I am currently lying in hospital after a so far 7 night stay. I am post chemo for Hairy Cell Leukaemia treatment that commenced 17 days ago. I am doing well enough but it's a struggle. ( I previously was successfully treated for the same chronic condition 9 years ago). My normal weight is around 80kg (I'm a 59yo male). I think I got down to 79kg prior to treatment this time - we actively sought exercise in the prior weeks through bushwalking, walking my dog and just general DIY stuff at home. I certainly this chemo campaign a lot fitter than the first time.
Post the first 5 days of chemo this time I dropped a kilo - it's hard to maintain appetite. Managing the fever that got me hospital admission meant that I have to take in a lot of fluid via IV. I reached a quite bloated 83.5kg only 2 days ago. I then shed 1.7kg in 1 day (no vomiting involved) - I'm sure this is pretty hard to achieve through normal gym work. My goal yesterday for today's weigh-in is 81kg. Though my nurse just told me she administered 500ml (so 0.5kg overnight). I'm guessing being down to 81.4kg is more realistic now. I couldn't exercise much yesterday as I was also taking onboard a weekly chemo infusion. Hopefully I'll be able to do some laps of the hospital ward balcony with my trolley as I did two days ago. I definitely exercise in hospital (walking) as much as my capacity allows.
A lot of the daily fluctuations in weight, even in just everyday life for people not in hospitals, involves changes in water weight rather than actual changes in the tissue mass.
For example, I regularly fluctuate +/- 3lbs or so around my true weight over the course of a day.
Looking at daily values can give a distorted picture, but if you use those daily weighings to average into weekly numbers, you can track changes.
For anyone interested further in this topic and generally the four horsemen(t2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease), the book Outlive by Peter Attia is a very good general overview of factors that affect each, how medicine will need to evolve to a more preventative stance to move the needle on these diseases, what biomarkers are being discovered for these diseases.
His general stance is that by the time someone is diagnosed with any of these, it is far too late to have sustainable, effective treatment for many.
Its not exactly a short read, but is very eye opening.
When I was undergoing chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma, I tried to keep up some exercise but it was just too difficult. I ended up needing to take a drug to boost my white blood cell production so that treatment could continue. White blood cells are produced in your bones and this drug made it feel like every bone in your body was broken. It was awful.
Had I known this at the time, I probably would've forced myself to ride my indoor stationary bike every day if it would've helped avoid that immune booster drug.
I take the same injections, but further take Claritin as recommended and I’ve not experienced any bone pain. I’m also younger so that may play a factor, idk.
I workout before & after chemo days (later days I’m mostly just walking to get 10k steps).
Interesting. I'm about to start chemotherapy in a month or so, and I've been told that I'm supposed to get it injected while pedalling on an exercise bike.
Could it be for the same reason as mentioned in the article: better distribution of the cancer-fighting thing to where the cancer is?
My cancer centre only delivers chemo while ina comfy recliner. They encourage gentle exercise each day. For me this is walking with my dog and wife, and maybe a little safe DIY. I have low platelets and WCC at the moment so can't afford to do anything to rigourous.
Lance Armstrong still did hard training rides between chemotherapy sessions. While his reputation is tarnished by doping and legal disputes, if you look at his case purely from a medical standpoint it indicates that more rigorous exercise could benefit some cancer patients depending on their overall state. (I am just making a general comment, not about your particular case.)
Interesting exception is that there have been a number of anecdotal reports of aerobic exercise during Covid recovery being a major contributor to chances of getting long Covid.
i've always opposed the "you're sick therefore you should rest" advice, your lymph nodes are mechanical pumps, maybe you shouldn't go run 10 miles or do heavy lifting but definitely walk around or ride a bike if you feel up to it
Correct. rest is as important for recovery as exercise. gentle exercise, ie walking, to your energy capacity is good. Your brain also uses energy. I registered some domain names and obtained a business number during the wee hours yesterday ( not everyone is excited by this, but I can't really control my enthusiastic brain). I definitely need more rest than exercise at this point. I'm using my smartwatch to track my "body battery" which is helpful.
There are very few ailments for which complete bed rest is a good idea. Unless the patient is in an ICU or something it is almost always beneficial to get up and move around as much as possible. This prevents muscle atrophy and helps keep circulatory, lymphatic, and digestive systems working normally.
If you disagree then please provide medical journal citations.
Readit News
Post the first 5 days of chemo this time I dropped a kilo - it's hard to maintain appetite. Managing the fever that got me hospital admission meant that I have to take in a lot of fluid via IV. I reached a quite bloated 83.5kg only 2 days ago. I then shed 1.7kg in 1 day (no vomiting involved) - I'm sure this is pretty hard to achieve through normal gym work. My goal yesterday for today's weigh-in is 81kg. Though my nurse just told me she administered 500ml (so 0.5kg overnight). I'm guessing being down to 81.4kg is more realistic now. I couldn't exercise much yesterday as I was also taking onboard a weekly chemo infusion. Hopefully I'll be able to do some laps of the hospital ward balcony with my trolley as I did two days ago. I definitely exercise in hospital (walking) as much as my capacity allows.
For example, I regularly fluctuate +/- 3lbs or so around my true weight over the course of a day.
Looking at daily values can give a distorted picture, but if you use those daily weighings to average into weekly numbers, you can track changes.
Dead Comment
His general stance is that by the time someone is diagnosed with any of these, it is far too late to have sustainable, effective treatment for many.
Its not exactly a short read, but is very eye opening.
Metabolic processes and immune pathways are closely interlinked together (such as through the mTOR pathway).
Activate mTOR and you get the signal for T cells to proliferate as well as muscle growth, especially in the context of hypertrophy.
Had I known this at the time, I probably would've forced myself to ride my indoor stationary bike every day if it would've helped avoid that immune booster drug.
I workout before & after chemo days (later days I’m mostly just walking to get 10k steps).
Off weeks I’m cycling and lifting.
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/1999/jul/18/focus.ne...
i've always opposed the "you're sick therefore you should rest" advice, your lymph nodes are mechanical pumps, maybe you shouldn't go run 10 miles or do heavy lifting but definitely walk around or ride a bike if you feel up to it
If you disagree then please provide medical journal citations.