Hi. I was a rower in college and bought my own rower three years ago. It has been a key element for staying in shape, and especially getting back into shape after pregnancy.
Things have changed. In the last month I have had two surgeries for breast cancer - first a bilateral mastectomy and then my axillary lymph nodes removed on one side.
They give you lots of warnings after the lymph node surgery, but few are based on any scientific data. I am confident I will be able to continue to row without problems, but I thought it would be nice to know if there is anyone else out there rowing after this surgery, and what your experience has been.
I did my half marathon on April 30 (1hr 38 min), the day after I was diagnosed. Today I just got back on and did 1250 m in 7 minutes. It's going to be a long haul but I am going to do my best to keep rowing throughout chemo as best I can - I start in July.
Cheers.
Breast cancer survivors?
My wife had chemo, radiation, lumpectomy, and removal of six lymph nodes, and then years later after more cancer in her other breast a bilateral mastectomy.
The radiation and surgery on the left side resulted in damage to the muscle, and a decrease in strength and control. She describes her left arm as "stupider" then the right. It is not a problem on the erg but does make on the water blade work a bit harder, but she does row well overall.
This was over ten years ago before she started rowing. I understand chemo has improved a good deal since then, and of course care can vary wildly from hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor.
The chemo did kill red blood cells, so she was somewhat anemic. And it does depress you immune system. She was very active at the time, but could not do nearly as much during chemo and it did take a few years for her to feel really strong again.
The chemo also resulted in damage to her bone marrow and malformed blood cells. The hematologist said that she would develop leukemia in ten to fifteen years, however it cleared up after a few years. He is very experienced and very regarded as a big wig in the field and said never heard of her condition clearing up.
A few things we discovered during Chemo:
The first time she came home and spent several hours gardening. The second time she went out shopping for a few hours. Both time she then was exhausted for a couple of days. After the second time we realized she was getting a cocktail of drugs including amphetamines with the resulting crash of coming off them. We then insisted that give only the cancer drugs.
The chemo drugs also did some damage to the vane it was injected in. She did much better when we insisted that they really slow the injection rate. The hospital basically wanted to just pump the drugs in and get it over with, but cutting the rate to about half of what they originally did really was much easier on her.
The oncologists primary concern was her survival and they did not pay much attention to the side effects. Many times we would have a doctor dismiss some complaint or say it was unrelated, but the nurses would invariably collaborate it.
The chemo was really tough. She was supposed to do eight months of treatment (I forget the exact protocol). We agonized over stopping two months early and finally asked all the doctors if she could. They were all actually rather blasse (sp?) about it, and had absolutely no objections. We wondered why we agonized so much.
My advice would be to really take it easy. You definitely do want to keep exercising, but nothing hard until well after you chemo is over. We did take a few hiking tripps to Yosimite during the chemo. I took a higher proportion of the weight then normal and we stayed at lower elevation (<8000') then usually and went slower. Everyone's experience is different but don't be too surprised if it takes a few years to fully recover from the treatment.
Good luck with this. It stinks and can be tough but chances are you will be just fine.
She is doing fine now, and actually considers it a relief not to have breasts. I don't mind either. I'm just glad she is alive and healthy.
The radiation and surgery on the left side resulted in damage to the muscle, and a decrease in strength and control. She describes her left arm as "stupider" then the right. It is not a problem on the erg but does make on the water blade work a bit harder, but she does row well overall.
This was over ten years ago before she started rowing. I understand chemo has improved a good deal since then, and of course care can vary wildly from hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor.
The chemo did kill red blood cells, so she was somewhat anemic. And it does depress you immune system. She was very active at the time, but could not do nearly as much during chemo and it did take a few years for her to feel really strong again.
The chemo also resulted in damage to her bone marrow and malformed blood cells. The hematologist said that she would develop leukemia in ten to fifteen years, however it cleared up after a few years. He is very experienced and very regarded as a big wig in the field and said never heard of her condition clearing up.
A few things we discovered during Chemo:
The first time she came home and spent several hours gardening. The second time she went out shopping for a few hours. Both time she then was exhausted for a couple of days. After the second time we realized she was getting a cocktail of drugs including amphetamines with the resulting crash of coming off them. We then insisted that give only the cancer drugs.
The chemo drugs also did some damage to the vane it was injected in. She did much better when we insisted that they really slow the injection rate. The hospital basically wanted to just pump the drugs in and get it over with, but cutting the rate to about half of what they originally did really was much easier on her.
The oncologists primary concern was her survival and they did not pay much attention to the side effects. Many times we would have a doctor dismiss some complaint or say it was unrelated, but the nurses would invariably collaborate it.
The chemo was really tough. She was supposed to do eight months of treatment (I forget the exact protocol). We agonized over stopping two months early and finally asked all the doctors if she could. They were all actually rather blasse (sp?) about it, and had absolutely no objections. We wondered why we agonized so much.
My advice would be to really take it easy. You definitely do want to keep exercising, but nothing hard until well after you chemo is over. We did take a few hiking tripps to Yosimite during the chemo. I took a higher proportion of the weight then normal and we stayed at lower elevation (<8000') then usually and went slower. Everyone's experience is different but don't be too surprised if it takes a few years to fully recover from the treatment.
Good luck with this. It stinks and can be tough but chances are you will be just fine.
She is doing fine now, and actually considers it a relief not to have breasts. I don't mind either. I'm just glad she is alive and healthy.
My mother had a similar problem. She developed anemia after radiation for breast cancer, and the anemia is still a problem several years after her treatment ended.Nosmo wrote: The chemo did kill red blood cells, so she was somewhat anemic. And it does depress you immune system. She was very active at the time, but could not do nearly as much during chemo and it did take a few years for her to feel really strong again.
Best wishes for your treatment, Biosteres. I'm sure it will help tremendously that you're so active and used to a regular exercise routine.
Nosmo, I think a lot of progress has been made in care, both in effectiveness of treatment, and in how doctors deal with patients. I had a similar negative view of the process ten years ago when my dad went through terminal cancer. But now every doctor I have talked to admits that basically we're still in the stone age with chemo, and so ultimately the course is my choice, and so I should be fully informed. It also helps that I am a scientist and can read papers...
Anyway, thanks. It's good to know others have come back to row.
Anyway, thanks. It's good to know others have come back to row.
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Byron Drachman
- 10k Poster
- Posts: 1124
- Joined: March 23rd, 2006, 9:26 pm
I hope all goes well for your wife. Here is a resource you might find useful:JRT6 wrote:My wife is a stage 3b surivor with lymphnode removal. Her doctor advised against rowing because of the risk of developing lymphodema with the repetitive motion of the arms. I would check with your doctor first because living life with a compression sleeve on your arm would suck.
http://www.rowasone.org/pro_wecanrow.html
There is an active group of breast cancer survivors in our local rowing club.
I will send you an email with an article.
Byron