chemo and riding

[akalexlee]

Hi, Has anyone gone through chemo and continued to ride and if so how much riding would you do? Does riding affect your red blood cell counts and your white or is this a non-factor? I was planning to do a ride in June for Tour the Cure for Diabetes with a friend. Has anyone been in this situation before? Please let me know.

[BikeMomma]

Hi lex -

I haven't been, but this subject (chemo) is near and dear right now because a close friend is undergoing treatments.

I found a couple links for ya:
http://www.chemotherapy-info.com/chemo_exercise.htm
http://www.abreastinthewest.ca/active2.cfm?Num=51
This one looks like it will be good: http://www.sarahcannon.com/CustomPag...D-FCA117638B38

Get well & best wishes...
~Kim

[laughlaugh18]

Have you poked around the Lance Armstrong Foundation website (livestrong.org)? I'd bet they have some info or links on this topic.

Feel well.

[maillotpois]

I have coached cyclists for the Leukemia Society's team in training program for about 5 years now. I have had the honor of coaching a couple of patients in treatment. Their results varied - energy levels would vary pretty dramatically and they were sometimes susceptible to swollen joint pain, etc. But both of the guys I am thinking of trained for and completed centuries - while in chemo! So you can do it. Just take it easy on yourself.

[Running Mommy]

I didn't go through chemo specifically, but I took an anti cancer drug regime that was pretty much a substitute for chemo. Mostly you will notice the energy levels. There are things the dr. can prescribe for it. But in my case she didn't want to. Also I had to deal with really bad nausea. But this drug I tok was only every three days, so I was able to predict after awhile the bad patches. I don't remember feeling up to full workouts back then, but I did run here and there just to clear my mind.
I would talk w/ your Dr. and see what he/she says. I would bet that as long as you feel up to it moderate exercise would be ok. In fact it might be good. Because it will help you mentally. And the mental componet is HUGE in recovery.

[margo49]

I
I underwent 6 months of chemo 10 years ago - can't remember the name tho' I do remember it was breast cancer with local spread and some lymph-node involvement. (Needless to say I recovered and regard it as an illness rather than a lifestyle. I help when I can but in between get on with Life)

What I would say is do as much as you can.
BUT -and this is very important- if you get even a little tired stop. Because if your WBC count is less than 3000 they won't give you your chemo. Otherwise you might die on them from the treatment itself - not recommended
So then you have to wait till the WBC is up and in the interim you have got out of the pace of your protocol. Think of it as stopping your antibiotics in the middle and multiply by a seriousness factor of 10!
Take specific advice about this as I might be remembering the numbers wrong. (Quite possible -tho' I remember very clearly the number of tits I used to have!)
Also I dunno what chemo you"re getting but I can tell you the effect is cumulative ie each treatment you start out weaker .After the treatment you feel worse and then get a bit better but not back to the same point
thinking of you

[mainerider]

I had chemo 8 years ago (AC). I continued to walk through it, though the first week after a treatment was at a pretty slow pace. Towards the end of treatment (4 rounds, every three weeks), walking up a flight of stairs caused me shortness of breath. But it is only a short term situation. Soon after I finished chemo and started radiation I was walk/running and riding. I found the riding to be so much easier than the running.

I agree with the earlier post - you can do it but take it easy on yourself.

Maureen