Improving Health After Cancer

Improving Health after Cancer Treatment

Fortunately, many cancer patients are able to lead healthy lives after treatment. According to Mayo Clinic, cancer survivors can improve their health and lives by engaging in regular exercise. The benefits of exercise are the same whether a person has had cancer or not. Exercise helps keep the body healthy and strong. For cancer survivor, exercise becomes an important part of life.

Many doctors recommend an exercise program to their cancer patients after treatment. A misconception is you must exercise rigorously. However, according to the American Cancer Society exercising for 30 minutes five days per week will greatly improve a cancer patient’s healthy. In addition, the exercise program can be as simply as walking or riding a bike. All cancer survivors should follow recommendations by their doctor before beginning an exercise program. This goes for people with cancers with low survival rates like pleural mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer, to cancers with higher survival rates like testicular cancer  and breast cancer. It is recommended that these patients begin slowly to increase their physical activity. For example, a patient can walk for five minutes each day. As his or her physical stamina improves, he or she can increase the increment to 10 minutes.

The greatest benefit exercise provides for cancer survivors are it decreases the recovery time. Adding an exercise program promotes healing. Exercise increases the blood flow in the body. In addition, it will increase red cell production. Red cells are responsible for transporting oxygen to the body’s tissues. The healthier a person’s circulation of red blood cells the healthier a person’s body becomes. This is true whether a person has survived cancer or just wants to become healthier.

Once cancer patients begin an exercise program, they will experience increased endurance and physical strength. As their strength improves, they can add additional activities to their exercise program. One of the immediate benefits of exercise is it relieves symptoms related to depression. This important benefit helps cancer patients return to a normal healthy life. Cancer survivors develop a tremendous amount of anxiety that the cancer may return. Exercise relieves this anxiety and promotes a positive attitude toward life. For cancer survivors attitude is crucial to surviving this disease. According to Mayo Clinic, studies demonstrate exercise may reduce the risk and recurrence of cancer.

Increasing physical activity does not mean a person has to join a gym or take exercise classes. Instead of taking the elevator, a person can take the stairs. Even a stroll in the park is beneficial. As long as the physical activity is done on a regular schedule, the benefits are tremendous.

Patients also turn to other forms of support like speaking with family member or other people with the same types of cancer. There are support groups for most types of cancers including mesothelioma support groups.
Exercise is proven to provide many health benefits including mental clarity and self-esteem. Anyone can benefit by increasing his or her physical activity. However, for cancer survivors, exercise can reduce their risk of the return of the disease. In addition, it helps improve the quality of life.

 

Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.

Diagnosis – Type II Diabetes

You have just learned that you have Type II Diabetes, and you are wondering what do I do now. The first thing is to take the diagnosis very seriously. Diabetes is a silent killer that leads to eye, kidney, circulation, foot, heart, skin and other problems. Your elevated blood sugar is happening because your pancreas can no longer produce insulin in the right proportions.

I’m 71 and I had such a diagnosis fifteen years ago. After I recovered from the shock of the news, I took my internist seriously and followed his orders strictly. He wanted me to work with a dietitian to make sure I was eating properly. He wanted me to exercise to enhance my circulation to protect my extremities (particularly feet) and loose weight. And he wanted me to follow a drug routine, which he has adjusted from time to time. It was decided that I needed more than diet control and exercise to bring my blood sugar into the normal range. So I began a routine which include a medicine to increase my pancreatic output of insulin, a blood pressure medicine to protect my kidneys from the effects of high blood sugar and a cholesterol drug to lower my LDL (the bad cholesterol). Eventually, I did have to add synthetic insulin. My blood sugar has been very stable for a number of years and I feel very good.

My dietitian used the reasonable portions approach, rather than counting carbs or calories.

• Breakfast: fruit juice, a bowl of high fiber cereal with low fat milk and coffee or tea.

• Lunch: salad with four oz. of meat (beef just once a week) or fish, a small piece of multigrain bread or a multigrain roll, a piece of fruit and a glass of water and/or tea or coffee.

• Cocktail: one cocktail preferably a glass of red wine

• Dinner: a piece of meat (beef just once a week) or fish the size of your palm, a cooked fresh vegetable, a salad of greens or cut fresh fruit, a glass of water and/or tea or coffee and, on special occasions a small desert.

• As much water as I wanted during the day.

• If a snack is needed, a piece of fresh fruit.

She told me to avoid: white bread, white rice, sugar, corn syrup solids, white potatoes, pasta, processed foods and fried foods.
I have followed her advice for fifteen years and have never been hungry or bored with my diet. There are many good cook books available for diabetics.

For my exercise routine I chose things that I like to do. I bike and I walk. The weather in the Ohio Valley is not always conducive to being outside. In the summer it can rise to a heat index above 100 degrees and in the winter there are severe snow and ice storms. That is what got me interested in elliptical machines, stationary bikes and treadmills. When I first started I was really out of shape. So I walked or rode for twenty minutes at a comfortable pace. Each time I would increase my distance by thirty-seconds. When I reached thirty minutes, I increased my pace so I would make it one more block in that amount of time. If I walked on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I would bike on Tuesday and Thursday. Of course, on inclement days, I was inside on my elliptical machine.

I’ve lived with diabetes for fifteen years and I expect to live another fifteen with my blood sugar properly under control.

Article by Will Keeney
Owner of B & K Services LLC
WMK Fitness (www.wmkfitness.com)

Routine for a Diabetic

Diabetes is a silent disease.  Unless you have been to a doctor and tested, you probably do not know that you have it.  Diabetes has a genetic link, but you can still become diabetic without the gene.  Most people develop diabetes because they do not eat right and they exercise too little.  Diabetes is dangerous because high blood sugar levels can damage your eyes, your kidneys, circulation in your legs and feet, nerves and create a higher risk for a stroke and heart disease.  Diabetics have shorter lives than non-diabetics.

Once you are diagnosed with diabetes, your physician and the dietitian your doctor recommends are your best friends in controlling and perhaps eliminating diabetes in your life.  Your dietitian will recommend a balanced diet that virtually avoids sugars, corn syrup solids, starch (potatoes, white bread, processed rice and pasta and processed foods – in limited moderation some of these items can be consumed occasionally), and pastry deserts.  Instead they will recommend that you eat a high fiber breakfast; a salad lunch with non-red meat or fish and a multigrain roll or slice of bread and a piece of fruit; a dinner of a piece of non-red meat or fish the size or your palm, a green vegetable, a salad and a multigrain roll or a piece of bread. Usually the perimeter of the grocery store is where you find the fresh vegetables and fruits.  For those wanting a cocktail before dinner, a glass of red or white wine is possible.  There are more benefits if it is red wine.  The dietitian will probably recommend that you establish a routine to eat each meal at the same time each day to stabilize your blood sugar.

Diabetics are most likely in their 50’s and overweight at the time they are diagnosed.  So the task becomes to develop a routine exercise program that is fun and challenging but not too taxing, and one that helps them lose weight and improve their fitness.  Weight lifting helps build muscle, whereas cardiovascular routines help one to condition and lose weight.

Ideally you want to exercise five days a week conducting one type of routine three days a week and a different routine two days a week.  So get out the calendar and identify when you have 30-45 minutes for your routine each day.  Commit to it.  Put it into your daily calendar.  Walking, swimming, biking, an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, and a treadmill all provide an effective form of cardiovascular exercise.  (e.g., if you are out-of-shape and you have chosen walking as one of your routines, walk at a comfortable pace for thirty minutes.  Note how far you walked.  Tomorrow walk that distance plus one block, etc. until you are walking for 45 minutes.  Then try slightly increasing your pace and extend the distance you can go in 45 minutes.  You will be amazed how the pounds come off and how your endurance improves).

One reason exercise is so important to the diabetic is the increased cardiovascular output, which helps prevent poor circulation in the extremities and the development of skin ulcers.  A very high percentage of diabetics will develop this condition if they do not exercise.

Depending upon where you live, it is not always possible to exercise outside because of heat, cold, rain or snow.  There are inexpensive, high quality, American made, ellipticals, treadmills and stationary bikes available on the internet.

An extremely important part of your exercise routine is the warm-up and cool-down.  Before you exercise take five minutes to gently stretch the muscles that you will be using in your routine.  Then when you finish, take five minutes to gently stretch the muscles you used in your workout.

I wish you good health!!!

article by Will Keeney

http://wmkfitness.com

Wellness

We all want to be well.  Through out my years I have discovered that being well is far more than just being disease free.  The body is an amazing creation involving many systems, which affect and interact with each other.  When I think of one being well, I think of the presence of wellness in mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social and financial areas.

Wellness is not just about the individual, but it is equally about our local community, our national community and our world community.  For any organism to function, it must be well.

Our emotions have a significant impact on our wellness.  Before my retirement I was actively involved in women’s health care.  Infertility is a significant challenge for many couples.  Chronic anxiety causes some chemical levels to rise in the body, which in turn lower other chemicals.  Often when the anxiety is treated, fertility returns for the couple.  We know that stress is a major contributor to many diseases from heart disease to cancer to diabetes, etc.  Know your emotional health, what brings you emotional tension and what brings you healthy emotions and feelings.  Then once you have taken stock of what and how it affects you, take steps to relieve your stress and put your self on a balanced plane.

Our physical health is dependent on many factors.  The body requires adequate sleep and rest, proper nutrition, regular and healthy exercise and a pollution free environment.  It is amazing what twenty minutes of exercise a day can do for your health and stamina.

Philosophers tell us that all of humanity suffers from a separation anxiety.  We are separated from our creator and we struggle to make sense of the life we have and the environment in which we live.  Why is their evil, pain, suffering, and death?  Studies show that individuals who are connected to a faith community live longer, healthier and happier lives.

Who doesn’t worry about their financial position?  We never know what tomorrow will bring.  Will I have a job, will my company do well, or will I be healthy enough to work until 65-70?  What will the government do with Social Security and/or Medicare in the future?  I am amazed that our public schools do not teach a class in practical living which includes such things as interest compounding, saving, goal determination, financial planning.  The most valuable lesson my grandfather taught me was, “Every pay check gets divided – 10% for the Lord and charity, 10% saved in a savings account or in a sound mutual fund and 80% for me.”  If you begin saving when you get your first job, by the time you reach 65 you will probably have several million dollars saved (what you put in plus the interest and dividends that were earned).  The second most valuable lesson my grandfather taught me was “to divide the monthly mortgage in half and pay half thirty days before it is due and pay the other half fifteen days before it is due.”  Each payment lowers the principle due and thus lowers the interest due.  This practice will enable you to pay a thirty-year mortgage in less than twenty years, which means a considerable savings in your personal wealth.

I live by the saying, “No man is an island, entirely by itself.”  As a retired pastor, I am well aware of what is on the mind of dying individuals.  It is not money, possessions or things.  It is relationships.  I have seen many work at healing wounded relationships to put all right before they pass.  Mistakes were made in the past. Grudges were held too long.  Learn from the dying.  If there is forgiving to be done, or the need to be forgive, do it now and celebrate restored wholesome relationships now before it is too late and time runs out.

“A wise man is one who learns from the experience of others.”

Article by Will Keeney

I Want to Lose Weight

We all know that talking about losing weight and doing it are two entirely different things. We plan a diet and begin. Missing are some of the foods we enjoy and then we notice that we start to lose energy. At first we lose a few pounds. But soon our metabolism declines and we stop loosing. Then we get discouraged and quit the plan. Isn’t that the way it works?

Losing weight is a matter of calories in and calories out. When you burn more than you consume, you will lose weight and you will continue to lose as long as you continue to burn more than you consume. Don’t we see that clearly on the reality series: “The biggest looser”?

So the solution to losing weight is to find a physical activity that you enjoy, is fun, and will be pleased to continue. A few years ago I had a sedentary high stress job – no activity, high goals, business meals and cocktail parties. Over the years the pounds accumulated until I finally recognized I needed to do something.

At the time we were living north of Detroit. I enjoyed tennis and bike riding, but I was not doing either. So I joined a tennis league and arranged to play on Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. On days I was not playing tennis I rode my bike in our subdivision for an hour before dinner. I did not change my diet and I made a point of not eating more. The riding was relaxing. It took my mind off the stress of the day and helped me relax. In a matter of six months I lost 40 pounds.

I did it. You can do it. It is a matter of finding a physical activity that you enjoy and the will to do it regularly. Write down on a piece of paper: “What activities do you like to do?” — walking, gardening, swimming, biking, mowing the lawn with a push mower, tennis, golf (no cart), the gym, the “Y”, line dancing, jogging, etc. Plan to do it at least five days a week for an hour. Remember calories in, calories out.

If you want to exercise indoors in the privacy of your home inside instead of outdoors in public, there are excellent machines available. On-line you can find very good prices. I like ellipticals and exercise bikes over treadmills because they are easier for the joints. Likewise, I prefer walking or biking over jogging for the same reason.

Article by
Will Keeney

Valentines, Express Love and Well-Being

There is magic in the story as to how holidays and customs get established.  Often times the true story is not known. Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14^th celebrating love and affection between companions. The day is named after one or more martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD.

The Early Medieval document, Legenda Aurea, states the St. Valentine of Rome, a priest in the church there, was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person.  Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to paganism in order to save his life.  Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead.  Because of this, he was executed.  On the night before his execution Valentine healed the blind daughter of a particularly kind jailer.  At the same time he left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.”

The first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love is in Parliament of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer. (modern translation: “For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes there to choose his mate.”)  Chaucer wrote the poem to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia.  Shakespeare wrote of St. Valentine’s Day in Hamlet Act IV in 1600-01. John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting pint of his piece celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of James I or England and Frederick V, Elector Palatine.  In 1797, a British publisher published The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, containing many suggested sentimental verses for young lovers to pen to their love. Factory produced paper Valentines became popular in the early 19^th century.  An industry was born.  In the United States the first commercial Valentines were produced and sold in 1847 by Esther Howland of Worchester, MA.  A custom was established. It was estimated that about 15 million Valentine’s were sent in the United States in 2010.

The holiday began with St. Valentine, who facing death, wanted to extend to the blind jailor’s daughter a gift of love and wellbeing.

Above all else, I want the same for the ones I love — that they know love and possess wellness.  I am sure you do too.  So among the card giving, the roses and the bon-bons, I suggest that you mutually give a gift that when used can produce a healthier body, perhaps a longer life and increased years to share with the one you love.  Vow to each other that you love is so deep that you want them to join you in health eating and a regular exercise program.

Article by Will Keeney,

www.wmkfitness.com

Your New Year’s Fitness Resolutions

It is an American tradition to make New Year’s resolutions, but it is oh so hard to keep them.  Getting into shape or loosing weight are common resolution that appear on many of our lists as to what we are going to do in the new year.  Some people will be successful, but many will not.  Why?

There are many reasons to the why.  A common one is that we are totally unrealistic with the goals that we set.  A goal that is too high or beyond achievement is not realistic at all.  We will get discouraged and quit.  An example would be to say you will loose one hundred pounds this year.  The chances of that happening are probably a million to one.  A realistic goal is to say you want to loose a pound a week.  That is realistic and achievable.  Fad diets are not a good way to loose weight.  The sensible way is to eat four small meals a day for a total of 1800 calories for a woman and 2100 for a man.  The four small meals tricks your body and maintains your metabolism.  Your body knows when you skip a meal or severely skimp on a meal and adjusts (i.e., slows) your metabolic rate.  This you do not want; you want a normal or accelerated rate.  The four small meals also prevents you from feeling starved and wanting to binge.

Another example of an unrealistic goal is to say you will walk/run a hundred miles a week.  A realistic goal is to say you will improve your walking/running endurance by five percent a week.  So if you are able to walk a mile a day five days a week (5 miles), a realistic goal would be to increase your distance by 5% a week (week 1 – 5 miles; week 2 – 5.25 miles; week 3 – 5.5125 miles; week 4 – 5.7881 miles, etc increasing by 5% each week).  It may not be practical to measure these calculations, so get in your car and measure a tenth of a mile.  Is it five houses, a block, half a block — you get the idea.  Or buy a treadmill for your home.  There are a lot of nice ones on the market.  While exercising you can read a book or watch TV.

The four small meals, each between 450 – 525 calories depending on your gender, should be eaten around 8 AM, Noon, 4 PM and 8 PM.  At a minimum this will maintain your normal metabolism and prevent you from being hungry when you go to bed.  Your walking/running routine should be at the same time each day, preferably in the morning before a meal.  The exercise will raise you metabolism not only when you are involved in it, but also for many hours afterwards.

If you belong to a fitness club or the “Y”, three days a week get involved in an exercise class.  It is a social event.  You will make friends.  And your new friends can become a part of your “coaching” team offering compliments and encouragement.  On the two alternate days, walk or run.  I recommend walking because there is less impact on your joints.  What is important is the distance you cover.  You burn about the same amount of calories no matter whether it is walking or running.  It is the distance that is important.  If you use an exercise machine you have in your home, I recommend an elliptical trainer.  There is little impact on your joints and many will get your legs and arms moving.  An alternative to the elliptical trainer is a recumbent exercise bike.

Don’t weigh yourself every day.  Don’t record your distance every day.  Instead make a chart and record your weight and distance walked/run every week or two weeks.  You will be pleasantly surprised with the results, which becomes a reward for “well done.”

I believe you can do it.  Believe in yourself and hold yourself accountable.  Don’t be discouraged if you back slide.  Just restart where you are and keep your eye on the goal.

Article by

Will Keeney