Breast Cancer and Pilates: Recovery

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After 8 weeks of Chemotherapy, 37 treatments of Radiation, Dee was finally ready for the recovery phase of her journey. As we said in our previous article, Dee's left shoulder, neck, chest and arm muscles were greatly atrophied due to the radiation treatments from her battle with Breast Cancer.
    Our first goal for Dee was to build back strength in her left side. Our second goal was to continue to rid her body of the toxic build up from the Chemo and Radiation. Her homeopathic MD put her on a Liver cleanse for two weeks which helped the process (by the way, the Liver cleanse consisted of Lemon Juice, Garlic, Olive oil and Water).
    In Dee's Pilates sessions...... we made sure to do extra Arm exercises on the Left shoulder. We used the Neck Stretcher and Magic Circle, to strengthen the left side of the neck.
We also focused on Balancing on her left foot. We continued to incorporate all of the Rolling exercises in her Mat work, as those helped to stimulate the lymph system of the back, as well as massage the muscles of the spine.The Chemo also went into the joints, mimicking the feeling of Arthritis. The days she did her sessions, her joints felt great. After about 6 months, Dee reported she no longer felt her joints were achey on the days off of Pilates.
    We also focused on her breathing. Encouraging her to exhale from the deepest part of her lungs to rid the body of the residual toxins, then she would take in a deeper inhalation for more oxygen to her muscles.
    She began to get stronger, she had 3 sessions a week. The muscles began to have shape again. By 6 months, Dee was back to her old strength. Her Hematology/Oncologist and the Holistic MD both told her that it takes about 3 years for the chemicals of Chemotherapy and Radiation to truly get out of the body. At the 3 year mark, Dee was better (stronger, more flexible) than she was before Cancer. Many people would see Dee after only 6 months after she stopped treatments and couldn't for the life of them imagine that she had had Breast Cancer. She really looked good!
    For 5 years Dee has had to undergo tests to make sure the cancer was not coming back. She had to visit the Oncologist every 3 months. She had to have a mammogram every 6 months. She had to have several types of body scans once a year, where she had to have Radium and Radio active Isotopes put into her body for the scans. These yearly tests were the hardest, as the chemicals where hard on her body. After the tests, Dee would feel physically sick, as if she had the flu. She made sure to arrange her Test appointments on the day before her Pilates sessions so that she could again flush her system of all the chemicals from the tests. For about a week after the tests, she would have that sensation in her joints as if it were arthritis. Once she was able to move and sweat, her joints would feel better.
We are happy to say, it has now been 5 years, and Dee is cancer free.The ordeal was long and difficult, and she often felt as if she had no control, but her Pilates sessions always left her feeling empowered over her own body. I asked her if she had any words of wisdom from her ordeal. She said simply, "Do Pilates!"