How long?

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, someone told me it is a year out of your life and then you get back to some sort of normal.

Another blogger this morning announced that after two years of blogging about her Hodgkins Disease she is moving on to blog about social media and other things. Her cancer adventure has slid into the background of her life - right on schedule as she had been told when she was diagnosed.

The wise people who tell us the deadlines on our diseases are not doctors or medical specialists but usually other patients reflecting on their experience and what they have been told by other patients.

So how do you put a schedule on a cancer diagnosis? My life, six years out from diagnosis two, is a never ending stream of doctor appointments. Well yes I did develop additional, non cancer ailments - bad back, rheumatoid, fibromyalgia, but at every doctor appointment there is still a little cancer hanging in the room. Maybe if I could go back to annual physicals I would be more relaxed about it.

I just don't think I can ever put a date on the end of cancer stress. The little cancer roller coaster rides through my life like the little train that could. I don't see an end of the line for it.

Maybe I am a bit pessimistic these days but I am tired. I just woke up and still need a nap. The nap is the fibro/RA speaking to me. I do need to go to the grocery store and want to go for a walk in this nice weather.

But I would like to kick that little cancer train out of my life....

Blah, blah, blah, exercise...

Cancer people are special. You can't just categorize us and tell us to get out and exercise. We need more than that. We need a bit of hand holding and direction. We have concerns about what we are capable of and may have new limitations that we are unsure about.

Several new studies (of course they were needed to keep researchers busy) were announced at ASCO earlier this summer. The conclusions were:

• Clear benefits were shown in several studies of exercise during and after treatment help decrease side effects and reduce the risk of recurrence. 
• Cancer patients need a bit more direction than 'just go exercise' they need help with what time of exercise to do -  whether newly starting or adding to an existing exercise regimen.

I took part in the Pink Program which was a collaboration between the local YMCA and funded by a grant. The Pink Program was a sixteen week exercise program which incorporated lots of stretching and gentle exercise. I felt the benefits quickly of more flexibility and it led me to join a real gym and go there regularly.

My feeling is that exercise is good and it relieves a lot of stress and prevents many diseases (this is from the person who spent most of yesterday on the living room couch). But after surgeries where I had lymphedema issues and my back started to go bad, getting started in a regular exercise program was harder than I thought. I have many limitations that prevent me from doing basic things - no treadmill, no twisting my back, no jumping up and down, and more.

But with guidance from trainers, I have learned what I can and can't do. It has been  a learning experience but for the first time in my life I have stomach and arm muscles.

So before more researchers get rich deciding what cancer people need for exercise, talk to your doctor about limitations and then find a trainer who can work with you to figure out what you can do.

Finally someone sensible when faced with cancer

I have always been overwhelmed by the stupidity of normal people when they hear the word cancer when referring to other people. They either turn into loud mouth idiots spouting uneducated and therefore unwanted advice, or they run for the hills and pretend the person with cancer no longer exists. I'm not saying everyone does this but an amazingly large number do. I'm not sure which is worse - the ones who run for the hills or the ones who give the bad advice.

But now we have an example of a person who is sensible and sensitive enough to ask 'what should I do to help my friend who is faced with cancer' and even wrote in to Annie's Mailbox. Basically the answer comes back as:

- treat them as you normally would
- expect a little more reticence than normal
- don't offer advice and try not to be patronizing 'I know how you must feel...'

And I like this reply. People with cancer are exactly that - PEOPLE with an ailment. Do you treat a friend with the flu any differently than one with cancer? You shouldn't.