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ADT & Radiation, next part of the adventure!
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (21)Comment receiving replies
Hey Chipe, the best I can tell you is that it is like a short term job - it takes work if you want it to be successful with less SE’s.
I used the 10 weeks before radiation to fine tune my diet, as I eat tons of fermentable fiber (beans, corn, broccoli, etc) which is forbidden during radiation. My whole system shut down and I had to find ‘no gas’ fiber substitutes to stay regular…it really drove me nuts but you may not have this problem so just consider it a heads up if you do.
The second part of the job is exercise, exercise and more exercise; you have to breathe hard and sweat during whatever aerobics you choose and you MUST lift weights to maintain muscle tone.
You don’t have to kill yourself with them, but you want to use a comfortable weight to load the muscles and not stress them. There are plenty of simple moves and you can use dumbbells, barbells or a machine, doesn’t matter.
The important thing is that you remember that this is a job and job performance counts! You will get out what you put in and it will be over before you know it. Then, you can retire🤞Best of Luck!
Phil
Replies to "Hey Chipe, the best I can tell you is that it is like a short term..."
@heavyphil Thank you for mentioning about diets. I am not menu prep for my husband’s upcoming radiation treatment. It’s like doing nutritional class. 😅 I told him that he should practice empty bowel and full bladder now. We’re waiting for our insurance’s pre-authorization on radiation treatment. We hope it’ll be done by next week.
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@heavyphil Your description of your diet before RT, your nutritional prep work, and your exercise routine during RT matches my own to a T. Exercising has retained my muscle mass, kept me from sleeping away my life during treatment, and leaves me in a good mood and happy about resolving my health issues rather than stressing over it.
I go to the gym about twice a week to push my muscles to exhaustion; in between I do a combination of dumbell strength training, yoga, pilates, and walking/hiking 3-5 miles multiple days a week. Even been skiing a few times during RT for a couple of hours each with my wife. Empowering for me and makes her happy too.
I'm on Orgovyx and have 5 more rad treatments to go. I'm still working on dealing with sleep disruptive hot flashes, but I see it as another challenge to overcome as a warrior, not as a slave to the disease.
Gotta ride the beast, not let it drag you around. After 6 weeks of ADT and weeks of RT, my muscle mass has increased slightly, my fat percentage is down slightly, and I'm down 15 pounds (mostly from cutting alcohol...I do like my craft beer).
Yes, this does sound like a job, but one that keeps you feeling connected to life rather than sleeping through it.