ok so i read walknlites post about getting some exercise. andy lays in bed all day. sleeps most of the day but does get up to get on computer-has to read the n.y. papers-for about 30 minutes. he is up about 1 hour each day, the rest is in bed.

i have been making him stay in bed. when he gets up, i tell him to lay down...that he needs to rest. i didnt realize he needed exercise...just rest. am i hurting him???

i also do not let him do anything around the house. i didnt want him to over exert himself. if he tries to do anything, i make him stop. should i let him do stuff?? he always says that he wants to help because im doing too much, so i just took it that he really doesnt feel like doing anything but he felt guilty that i had to do everything.

geez...please let me know what yall think on this subject. how much exercise (i would think walking)???
should i let him do stuff around the house?? he basically did all the cooking, dusting and floors (we have tile floors)-i did the kitchen/bathrooms and laundry.
we have a track right by the house, and since i definately need exercise (i wanted to start running again-my passion) should i take him and let him walk while i run???

Teresa,

My doctors strongly urged me to keep exercising through my treatment! It actually helps reduce fatigue, lifts the mood and is better for your body in the long run. I walked, did housework and took care of my pets throughout my treatment and recovery.

I'd recommend doing as much activity as one can but being mindful to not 'over-do' and with proper attention to nutritional/hydration needs. I also think reading papers and books was extremely important for me - kept those synapses firing and reduces time spent mulling about how horrible it all was.

- Margaret

Teresa,
My PCP told me I was so clogged because of lack of exercise. All I wanted to do was rest and sleep, but she said without exercise abd no movement the body really can not do what it is supposed to do. I will be getting out my WII fit a few minutes a day and have fun while moving things around.

Teresa,

You should let him do what he feels comfortable doing. If he feels up to cleaning the floor or making dinner, let him. I'm not sure I would take him to the track, he may feel obligated to overdo it, but I would definitly get him out for a short walk every day you can.

Kelly

Angelia,

Are you measuring your fluid intake daily as well? And I do mean measuring. You should know how much water is going into you each day that you are in treatment. Use that Peg and pour, pour, pour water several times a day (or during your feedings) but make sure it is room temp or a little warm so your tummy takes it OK. So important and something that can easily be forgotten when it is so difficult to swallow. This should definitely help your digestive track.

Deb

Teresa,
Definitely let him do what he feels up to doing. All lying in bed all days does is cause muscle loss. When one is losing all that weight, one doesn't need more muscle loss from inactivity. He is probabaly sleeping so much from boredom. I know I did. They may be a point when he will be to tired to do stuff, but don't go there unless it is necessary. A nice walk in the park is always good if it is possible this time of year. Good for the body and the soul.

Take care,
Eileen

Hi Teresa,

When I was in treatment, I exercised daily - floor exercises, weights, recumbant bike. I also took walks with my wife (caregiver) daily.

Now, the flip side was that I did not work very hard at it - I didn't want to use up very many of those precious calories (that were so hard to maintain).

So, for me the exercise was a way to "keep moving", and like others said were a spirit boost - and I think had some (although probably not much) value as exercise.

Unfortunately, this did not help my bowels much and by the end of treatment I was horrifically stopped up.

Best wishes,

Chris

My 3 Drs in Wheeling all 3 told mme that they wish all of their patients were like me and kept busy,, and drank plenty of water and other fluids. I drink no less than 8 1 1/2 bottles of spring watewr daily and more on quite a few of them. I work out 2 to 3 times a day also. I work out until my body says no more , go sit a pell. LOL I do feel great except for the mouth, tongue and throat area. The rest is like it belongs to some much younger guy. Let him help you and do what he wants. It will do both of you good. Heck, I even hand dig my garden and mom grass 2 times a week when it is growing. In this weather I find other things. I just put in close to 20 hrs cleaning and detailing one of my daughters cars so she can get a few bucks out of it. I do all of the house work because I have no choice. LOL But I enjoy that for the exercise too. Not to bad for a guy that is veery close to 74 very soon and has 4 major surgeries plus lesser ones.

I should have added that my daughter is the Charge Nurse of the Heart Unit of the Hospital in Steubenville and encourages me. I don't know if it is because of the Love she has for her hormoned Dad or wants my ex to get my life Insurance . LOL J/K

I worked out as much as I could during treatment. I did resistance training, walked outside, walked stairs, kept busy and did what I could. It kept me occupied and allowed me to feel at least like I was contributing and a bit productive.

I just liked working out anyway...gave me some normalcy.

Teresa,

I was riding my bike appx 100 miles a week pre Tx, pretty much a exercise nut in my entire adulthood, but I stopped exercising one month pre Tx and focused on trying to gain weight on the advice of my RO. I did try and take an occasional walk around the neighborhood during Tx but I even stopped that when I went "south" around week 4. Post Tx I tried bike riding in my 4th month post but that sucked due to dry mouth and then came Tax Season so it wasn't until month 9 post Tx that I really resumed my bike riding and by then I was ready and in no time I was riding with the big boys again.

To sum my thoughts up, I was more concentrated on not loosing weight and surviving my Tx than I was interested in exercising or even walking which I hate with a passion anyway.

Hi Teresa,

Like David I was an very active triathlete before my treatment. For some reason the treatment really kicked my butt!I did manage to walk 6 days a week wither around the neighborhood on down by the beach. I would walk for 20 min or so. I was lucky in that my wike, kids, friends would not let me say no. I remember on several occations me yelling at my wife that I did not want to go out and she would keep the preasure on me until I did.

one poster mentioned hydration. This is one area that I should have spent more attention to. I did become deyhdraded on several occcations. It made me weak and great Fatigue...make sure you get the fluids!

BTW, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I can ride my bike and swim again, a bit slower and I have to deal with the dry mouth

Steve

thanks for the tips all. the RO suggested letting him walk. whatever he can tolerate, let him do. and told me to stop babying him because he will continue to lay in bed if i do.

i made him take the stairs today (one flight), he growled at me but did it! i told him later we were going to walk our yorkie around the block...i think he is actually looking forward to getting out of the house...we will see.

From DX through most of TX I just walked.

After they put the PEG in jogging, biking, or gym didn't seem like a good ideas for me.

I had a lot of PEG problems (local pain, swelling, infection, bleeding), but don't think I could have managed without it.

After TX my stamina was pretty poor, so one of my doctors suggested I go back to the gym. I did and accidentally hit my PEG -- it was a bloody mess. So I dumped the gym idea and went back to just walking until I got the PEG out.

Just a question....when we get a cold or even worse, the flu, we are told to REST and drink plenty of fluids, etc. I don't ever remember being told to go home and exercise or even walk around the block. Hardly any of us heed that advice but nonetheless that's still the wisdom coming from the medical profession.

So now we get Stage IV cancer and we are being poisoned and radiated to a near death state and some cancer doctor's advice is to put more (certainly more than resting in bed) strain on our bodies by walking around the block or even worse exercising?

Sorry, I must have missed the class on How to Jump Off a Bridge and Survive but I don't see any direct or remote physical benefit from exercising during treatment or even for months post Tx.

Walking every day even it was just around the block really helped me get my strength back. I was fairly active prior to surgery but the curgery really knocked me off my feet. The treatment also made me lose a lot of weight so excercise to burn calories seemed counter productive. Gentl yoga stretches really helped me relax and helped me work out the stiffness in my neck etc.

David,
It doesn't sound like you ever broke anything or you would know how quickly you lose muscle. That's why they get us into PT as soon as possible. No one is suggesting you go out and hike 5 miles. Just don't lie around in bed all day doing nothing until the treatment makes it impossible for you to take a 10 minute walk or whatever you like that keeps you moving. Stretching also works.

Take care,
Eileen

No disrespect intended but I don't equate Stage IV cancer and it's wonderfully barbaric Tx to recovering from a broken bone. I still see no logic in putting more, even slightly more, stress on our body while our body is in perhaps the worst fight of it's life and needs every ounce of strength to keep up the battle. I laid on my bed from about the 4 week of Tx until the 3rd week post.

David,
I so want to agree with you, but I laid in bed the moment Istarted treatment and never got up except to go to the bathroom or to treatment. I think what my PCP was telling me is that I needed to get a little more movement to keep things moving. I would love to stay in bed all day now, but both my psych and pcp have told me to get some more activity.

David, you knucklehead...the docs are trying to get Angelia's gut to start working better. You talk about how bad your problems got (constipation)...maybe if you had gotten up and walked a little, it might have helped....along with other things.

Even people a day or so out of major surgery are encouraged to get out of bed and walk...for a number of reasons. Eileen's right...muscle mass and a lot of other things deteriorate when you are bedridden.

I just think David has a mild case of hypothermia of the brain tonight...it's cold here in Florida.

Deb

David,

Studies prove that getting up and just walking during radiation helps alleviate fatigue. That was good enough for me! Plus, I would have been bored out of my skull and beyond frustrated if I hadn't gotten up, walked and cared for my animals.

Fact is everyone is different, every situation is different and making blanket statements regarding whether someone should or should not exercise during treatment is idiocy. People are beginning to sound like ignorant medical professionals on this thread or worse yet, physical therapists and personal trainers.

The American Cancer Society has pointed to several studies that show the psychological and physical benefits of exercise during treatment...notably decreased fatigue and improved sense of well being. However depending on what medications a patient is on and the side effects they may be experiencing, exercise wouldn't be recommended.

Let's take for example if you are on a duralgesic patch medicine delivery system that is heat activated. Raising your body tempature results in the release of more medication into your blood stream and potentially harming you when the spike in medication hits you after working through your skin to your bloodstream.

Or for example you are on high doses of pain meds like many of us have experienced...even walking without assistance can be tricky and potentially dangerous. I had a goal to exercise throughout treatment as I was an exercise fanatic precancer. Try exercising on 200mcg/hr of fentanyl and 60mg of oxycodone for breakthrough pain...even walking was difficult.

Working closely with the head of a patients medical team is the best advice anyone could give...let the medical professional that is most familiar with a patients treatment and overall wellbeing be the judge as to whether exercise is appropriate or not.

Deb,

That's Mr Nucklehead to you!

Eric, Margaret, Angelia and everyone else,

I wasn't talking about moving around the house and I wasn't talking about any other cancer Tx other than what we typically have to endure. I was merely pointing out I just don't see any logic to exercising, however mildly, when we are in the throws of our brutal and barbaric Tx. I tried to consume 2000 cals a day during Tx and I lost a tremendous amount of weight like everyone else, I consumed 3000 cals a day post Tx for over a year and I didn't gain a pound so my logic tells me that my body was really working behind the scenes in overtime and I just don't see the overall benefit to add any more stress to it.

Certainly I'm not a Biophysicist or whatever someone might be called that could really answer this question but that's just my thinking.

Re this COLD crap we have here....the news reported this am that's it's the worse cold snap we have had in 25 years. So my question to Al G is WHERE EXACTLY IS THIS GLOBAL WARMING????

Not surprisingly, I'm in solidarity with DavidCPA & EricS on this one. My exercise routine was intensive, 7 days a week, before TX. During TX, walking from the couch to the car to go to radiation was quite enough thank you. Now I am back at the gym, even though I have this damn PEG tube. If you were in shape before TX, you can get back in shape easily. If you were not in shape before, you are just like most of the doctors. Either way, exercise during TX is optional IMO,
Charm

You exercise freaks are not reading these posts correctly. NOBODY has suggested anyone go out for any EXERCISE to burn calories and raise heart rate or any of that crap. We are talking a leisurely stroll from point a to point b to keep the muscles moving and get your bum out of bed while you still have the energy. The fact that your might do it in the park or some other place in the fresh air might improve your spirits, although not in this weather.

And noone even remotely suggested that stage 4 or even 2 cancer is the same as breaking a bone, but the muscle loss from totaly inactivity can be the same and it can take months of PT or exercise to regain that muscle. You just don't want to stay in bed 20 hours a day out of boredom. This treatemt will eventually put you there. Don't go there until you have to.

Eileen

I think we have gotten a bit far from the original question. Teresa was not letting Andy do anything, even when he wanted to. The doctor said he should do some walking.

This is a far cry from exercising; it is just a bit of physical activity every day at a level the patient can tolerate. I think her basic question was do you just stay in bed for the duration, or can you get up and about if you feel up to it?

The answer looks to be that it's not going to hurt and may help if you get up and about a bit every day at a level you feel you can comfortably tolerate.

Eric�s point is well taken also. The level of medication you are taking may heavily influence what you chose to do or not to do.

Kelly

Thank you Kelly. It seems this could develope into a rift on here which we in no way need. We are here to heelp each each other and understand that we are all diffenert and are composed of different thoughts and ideas. Be nice friends to each other. It just so happens that what I did helped me and might kill someone else. Don't want that for sure.

Jim, what are you talking about?? Everyone has been nice...there is no rift here...just a conversation from varying points of view. I hope you know that I called David "knucklehead" because.....well, he is one

We are all on the same team here...no worries.

Deb

Deb I agree with the Knucklehead name LOL even if he is pretty intelligent and likeable.

Hey....this is turning into a David bashing post!!! I would rather have a rift than a me bashing. JM2C's

WOW!! this was a touchy subject. you all crack me up. but kelly was right, i wasnt talking about exercise as much as just SOME movement. i asked his RO, and she said if he could tolerate it, a SLOW walk would be ok. absolutely nothing that would raise his body temp or heart rate, just to stimulate muscle.
but as of his 19th and 20th treatment...he is in that dark tunnel. he will not be doing any walks. he needed help getting to the bathroom last nite.

he got a fever last nite 101.6..thought i was going to have to take him to the hospital, but it came down before the MO called me back.

i am going to repost last nights detail under another topic and start a new feed.

I don't think fever is unusual but you need to get it treated. I spiked a 101. something on day 9 and developed a rampant case of thrush. Antibiotics brought the fever down. No amount of meds seemed to get rid of the thrush. It would be 6 months and I think steroids before I finally got rid of the thrush. Of course, no one ever told me I shouldn't be eating anything 'white'.

He's allowed to stay in bed with fever. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Take care,
Eileen

I remember in the throws of my Tx comparing getting out of bed and taking a shower, drying off, putting back on bedware and returning to my bed akin to running a marathon!!

absolutely! I felt the same way. Day to day life is exhausting. Its hard to understand that concept until you've been that sick.

I just have a hard time getting out of bed, I am always cold and staying under the covers and being cozy is always nice. I know that the next few days are going be harder as well since we are going to dip into the teens and single digit temps outside.

I remember getting into the bathtub and couldn't get back out after a hot bath. I had to crawl over the side and felt foolish for getting the floor all wet. That was my 1st day home after the implants. Geez, talk about weak. From then on it was back to a shower daily. I never imagined I could get that weak. Had that damn thrush too for awhile. It's hard to imagine getting that frail and weak but it happened . Like everything else, it all takes time.

thank u all for the responses.
after emergency hydration, he is feeling better. still in bed, but better.

I had to go to the ER twice to get a bag or 2 since Moffitt was 45 miles away and I always seemed to have to do it on a 3 day weekend. I'm sure we all have experienced the frustrations dealing with ER people in trying to get them to understand WE JUST NEED A BAG AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

I was cold to and I was Tx'ed in July - August in Florida!

Last night the weatherman's forcast for Sat - low near 30, high 45 and a 40% of SNOW/FREEZING STUFF in the am with winds 15 - 25 mph out of the N. Then turning COLDER for Sunday. Is someone kidding me!! This better be one of the 99% of the time he is wrong as I get up every Saturday at 5am and set up a tent at our Saturday Mourning Market that goes until 2 pm. BTW this is for my wife's restaurant, was her idea and she sleeps in with the dogs snuggled next to her. Just saying...

David, How would you like to have about 18 inches on the ground and expecting maybe 2 to 4 tonite and the same for the next 2 days. This is ridiclous and hard on this old guy and his snowblower and snow shovel. Can I move in with the dog?? LOL

David, we are sitting at 15 degrees and 9 degrees is our high for tomorrow. I would love a high of 45.

Please understand it's all relative. We are just plain not equiped for cold weather because it's so rare we get it and especially so many days in a row. Most of the time we get a cold front that moves thru and lasts all of a day and then we're back to normal. This cold snap has lasted 9 days now and it will be at least until Tues before things start to return. Yesterday we had planes that had to sit on the tarmac until the sun came up to get "deiced"!! After one lives in Florida for only a short time something happens to our bodies and we just don't/can't/won't whatever deal with what you might call cool temps. Not to mention that we have to dig thru boxes, etc just to find something to put on.

So now I sit here waiting to see if the Sat Mourning Market people will close tomorrow so I won't be faced with waking up at 5 to check the weather to see if I'll be setting up in the frozen stuff. It's just NOT Florida if we have to be out there exposed to all that weather with a 10 x 10 open sided tent. With winds like that and even with weights on the frames we can't put sides on the tent because they act as sails and we risk the tent flying off across the parking lot. I mean who in the world would want to come out and listen to music and enjoy the Market with 20 mph winds, temps that will only reach a high of 44 and a 50% chance of something falling on them!!

I have been watching the National weather and they say the same as you do. This is a long spell of cold for Fla. Really it is long for us too. I don't remember it staying in the single digits at nite or around 20 in the daytime for years.. Supposed to grasdually warm up here next week.

A very nice 77 degrees today in San Diego.

I will be in Florida in a week, so I guess I will have to bring this California weather with me.

(Hope all this good weather will fit in my carry-on)

i know, this weather is CRAZY. 19 degrees in houston...come on! the last time it snowed here and actually stuck to the ground for a day was nov. 1989, houston made national headlines for having the most car accidents in one day...over 2000! we are definately not used to this weather. send up the heat!!!

Don,

Maybe the weather is already getting ready for you as the forcast is for our weather to return to normal (70-50) by next Thurs. Glad you are coming!!