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Testimonials

Anna L. Schwartz, FNP, PhD, FAAN, is an author, researcher, educator and advanced practice nurse. Dr. Schwartz's research interests focus on improving the quality of life of cancer patients through physical activity and symptom management. Simon & Schuster recently published Anna's book "Cancer Fitness: Exercise Program for Patients and Survivors". Dr. Schwartz mentored and co-developed six Cancer Rehabilitation clinics with Roger Campbell, M.S. in southern Utah and southern Nevada, which includes her book to educate cancer patients. Please direct questions about Cancer Rehabilitation to roger@mlrehab.com.

    

Most cancer patients and survivors think that "rest" will decrease their fatigue and speed their recovery. But in fact, rest can make patients weak and debilitated during treatment and may even prolong hospitalization.

February 13, 1988, I heard the words, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and then couldn't take in the rest of what the doctor was telling me as my whole world started spinning. As I slowly gained a better understanding of what the diagnosis meant, I began to feel smaller and smaller as I pulled in with fright. My life was collapsing around me, and with the speed of a cloudy, dark tornado, I was transitioning from a free-spirited 24-year-old to a young woman with weighty concerns and serious decisions to make. I felt blanketed in the darkness of the storm clouds, alone, terrified, and confused, I was overwhelmed with decisions and emotion.

I have always been interested in pushing the limits of human performance and exploring new frontiers of research, and when I graduated from nursing school, I refined my career to a cutting-edge research job. I didn't realize when I accepted a job in a bone marrow transplant unit that I would be working with cancer patients, many of whom had the same diagnosis as I did. The concerns of my patients were so close to my own, that I once again was flooded by emotions. I was overwhelmed with everything in my life and got fat, depressed, and hopelessly out of shape. I had always been a natural athlete and competed in tennis, swimming and running in college, but I was hitting the lowest point in my life.

Deep in my heart I knew that I needed to do something to get out of my depression and this sucking hole that was consuming me. All my life, physical activity had been freeing, and a way to escape my troubles. Bicycling had always appealed to me as the ideal form of sport. Not only did you get exercise but you could go places, fast. A childhood dream had been to ride across the United States. Little did I know that Gainesville, Florida, where I was attending nursing school, was a winter training Mecca for cyclists. I harnessed this opportunity, and learned to ride with world-class cyclists. I embraced bicycling with passion and much to my surprise realized that my depression was resolving, I was losing weight, and getting faster and fitter. I started bicycle racing and started winning and within a few years went on to set several world records, the last one in 1992 riding 436.5 miles in 24-hours.

After many months of emotional struggle, I came to some resolution and was able to differentiate my illness issues from those of my patients, and learned that my experience gave me a different perspective and a new way to help my patients. From these early personal and painful beginnings, I found that cancer patients need to exercise, not rest, as they work through cancer therapy; this understanding has shaped my research focus and career. Exercise is now an evidence-based practice recommendation for anyone newly diagnosed or recovering from cancer treatment. A large body of research supports exercise programs to complement and fortify cancer treatment. Cancer rehabilitation is now a growing "standard of care" for anyone going through cancer therapy. Cancer rehabilitation is particularly beneficial as most people need help safely exercising while under overwhelming emotional and physical stress.

In 1997, I mentored Roger Campbell at the University of Utah, and together we began developing Cancer Rehabilitation research projects. Since these beginnings we have co-developed six Cancer Rehabilitation clinics for Mountain Land Rehabilitation, Inc. in southern Utah and southern Nevada. The following are reflections of two other women's experiences with cancer rehabilitation. Together our stories detail different pathways we have taken to choose our life directions, and how exercise has helped us cope and move forward with our lives.

Mary Robison was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. Mary was living in Henderson, NV at the time and was treated with a lumpectomy and lymph cleanse. Like Anna, Mary has always been an active person; she loves to golf and travel. Mary is a fighter and survivor; she possesses a natural abundance of positive thinking. Mary reinforces that by keeping your body strong, your mind stays strong, and harvesting both strengths helps you make the most of your life to get through cancer treatment.

Yet, there are days of complete and utter exhaustion and disappointment. On September 11, 2006 the worst of news was spoken - ovarian cancer. But something was different, Mary had moved to St. George, UT. The difference was in the care she received by the whole medical team at Intermountain, Huntsman Cancer Institute. She had not previously experienced this level of care, which Mary says "greatly fortified my natural positive thinking". The difference in her approach to care was that Dr. Lemmon and colleagues directed her to a program specifically developed to strengthen and restore cancer patients during and following debilitating cancer therapies. Mary may not have been in control of her cancer, but she was in control of her physical fitness and now she was teamed up with Ron Mendenhall, PT, the Clinic Director of Cancer Rehabilitation in St. George, UT. Ron guided Mary through a step-by-step prescriptive exercise that strengthened her physically and boosted her emotionally. She also received cancer education on side effects and how to exercise from Anna's book on "Cancer Fitness: Exercise Programs for Patients and Survivors".

Mary teaches us of the vital importance of keeping your mind focused on the positive. Cancer is a window that you can get through by staying positive. Mary stresses that even when your mind and body are exhausted from treatment, you simply must push to be positive, and you learn to rely on your family and friends to get you through the hard times.

Joyce Jensen was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer November of 2003. Joyce says this news was as devastating to me as Anna's description of how the cancer diagnosis affected her. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal women's cancer. Joyce read everything she could find on ovarian cancer, but her doctor cautioned her, "Each person will have a different response to the cancer and cancer therapy; you need to focus on doing all you can." Joyce stresses that you make choices in life; you choose how to respond and live regardless of cancer, or whatever.

You can choose to be happy or depressed. We as individuals have the power to choose our disposition, and our thoughts. Feeling in control during and after cancer therapy has a positive effect on recovery and well-being. Joyce has had three cancer recurrences, the most recent in July of 2006. And while the news of recurrence is always sad and stressful, she says "we all have set backs in cancer treatment emotionally or physically, but we have to look forward and make decisions that will not only help us live a full life, but set an example for others and hopefully make life better for our families and those we love. Joyce knows that she is in control of acts like what she thinks, and how she relates with others. She controls how her body survives during and following treatment by choosing to exercise regularly. She says, "I choose exercise; exercise is my time to feel well, to sense movement and my control over movement. While going through cancer rehabilitation, I learned what was safe, but I also learned that I was in control of my fitness."

Exercise is important for people with cancer, both during and after treatment. It not only helps people feel better emotionally and physically, but it keeps us strong enough to do activities that are meaningful and important so that we can live the fullest life possible. Cancer rehabilitation programs, such as the Mountain Land Rehabilitation program, are changing the way we look at cancer and its treatment, and changing the experience of cancer for patients and survivors. No longer is cancer a disease that robs us of our strength and vitality, but rather a disease that we must learn to live with and live fully.