Cancer feels like walking down a long, dark path, doesn’t it? You can’t see where you’re going. You don’t know where the path leads. Like any dark place, it’s scary.

And you just want to sit down, pull a blanket over your head, and make it all stop.

Uh-uh; not an option.

The worst thing you can do during cancer treatment is to “just stop,” emotionally or physically. Cancer is like a journey through grief, or any kind of hardship. You can’t go around it; you can’t fly above it. You have to walk right through it. And stopping only prolongs the misery.

One of the hard lessons I learned during my 10 months of active treatment was to keep moving, no matter what. There were times when I wanted to give up. With surgical drains dangling from my chest, and the queasy, foggy after-effects of 8 hours under anesthesia, I simply wanted to curl into a ball in that hard hospital bed.

In fact, I tried that approach. But I didn’t feel better, physically. And it gave me too much time to think – about the chemo coming next, my Frankenstein chest, and whether I’d be able to hold onto my job.

So I heaved a sigh, got up, and started to walk. Connected to an IV, I grabbed the rattling wheeled rack with its saline drip, and started making circuits around the nurses’ station. I saw their wide-eyed looks of surprise.

“So, is it OK for me to do this?”

“Sure, go for it. Just be careful of that IV and your drains.”

That was my first experience with exercise during breast cancer treatment. But it certainly wasn’t my last. Through chemo, pneumonia, radiation, lymphedema, and hormone therapy, I figured out a way to exercise.

Even now, years later, I’m dealing with cancer through exercise, having shaped my current fitness program to address the bone loss brought on by Arimidex.

You may think rest is going to make you feel better. And in some cases, you’ll be right. But over and over again, I’ve found that moving – not sitting – is the ticket to healing: not just your body, but your mind and heart, too.

The following information will help you figure out how to stay active all the way through breast cancer treatment – from diagnosis, through hormone therapy.
my post on exercise:

Let’s begin. FIRST – and I emphasize this, because this is always your first step – check with your doctor. After surgery, ask your surgeon. During chemo or other treatments, ask your oncologist. But always – ALWAYS – connect with your doctor prior to starting an exercise program. Even if you’re a veteran gym rat, your doctor has to OK any exercise program you undertake while under active treatment.

Surgery
For most women, surgery is the initial step on the path. First comes the biopsy, then lumpectom(ies), or mastectomy, perhaps reconstruction. How should you exercise after surgery?

The very best, safest way is under the guidance of a professional, at least initially. Prior to your operation, ask your surgeon for a referral to a physical therapist. Your goal is to get back the strength and range of motion in the arm on your affected side, in order to avoid shoulder problems and possible lymphedema down the road.