Breast Cancer Patients Urged To Exercise

Women looking to boost their odds of beating breast cancer may want to add exercise to their arsenal. NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported Friday that several studies suggest walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes a day or more may increase survival rates for some people. Locally, several programs are helping women safely incorporate exercise into their lives.

Marie Kelley finished treatment for breast cancer in October. Since then, she has been struggling to resume her normal life.

"I was fatigued. I really couldn't do anything," she said.
Her oncologist referred her to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital's Restore Program.

"At Restore, we focus on physical healing. Physical healing tag teams emotional healing. The better you feel physically the better emotionally," said Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Dr. Julie Silver.

Silver, a breast cancer survivor, said that there's another reason why exercise is essential.

"The idea that exercise can help prevent cancer recurrence is one the medical community is beginning to embrace for certain cancers," she said.

Elissa Lyman, of Wellesley, said that she had trouble getting motivated until her doctor delivered some tough news.

"My oncologist kept saying, 'You've got to exercise.' I never did it until my bone density showed a marked decline," said Lyman.

Desperate to strengthen her bones, she sought out a personal trainer.

"We developed a program specifically for her needs and fitness level -- a lot of strength-training exercises, a lot of walking. Those are the two things I do to help her increase bone density," Fitness Together trainer Chad Asnes said.

Organized programs and gyms are certainly one option. But experts said you don't necessarily need a lot of equipment to start getting into shape.

"For people in treatment, I say get a pedometer. Start walking. When you're done with treatment, you want to aim for 10k steps per day," Silver said.

If that seems like a lot, do the best you can and try to add 500 steps each week.