I initially came on here for some support after my totally insensitive husband made comments about my weight gain and decreasing energy levels! I ranted and made excuses about why I don’t exercise, because everything aches and I always feel tired! After I stopped shouting,…then crying!..then the silent treatment! I did actually start to wonder whether he had a point. Should I be exercising? I was told not to run or jump due to liklihood of fracturing my hip, but I was told swimming was allowed.
I am getting fatter and it is starting to bother me! Am I just using my bone mets diagnosis as an excuse to laze around more than I ever did? I know previously I hate the thought of exercise, but once I get back I do feel I have renewed energy. I did manage to lose 7kgs after my initial treatment, but stopped exercising to have and recover from my oopherectomy, then got out of the habit.
I was just wondering if anybody had taken up exercise with successful results. Obviously I would discuss fitness options with a trainer at a Gym, but if my hip was supported (e.g. by one of those large balls, surely some upper body exercise couldn’t be harmful) I was also sent details of a half price offer at a local gym, so perhaps I should take it up and try to swim twice a week a least. Or has anybody been told specifically not to exercise?
Or alternatively if you want to voice opinion on my husband being a totally insensitive shit, I would also welcome comment :0)
Hi Nicky, I’m allergic to any gym but just to say I’ve always been told lots of walking helps strengthen the bones and can help against spinal cord compression. Was also told swimming helps too…x
I loathe the gym and feel too old and creaky for yoga, so I walk. I have to walk twice a day with the dogs anyway, but I need to lose weight so I have made an effort to walk faster and add in more hills. It’s really working - it’s helping with the weight but also the post chemo stiffness in my legs is much improved. The morning walk I do with a group of friends - so it’s a lovely sociable hour, really lifts the spirits, and is an energising start to the day. My mets are in the spine so I am assuming walking counts as weight bearing.
I like to swim as well - but only outdoors so that is limited to the summer months.
Do you have any friends that dog walk every day that you could meet up with? Getting into a routine and walking regularly with someone is much easier to stick to than going out by yourself. Maybe you need your own dog!
I forgot to say that when I had my bone density scan a year ago, I was right at the top of the scale, which I partly attributed to always doing lots of walking.
I have invested in some of those nordic walking poles. They are meant to be very good for you on all levels, particularly with breast cancer.
I did use them a bit in the summer and could feel the effect all over but particularly on my arms. They also provided a lot of support and seemed to take a lot of strain off my already aching back !!
I have got out of the habit a bit and your post has inspired me.
That does not mean your husband gets off with it !!!~~###
Being more active is one of the things I miss most. I’ve been told that swimming would be ok for me, but like you no running or jumping. I used to love dancing salsa but the hip movements now are beyond me. Plus I get so sluggish and tired. I’m trying to get in the pool once a week, for my daughter’s benefit more than mine, but I’ve yet to go swimming on my own as I had thought I might. My daughter’s also just started horse riding, and that’s something I used to do regularly as a young girl and occasionally as an adult, and I feel quite sad when I look at her and think that I probably couldn’t ever get on a horse again now due to hip replacement and spinal mets. But I haven’t completely given up on the idea. My OH thinks it’s probably a no-go but I’m going to ask my onc the next time I see him.
I’m sure that if you can do a bit more gentle exercise it will help in a number of ways. To be honest I don’t think I could manage a gym routine, unless it was just on a cycle machine, and so I’m setting my sights on swimming. But as you can tell, I haven’t really ‘taken up exercise’ with any real enthusiasm or results!
Best of luck. And most important of all, if you DO take up exercise, make sure you do it for YOU, and not for your loving OH!
Oh, no, not other insensitive exercise mad person! GENTLE exercise (e.g. walking) is very good to strengthen the bone, but there’s no need to be insensitive.
I’m not a gym person, more like doing some gentle exercise in the fresh air. So, walking is ideal for me and I do it at least 3 hours a day (was 2 hours when I was having chemo). And it really combats the fatigue I get from all those drugs.
I can’t swim!!! So, I don’t have a choice there.
I know it’s difficult to get into a routine again, with the aches and stiffness we get. Without my exercise mad mum, I wouldn’t keep up my exercise routine. Too early to say I will still be as tiny as I am now a few months down the line. (only on Zoladex and Arimidex for a 3 weeks and I’m told that those can cause a lot of weight gain.) So watch out:-)
GENTLE exercise (e.g. walking) is very good to strengthen the bone, but there’s no need to be insensitive.