tall (yes, it’s statistically true), have a family history of bc, had no kids until well past the point at which we ought to have done, had periods when we were 9 and menopause at 60. And then there’s the wellies, don’t forget the wellies (sorry to newish people: in-joke). Put your hand up if you fit the profile.
Bah 
you forgot left handed !!!
Oh dear, that’s the one - I got cancer because I’m left-handed! D’oh, should’a known, and I blame my parents for not forcing me to write with my right hand…
Yellow wellies are lined up at the door as I type.
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All you people as angry as i am do something about it, ring Macmillan like i did and tell them how you feel. If they dont know they will keep doing the same old rubbish. Tell them and tell them today!
many years ago-when i had 2 small little boys and money was very ti ght-i walked to work in my only shoes (strappy) and it was snowing !my sister went out and bought me some wellies-they were all the rage at the time-blue -with yellow round the top with a drawstring-and my legs were so fat they wouldn’t go on-was so upset-i mean i wasn’t enormous after all-now here i am-have i got bc because of my weight-?obviously it wasn’t because of the wellies!!-i’m right-handed-i’m only 5’ 2"-i have been an avid exerciser in the past (obviously to shift the fat from my fat legs ha ha )but recently-due to me working-looking after my mum with dementia-etc-i’ve slacked off.i eat a very healthy diet but do drink copious amounts of wine -i haven’t smoked for over 25 years-and apparantly i am very positive YEAH_IN FRONT OF PEOPLE-phew-feel better now-just off for a run ha ha
Ethyl, you KNOW the truth about why you got it, why question it? OF COURSE it was the wellies, and as for making yourself taller wearing high heels, well you only have yourself to blame!
I was on local radio a couple of weeks ago (when the “being tall gives you cancer” thing was going on) and expressed my anger at the constant bombardment from the media saying “IT’S ALL YOUR OWN FAULT”. I stressed that it’s often not the fault of the researchers, but those in the media who are looking for a cheap soundbite and who haven’t got a clue about how to report statistics, so it goes from the researcher’s “doing xxx may increase the risk of cancer by 10%” to “doing xxx gives you cancer” to “women who do xxx are to blame for their own cancer”, all in one fell swoop. I hate reports that use the word “BLAME” with relation to cancer, it’s so attacking.
I’m sure this has been linked before elsewhere… but this clip captures the media take really well (apologies anyone who is offended by mildly ‘colourful’ langauge):
youtube.com/watch?v=4abk9fd_lR4
I’m with CM on this, we need to be careful not to blame the researchers for the media portrayal. No one has made the link (yet)on this thread that the same day that this was on the news, BCC and Prostate Cancer Charity were holding a focus group in London on… exercise and wellbeing. I kind of think we need to be a little bit careful of shouting at MacMillan even if the portrayal winds us up.
Anyway, must go and do something with my day - the sun’s shining and there’s life to live!
Thanks for the link revcat! Just about sums it all up!
DaisyGirl xx
While I’m grateful for all the research aiming to find causes/cures/treatments for cancer, it’s the reporting of them that drives me nuts. I think it’s scary and next on impossible for people to acknowledge the randomness of this disease. Yes, it could happen to me even though I exercise, eat healthily, don’t smoke, drink, whatever… Cancer is what happens to other people - I used to think that. My chain-smoking uncles both died of cancer, but it couldn’t happen to me!
I’ve seen the same reaction in some of my friends when they’ve heard about my diagnosis. You could almost see the very unpleasant thought going across their foreheads - if it happened to her, it could happen to me.
And of course the media know this, that’s why the latest ‘cause’ gets splashed across the front page. ‘Don’t worry, folks - it’s their own fault - it won’t happen to you!’
Wow, I’m not usually that cynical!
Lilac x
OK I’m going to make a political point here, which is my personal view, so please don’t scream at me.
The advice issued by Macmillan is about how exercise can help recovery, and prevent the recurrence of cancer. Now it may sound very cynical, but it seems to me that Cancer Charities like Macmillan prefer to emphasise prevention, because it’s easier than addressing major issues like the availability of treatment, funding issues, and the postcode lottery etc - as these are political issues that sometimes involve challenging policy makers head on.
Having said that, I don’t want to be too critical, because these chartities do provide a fantastic service for many of us, and I know it’s very difficult for them to be overtly political, because the Charity Commission do not allow overtly political campaigning. Maybe though, when they offer advice about prevention, they could add that there are a host of other things that would also be beneficial if policy makers would only put their hand in their pocket.
Lilac sums it up perfectly for me! 
Like others here I am someone who on paper looks very low risk as far as breast cancer is concerned and yet here I am. The sheer apparent randomness of cancer is something that most people are afraid of and whilst yes, being sensible about diet/exercise/lifestyle are all likely to help they don’t remove the risk entirely.
I am currently dealing with extreme post-treatment fatigue and very gentle exercise is helping to me to cope with it. Although at the moment it is a huge struggle to do anything at all. When I can manage to do some exercise, I do actually feel a little better. So I can see the logic in what’s being said BUT as many have said, it’s the being told in such a patronising manner that gets up my nose!
Nymeria x
I emphasise again the need to tell Macmillan how you feel and then perhaps they can ensure it is put out better by the media if you say nowt you get nowt. Groaning on here is just that and no one takes any notice only more of us and more groaning.
Sorry Hatty, I need to groan… but will also make my feelings known to MacMillan!
I am currently working 3 hours a day at home whilst I have RADS (now struggling in the afternoons with tiredness) and have just had a chat with my manager about this report. Fortunately she is very understanding as her SIL has had breast cancer and knows what it is really all about. Had she been some hardnosed bloke I would have been in trouble as she had seen all these fit, well post BC ladies taking part in a Dragon Boat race.
She expressed her surprise that this was possible and that she herself would not be able to do it, might be able to bang the drum but that would be about it. I explained that I had lymphoedema and it was also unlikely that any of the ladies in the film had, or were at risk of having it, as the activity goes against all advice on how to prevent/manage this debilitating side effect of surgery. Additionally, my legs and feet ache so much that anything other than a short walk at the moment is beyond me. I don’t get sick pay and fortunately my boss knows that I want to get back to work as soon as I can so she knows I am not “swinging the lead”.
I now feel under enormous pressure to exercise way beyond anything I know I am currently capable of because if I don’t and the bc returns it will be my fault. Charities such as MacMillan are here to support us, but in this instance I think they have done us a great disservice.
DaisyGirl xx
Sorry, but I totally disagree. I have been aware of the link between exercise & reduced recurrence risk ever since I was dx in 2007, so this is nothing new. The only thing new is Macmillan publicising it.
As a country we should all be exercising more, we are turning into a nation of overweight couch potatoes. Everyone should know by now that exercise gives health benefits, but many choose to ignore that. The BC community is no different, in that some will take the message on board and others will ignore it. All the charities can do is give us the information, so no-one can claim that they weren’t informed.
My only risk factor is being tall. There is nothing I can do about that. However, I can influence my risk of recurrence by following advice that comes out of legitimate research. I have exercised all through treatment, I ran the Race for Life on chemo. I don’t believe I am special in any way, I have just refused to take this (literally) lying down. I am a stubborn sod who refuses to become a victim.
road runner, no one is saying anyone is a victim here Macmillan are making us victims!!
I kept fit through chemo and have done everything possible to prevent recurrence after all who wouldnt??
Daisy girl you groan thats what the forum is for but well done for contacting Macmillan as now they know there are two of us that arent happy…