Guest Blogger, David Haas

I'd like to introduce you to David Haas, fellow blogger and cancer patient advocate. Today David is guest posting on my blog about fitness  following a cancer diagnosis. I hope you'll enjoy!
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Fitness to Help Combat Cancer

A cancer diagnosis, whether it is Prostate Cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, or even a rare diagnosis such as a mesothelioma prognosis, is a stressful and challenging time for any individual. Cancer treatments are often painful and result in physical exhaustion in the body. While it might seem that adding exercise or fitness training to cancer treatments would only further exhaust the body, it actually helps increase energy levels.

Exercise is beneficial to the body. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer patients who get moderate exercise between 3 to 5 hours a week are more likely to survive cancer than patients who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Exercise Options For Cancer Patients:

Patients who are diagnosed with cancer such as breast cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, colon cancer , and especially Prostate cancer often benefit from different types of exercise programs. Numerous options are available depending on physical fitness level and personal interests.

• Yoga is one exercise option that is beneficial to cancer patients. Joining a yoga class will not only provide moderate and gentle exercise, but also helps relieve stress and anxiety associated with cancer. For some patients who experience negative side effects like nausea from the cancer treatments, yoga might help with the side effects as well.

• Anita Kellman’s Beat Cancer Boot Camp is an exercise program based on military exercises that is designed to help empower cancer patients and survivors. This program is designed specifically for cancer patients and helps improve the chances of beating cancer one pushup at a time while also encouraging camaraderie and support during tough times.

• Getting help from a personal trainer who works specifically with cancer patients is often a great way to get personalized exercise to deal with specific health needs. For example, breast cancer patients might require exercise to burn fat gained because of the cancer while a patient with gastrointestinal cancer would need to work on building lean muscle to minimize muscle wasting.

• Walking is a gentle exercise that is appropriate for most cancer patients. A twenty-minute walk each day will help improve cancer survival chances without harming the body or overtaxing the body.

Conclusion:

Exercise is beneficial in fighting cancer. While studies are still determining the exact effects exercise has on cancer, doctors have determined that moderate exercise increases the rate of surviving cancer, increases energy and improves the mood of patients who are fighting cancer. Patients should always discuss the most appropriate exercise programs and options with a doctor for their individual health needs.

By: David Haas

Family Vacation Memories

Mini golfing in Ocean City, MD.

Click HERE to view more from our summer vacation to Ocean City!

A Smoking Gun?

It's been a year since I began playing detective in my own health answers! This week brought some news that may be the smoking gun in my year long pain in my right side. When I approached my oncologist several weeks ago to explain that I was feeling unusually fatigued, he ordered up blood work. That was when my B-12 came back very low and he started me on oral Rx strength supplements.

One month later, I felt no better so he re-tested me and although the numbers were rising (which is a good sign), they still were not near where they needed to be so he ordered up another test (which I turned up positive for) of a very rare condition called Anti Periental Antibody causing Megaloblastic Anemia. This means that my stomach lining is not able to absorb B-12 and my liver could be using up the stores it has, hence the liver pain. He is referring me back to gastrenterology. As I am beginning to read more on the net about these disorders, I am learning that they can be a side effect of having received chemotherapy. He believes that it may be treatable using an antibiotic that stays in the stomach and kills off the bacteria that are destroying  my body's ability to produce mechanisms for absorbing nutrients.  He wants me to discuss this with the G.I. doc. Funny thing is that this all began when I was referred to G.I. for the esophageal strictures I had last year. The G.I. doctor never considered this condition, possibly because it is only found in 2% of the general population.  Needless to say, I think we are on to something!  Here's to keeping my fingers crossed that this might lead me to the relief I've been waiting for!

We are going to the Maryland beach this week with all 4 kids, renting a condo, and spending some much needed rest together! Tim's condition has not improved but he has faxed all of his records to a specialist at UVA Medical Center who he has been authorized to receive a 2nd opinion from.  While a high percentage exists that Parsonage Turner Syndrome is the correct diagnosis, his right hand pain and numbness, loss of dexterity and certain other signs point to a possible spinal cause. This doctor is a neuro-spine surgeon.  In either case, we pray that he can find some relief soon and even a few days laying on a beach will be a nice break from daily physical therapy and office work.

"Til next time!

Dog Tired

Maybe it's just the dog days of summer, or 100* temps in July, but my fatigue continues and causes me to feel like taking a nap every day after just being awake a few hours. This is after a full 8-9 solid hours of sleep at night. More likely, it is my B-12 deficiency, a form of anemia. It is a "tired" unlike even chasing the 4 kids under age 5 that I had under foot may years ago! I can only describe it as a close 2nd to the fatigue I had during chemo....like the blood has been drained from my body. Yeah, like that. Where's that pillow? I have closed my business for the next couple of weeks while I try catching up on outstanding orders and work on things around the house that have gotten behind.

My oncologist called last week to say that although my B-12 numbers are climbing in the right direction, they are not what they should be (at only about half the normal level) and he wants me to be re-tested in 5 weeks. I am continuing the daily Rx strength B-12 supplements. I'm hoping we can get to full levels in that time and start to feel more energetic again. August has me scheduled for a pelvic ultrasound (pain on right continues - almost a year now), a mammogram and a dermatology follow up. Are we having fun yet?

Last weekend we went up to New York City to take Keith and Kelli to  Broadway show, starring our long time family friend and 2011 Tony Award winner, Norbert Butz, in Catch Me If You Can. (Click on the photo, then the little arrows to the right and scroll through the rest of the photos.) What a thrill! We surprised the kids by arranging to meet Norb backstage after the show.  He was so gracious to take the time to talk to Kelli about her musical interests, and she was star struck, also meeting the other lead, Aaron Tviet when she asked him to take our picture (not realizing it was HIM!)

Monday morning found us back at Walter Reed meeting with the rehab doctors for Tim's condition. He continues to battle through the paralysis (left side) and numbness, nerve pain and limited mobility on right side.  He will be seeking a 2nd opinion from a renown spinal nerve doctor at University of Virginia in the coming weeks.

Fortunately we have the boys home from college for another couple of weeks to do things around the yard and house. After August 23rd we will officially be empty nesters!  We plan to try squeezing in a family beach trip in a couple of weeks and enjoy some rest on the sands in Maryland's shores. "Til then! ~ Koryn

Central Park, NYC

Blessings

It's been a long time since I have posted. Life has sort of consumed us these past few weeks. Summertime should be a time of rest and relaxing, but we have been spinning our wheels to and from the doctors, and it seems to be a trip in futility lately. "What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near"...the words of this song ring very true in our house right now - for 7+ weeks Tim has suffered through what is now believed to be Parsonage Turner Syndrome, a rare disease that attacks the brachial plexus nerve bundles of the spine and shoulder, creating pain, numbness, and weakness and a now palsy in his left arm and severe, sharp pains in his right hand, making even the simplest tasks impossible.  Physical and occupational therapy appointments flood his calendar while he juggles full time work at  the Pentagon. Fortunately he has a very understanding work environment. He is seeking special equipment for keyboard and phone use to make his job easier, and there is a place within the building that will provide those. When he went to check it out the woman working there had no arms at all.  He said that was a real wake up call. We are blessed.

The neighbors and our kids are pitching in to help with the work Tim normally would be doing at home during the summer. Kayaking, golf, fishing, are all out of the question for now. The prognosis is a 2-5 year recovery with varying degrees of outcomes. That is a tough pill to swallow for someone who has always been very active, NEVER sick, never had surgery or even a sniffle.  So we go to the movies, browse Best Buy and Costco, eat out and try to stay busy with friends.

The little things found here and there on my recent MRIs and Pet Scans now pale in comparison, and while I am seeking to get to the bottom of a nearly year-long pain on my right side, it is not debilitating and I will get answers when it is time. For now, I am waiting to hear from my ob/gyn as to her thoughts on recent test results.  I leave on Wednesday with Kelli for Pittsburgh for her American Idol audition, which we are all very excited about! She leaves for college in just 6 weeks, a very exciting but sad day in our household, well, at least for me and Tim who are about to become Empty Nesters! I hope you'll enjoy the song below and remember as we are, that God's ways are not our ways, but His love is deep.We covet your prayers!
 

Now That Explains A Lot!

I paid a visit to the oncologist this week. I have been extremely fatigued and have continued having pain on my right rib cage side. The fatigue is what cancer survivors term 'chemo fatigue', which is a type of "tired" that I only ever felt while going through chemo a couple of years ago. It comes in waves, but hits hard and makes me feel like I must lay down and SLEEP right away. Just a total lack of energy by 10:30 a.m. and this after a full 9 hours of good sleep at night! The doctor ordered two tests. One, a blood test to check for anemia, and another, a PET scan to check and make sure cancer hasn't spread anywhere. The blood work came back very evident that I have a B-12 deficiency. He prescribed mega doses of B-12 and told me that if I didn't feel better in a couple of weeks we would start B-12 shots and see why my body isn't absorbing B-12 through my diet. So this explains a lot!  Now I wait for the PET scan which is scheduled for 2 weeks from now.   I had a clear one of those in November, so I am not expecting them to find anything earth shattering.  Still, it will be nice to get another all clear from cancer!

I also had a pelvic/uterine ultrasound this week and am still waiting for those results. Something lit up on my MRI in February that was non-descript. The gyn. wanted me to wait a couple menstrual cycles before looking again via U.S. When I had the exam I told the tech about it and she said, "No 'it's' still there. I see it". Of course, she can't tell me what it might be or what she thinks, so the radiologist is looking at the views and I hope to hear this week. I will admit I'm a bit curious. It is in the myometrium, the inner walls of the uterine muscle, not the lining. Any thoughts from anyone here who may have had this? I'll just say symptoms in this "female" regard are "annoying"...no pain though. (The only reason we found this was in the hunt for what may be causing the pain on my right side, of which this isn't even in the same vicinity!) UPDATE: they believe it is a blood clot in the uterus. nothing to be alarmed by. Leaving things alone for now.

This has been a very eventful week in our family. Kelli, our youngest graduated Summa Cum Laude from high school, so now we are officially "Empty Nesters" once she leaves for college in 2 months. 

Tim had 2 more MRIs of his shoulder and nerves in his neck this week. Please continue praying for him as he has lost use of the left arma nd has new symptoms ion the right arm. We are hoping to hold off surgery and that physical therapy may help. First MRI last week revealed he does have spinal stenosis so something may have to be done eventually but we are praying for pain relief and ability to regain use of the arm. It is in a palsey state. In true form, however, we spent today at a wine festival and he is at a baseball game this evening - nothing holds him down! Nothing!

Am I Atypical?

Apparently I am! That's what the dermatologist called to tell me today. The mole removed from my abdomen last week was determined to be Atypia, in other words, "pre-cancerous", but the margins were clear.  He wants me to be checked again in 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, then every year. (Thanks to my maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather, both of whom had numerous skin cancer lesions). The mole itself was only the size of a small pearl, but quite dark.  Now I am left with what is sure to be a nasty scar, about the size of a large pea, but seeing as I have no intentions of wearing a bikini anytime soon, it is well hidden! If you really must see it, click here.

I have an appointment with my oncologist next week since the pain on my right rib cage area has not improved in almost a year and I have had continued bouts of tender swelling in my groin on that side for over a year as well.  I have numerous sharp, tender "jabs" under my rib cage and towards my back each and every day. At times it is a take-your-breath-away pain, but it is brief and so I deal with it. I've almost become accustom to it, so much so that I have stopped all pain medications because they make me too loopy and I guess I would say that the jabs are tolerable (as much as one can stand being "slugged" in their side every day)! I'll wait to see what tricks Dr. G may have yet left in his bag.  I'm imagining the standard blood work, another scan, and another, "we can't find anything" result but it is what cancer survivors do. It is the drill for at least 5 years, and sometimes beyond.  As much as I would like to let it go, and decide once and for all that this is nothing to worry about, the fact is that I do worry and I feel very strongly that it is not normal. Fortunately for me, neither does my doctor, and he is on a mission to find it.

Summer is officially underway and next week at this time we will be graduating our last high schooler and attending college orientation soon. This same daughter plans on auditioning for American Idol in Pittsburgh later this summer as well. She can only take one parent with her. We'll be fighting over that assignment!