Benefits of Exercise During and Just Before Radiation

During both my radiation sessions:

39 IMRT, 70.2 Gya to the prostate bed and then 45 Gya to the PLN system.

I kept my exercise routine...rode my bike 20-25 mikes, did the elliptical for 30-45 minutes, lifted weights, swam, played basketball....

I did not experience any side affects. Question is, was it the exercise or the advances in the technology and skills of my radiation team?

I'm a study of one as they say. I'm going to say both were factors.

My radiologist showed me the 3D planning software. She also had the radiation team bring my wife into the control room while they were taking imaging prior to starting treatment and then during the treatment, it was amazing the micro-second to second adjustments they made to account for breathing, my body movement...

When my radiologist explained and showed me the treatment plan using her laptop and 3D software it showed how the time, intensity, angle and length of each beam was planned to minimize damage to anything but the area they were targeting.

I could provide you links to a number of studies about the benefits but I think it's intuitive. Ask your medical team, mine said what I did was better than any medications they could prescribe.

Kevin

I'm with Kevin on this, I kept up my workout routine throughout and had very little to no side effects from the radiation itself.

That’s really good to know as this is one of my worries as well… I will be getting treated (SBRT) within the next couple of months… I keep active, bike every day when the weather is reasonable, and feel really good… I have heard from some that they felt fatigued after treatments, others have had some side effects… If that happens to me, I’ll do my best to push thru it…

@bens1, I hope you saw the helpful posts from @kujayhawk84 @web265 and @dale1k.

What physical activities do you typically do? Will you add exercise to your routine or are you looking to keep doing what you do? When do you start radiation?

Thanks, Colleen. They were helpful posts. I exercise 6 days a week, golf, aerobics, minimal weights for different parts of the body. I find scarce information on how exercise, or more specifically, what exercises other than Kegel, will have a direct impact on the flow of urine as radiation inflames the tissue. Flomax is used as one medication but I was hoping some specific exercise, like aerobics as I have heard anecdotally, might help the issue. It seems what kujhawk1978 was saying applies, one doesn’t know.

I had external pelvic radiation for endometrial cancer. The radiation oncologist told me before I started radiation that I should be as active as possible. I work with a personal trainer so we converted to Zoom and I made all but one of my two sessions per week during the 5 1/2 weeks of radiation. I also walked every day exploring around Rochester. Since it was winter there were some days that I didn't walk outdoors. I rested on occasion in the afternoon but basically I kept up with my usual routines of aerobic and strength training. I had very little fatigue and mild diarrhea on occasion.

My experience doesn't really apply to your question. I had RP before radiation so flow was not exactly an issue.

I felt that regular activity and exercise helped in many ways. I went out of my way to stay hydrated for the exercise. I think it helped me mentally to be staying very busy instead of sitting around worrying about my situation. Now that I'm on ADT meds, it also helps minimize the "lupron belly" that having very low testosterone can cause. I'm also under the impression that a lot of exercise it sort of "kegel like", I say that because after the operation when I went back to the gym, it took conscious effort not to leak. It was several weeks before I could run again without leakage as well.

It looks to me like you're doing all of the right things. Best of luck on the treatment!