Cancer Fighters Thrive

SUMMER 2012

Cancer Fighters Thrive is a quarterly print and online magazine bringing readers practical, innovative and inspirational information about cancer treatment and survivorship.

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Moving Forward in Mind and Body For many patients and caregivers, exercise is the key to thriving in tough times. By Mia James E xercise might be one of the best things we can do to improve our health and quality of life, and being ac- tive can help us feel better, inside and out, even when our bodies and spirits are taxed by a cancer diagnosis. Patients and caregivers both find that physical activity keeps their bodies functioning well and their morale high in challenging times. According to experts in both mind-body medicine and physical therapy at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, exercise can be a powerful contributor to both emotional and physical health. "Exercise is a healthy diversion from the worries we rehearse," explains Rhonda Colley, MS, LPC, LMFT, a mind-body therapist at CTCA in Tulsa. Furthermore, exercise triggers a physiologi- cal response that can actually boost our mood. "As we exercise, often the nervous system is impacted in a positive way, reversing the body's physi- cal responses to stress. At a certain level of exercise, the brain can begin to release endorphins, a natural mood lifter," Colley says. Karen Gilbert, PT, national director of oncology rehabilitation, also based at CTCA in Tulsa, says that in addition to the emotional benefits of activity and obvious physical gains such as strength and weight main- tenance, exercise can improve health at a fundamental level. "Exercise is one of those activities that has the benefit of increasing nutrition to all the organs of the body by increasing the pumping of the two pathways back to the heart: the circulatory system and the lymphatic system," she explains. A REMEDY FOR PATIENT AND CAREGIVER Sarah and Bruce Cooper of Andover, Kansas, have both relied on exer- cise for health and happiness during their respective cancer journeys. Within 10 years they each experienced both sides of the cancer spec- trum—as patients and as caregivers. Bruce first served as caregiver for

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