I was a member of a gym until lockdown, when it closed, and never went back because of the discovery of my brain metastasis and the debilitating effects of the medication. As a result of the nausea, loss of appetite and tiredness, I didn’t exercise for a long time and lost a lot of weight, mostly muscle. Over the last year, I have been feeling a lot better and getting out and walking a bit and riding a bike, but I have hardly put back on any weight and my lack of strength is really noticeable.
So when my son came to visit and wanted a gym so he could work out, I bit the bullet and went along too. We cycled to the gym, which was a challenge in itself seeing as how it is across a bit of a valley, so half way is easy and half tough, especially coming back after a workout. I renewed my membership and have given myself the target of going 3 times a week to start.
My first workouts have been fairly gentle, using much lighter weights than in the past. There is no point overdoing it and I am in this for the long haul. One of the major problems with ageing is loss of strength (I am 80) and I am very keen to counteract that. The other thing I want to achieve is to correct the loss of weight with muscle rather than flab.
I do not know what effect this will have on the cancer, and I probably won’t know for a while. It is not likely to show any effect on my scans this month, but it will be interesting to see whether there is any improvement or regression in subsequent scans. For now, the only thing that matters is that I feel good with just a few workouts behind me. The medication still makes me feel a bit tired, but I certainly feel more energised after a workout. I shall record progress as time goes on.