Suggested exercise when going through chemo

[RUNFORLOVE]

Hello

My father was diagnosed with bowel cancer last August and he as been through so much with operations, infections, radio/chemo etc...

We were delighted to be told last month that he no longer has any cancer in his body but he has to have chemo just to make sure nothing is growing that they didnt detect.

He started it yesterday.

He has been very weak since last year and done no exercise and until recently found walking hard.

He use to love swimming but wont go because his stoma bag - its in a waterproof skin coloured bag and nobody would notice but he doesnt feel comfortable with it on display.

He has lost alot of muscle tone in his legs and I wondered if maybe an exercise bike would be good for him - any suggestions?

Thank you

Hi
Your poor father, he has had a long journey, and it's great that he feels like getting back to normal. He might get more confident with the stoma bag, and feel like swimming, again, but he should check with Drs his white cell count if he is still on chemo & wants to swim.

I think the main thing is to take it gradually, and start small working up to longer periods of exercise. Have you tried the Macmillan cancer website? - they have a message board like this one - it maybe a good sources of support

I think he needs to take professional advice on this ... definitely NOT swimming I would imagine as the risk of infection is sooo high. An exercise bike sounds like a good idea but if he is very weak .. which from my experience he would be ... then it may be a little too much to begin with. Perhaps some gentler exercises recommended by the hospital physio initially?

What sort of chemo is he having? I've been treated for colo-rectal cancer and the chemo I had (folfox) was given through a Hickman Line which ruled out swimming anyway. At least one other major chemo for bowel cancer is given this way as well.

Has he found out about ostomist's swimwear? As a woman I can wear a swimsuit so nobody sees my bag, so I don't need the truly vile women's styles on this website, but the men's high waisted trunks look sensible.

I would have thought that walking is the best thing he can do to build himself up to start with. I've just come to the end of two years of illness and treatment (although I do have another op later this year) and I have started walking. I'll be able to swim shortly but my immune system is now back up to that.

I second getting decent exercises from a physio.