This is Part II of My Pink and Green Health Path blog post… hope you are following along.
WEEKLY PLANS
Maybe you find it hard to believe, but as already written, healing becomes a full-time job. And I didn’t want anything else other than myself taking control of my time and life. I planned ahead to fit with my treatment plan and with the approval of my doctors. The time I took for myself, to heal, to isolate and to focus, to win back strength and trust in my body was essential. I had to be very egoistic and take that time. I never skipped my hour of exercise! I believe it’s a key component to healing.
You’ll give back time to your beloved ones after, feel no guilt in taking this time for YOU!
POST SURGERY
Weeks and months were, maybe still are, required to not force too much on my muscles in my upper body to not force too much on the scars still healing. After a surgery, I could switch from just walking to doing some trails quite easily. Then slowly but steadily, still at a much later stage, I could go back to my workouts with soft muscle development.
Hence, priority went to my cardio exercises. Also, note that I had my lymph nodes removed, so I chased my doctor’s approvals and received some great tips & trick to avoid lymphedema and assess my arm’s exercise capacity. I was lucky, I didn’t have to wear a compression garment, maybe because I really followed my doctor’s recommendations. Cold water on the arm in the shower and sleep with the arm above my head…
I tried to build a nice « week mix » with different activities. I always considered 45 minutes of total efforts, minimum 3 times/week. Some weeks, I did that every day. Walking, simple power walk, power walk using sticks, elliptic, soft running, bike riding… For the weekend, I invited some friends or family to party and dance! Amazing how dancing can make you forget and free your mind.
The limits are where you put them, like I did!
DURING MY CELL & CONTINUED HORMONAL THERAPY
I could feel that working-out and sweating could be my best means to contain weight issues whilst reducing my side effects such as nausea, tiredness etc. Pain in articulations and in the muscles may be the main reason for some woman to stop their hormonal treatments. I wanted to overcome these pains to be able to continue and not expose myself to risk of recurrence and increasing my chances to heal.
Sweating helped me to evacuate everything I could feel was “dirty” inside of my body. Each and every drop falling from my forehead contained the cells and dirt my enemy brought into my body.
I had my surgery before the cell therapy, which meant I didn’t have much freedom to chose different types of exercise activities, cardio training was key.
I felt so good that I even said to my doctors “ I don’t feel anything, it’s strange. I want to get rid of my cancer, can you please increase the quantity of products, and more often if needed”! They answered me with a smile and somewhat amused –“Madame… you have the maximum we can give a patient!”..
In that moment, I knew that I had found my keys to success to go through this tunnel…exercise!
DURING RADIOTHERAPY
This was the busiest period in my journey. Every day, during one month, I had to go to the hospital, miles away, for radiation. So, I adapted and adjusted my program. Every morning at 9 am, I drove to the gym, for an hour of exercise. Back home, shower, snacking and ready for the medial transportation company to pick me up. It became the strongest and most powerful routine I’ve ever had in my life, I couldn’t dissociate my hour in the gym and my treatment. I can tell you I astonished more than one person, especially my clinical partners, when they saw how good I felt and how little the treatment impacted me, mentally and physically. I was so proud. My family was, too.
I thought PINK, but I had to THINK GREEN as well!
I wanted to offer supplementary barriers to my body and started to have a look at the benefits of nutritional eating. I was given some advice, but had to look for much myself. I discovered that much of the magic will come from the earth and is…. green!
A few highlights on my top priorities:
Increase intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains
Decrease fat intake to less than 30 percent of calories
Minimize intake of cured, pickled and smoked foods
No alcohol consumption
Eliminate sugar…how difficult…
I discovered a new language and understood quickly that I had to change many of my habits.
You might have read how difficult it is to be a “helping hand”, to cook and support me in my new requirements. We decided as a family that to support me, we should harmonize and prioritize my menus.
When studying these nutritional benefits, I found find many strange words, like the ones listed below. What language do our care providers think we speak? “Darling, can we please have some organo-sulfides for dinner tonight?”, or…-“I would love some sulforaphane for lunch, did you buy some?”
Setting jokes a side, I never realized how nutrition could be impactful for my journey and how some of these are my best friends in my fight.
Below are examples of what I added to my shopping and wish list… in everyday language of course.
Sulforaphane: Broccoli sprouts
Isothiocyanates: Mustard, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables
Phenolic compounds: Garlic, green tea, soybeans, cereal grains, cruciferous, umbelliferous, solanaceous, cucurbitaceous vegetables, licorice root, flax seed
Flavanoids: Most fruits and vegetables (cruciferous, garlic, citrus fruits, caraway seeds, umbelliferous, solanaceous, cucurbitaceous vegetables, sage, camphor, dill, basil, mint)
Organo-sulfides: Garlic, onion, leeks, shallots, cruciferous vegetables
Isoflavones : Soybeans (to discuss with your doctor due to hormones), legumes, flax seed
Indoles : Cruciferous vegetables
Carotenoids: Dark yellow/orange/green vegetables and fruits
I boosted my immunity with D-Vitamin, green tea, green smoothies, lime/lemon water…never to forget!
I agree that this doesn’t seem to be the easiest to cook when we see a list like this, I found some nice menus on the internet.
https://www.cancer.org/healthy/eat-healthy-get-active/eat-healthy/find-healthy-recipes.html
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