Thursday 27 October 2016

Getting Fit Again After Cancer

As you can imagine 8 months of treatment and then 7 weeks in hospital, most of them feeling pretty rough is not a good way to retain fitness. Colin came out of hospital on September 20th feeling very weak and he spent the first two weeks at home mainly sitting about and sleeping. To begin with even walking round our (very small) garden made his legs ache. Gradually over the last couple of weeks his energy has returned and he feels ready to get fit again.

As advised by  the cancer nurse specialist we asked Macmillan Cancer Care about local gyms that specialize in rehabilitation for cancer patients but found  you still have to pay. Then the lady told us about free sessions run at the hospital which quite frankly sounded so silly  that I think Col is going to stick to walking at least for the time being because he may need some help later building arm muscles.

A car boot sale and then up and down the road  was the first step. Then on the UK Runners and Walkers website you can find out how far you've walked and being in town it's easy just to add a little bit extra each day by taking a different road around the estate. After just 4 days of regular short walks he was able to come with me to Aldi and back, that's just under a mile, not much but a good start.

My fitness levels have also dropped  since moving to town and when I had the awful back and leg pains a few weeks ago I got a bit worried. The doctor told me to refer myself to physio, so I did and they gave me some more exercises for hip movement to add to the ones I already do to help my back. So with these exercises and walking with Colin, I hope by the time we move we'll both be fit again and ready to explore the footpaths round our new home.

Back  at the end of the week
Sue


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