Hearing your doctor tell you that you have a rare form of
deadly cancer such as mesothelioma and that you will now be required
to undergo mesothelioma treatment
is a difficult pill to swallow. Finding out you have cancer is not something
you ever dreamed would happen to you; it happens to other people but you never
once thought you would be the recipient of this news. Unfortunately, it happens
all too often. The good news is that many cancer survivors will attest to the
fact that their cancer diagnosis, as horrible as it was, was a life changing
day for them. Becoming a cancer patient forced them to make lifestyle changes
that forever positively changed their lives during the course of their
diagnosis, their treatment and now their recovery. If you have been considering
making a lifestyle change but have yet to make the change, there is no time
like the present to do so.
The National Cancer Institute offers information for cancer
patients about the benefits of physical fitness and cancer; exercising and
becoming physically fit while undergoing cancer treatments is a life changing
action that won’t cure you of cancer, but it will make you healthier. The main
reason why doctors recommend physical fitness for everyone – not just cancer patients – is because it is good for your
body, mind and soul. Your body will never look better than it will once you
start exercising regularly. In addition, your body will never feel better than
when you start exercising; and neither will your mind and soul. Exercise
promotes positive hormones in your body. Stress promotes negative hormones. The
stress of cancer and the treatment required to fight your cancer produces so
much negative hormones that it wreaks havoc on your immune system, which needs
to be strong to help deal with cancer treatments and the disease itself.
Exercising produces hormones that fight the bad hormones
caused by stress and improves your immune system. Since your immune system is
what fights infections and illness, this is imperative to fighting cancer. Your
mind will feel better after exercising because of the positive hormones, which
increase your mood and your quality of life. Quality of life is important to
cancer patients because the treatments often make a quality life difficult to
live. In short, exercising not only makes you look better but it will make you
feel better both inside and out.
~~David Haas
David is a cancer support group and awareness program advocate at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. He researches and writes about cancer support groups and also the importance of fitness on the overall health of a cancer patient.
David can be reached at:
