The world does not stop just because you get a cancer diagnosis. Even the people closest to you can’t drop everything in their life to be with you 24/7. Life goes on.

I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing (besides going for medical appointments). It’s counter-productive and definitely detrimental to my mental wellbeing.

So I set a weekly routine and kept myself busy with exercise and activities.

I believed that continuing with my exercise classes is a major factor in my fast recovery post-surgery and dealing with chemo side effects. Listen to your body and don’t overdo things.

I attended a talk by Cancer365 Prevention on chemo and exercise and it was very educational. Chemo-induced fatigue is not the same as fatigue due to sickness. Movement is important in addressing chemo-induced fatigue.

These are some of the exercises I’ve been doing (and continue to do) during chemo.

Week 1 - daily walks, unless I am really tired. Even then, I tried to walk shorter distances. Most days, I can maintain my 10K steps.
Week 2 - slowly resume my 2x a week strength training. I work with a personal trainer who knows what I am going through. Each session, he tailors my exercises depending on how I am feeling. I also go for Pilates or Yoga classes 1x a week. For the other days, 10k daily walks.
Week 3 - 2x a week strength training, pilates/yoga classes and I even managed a bungee class in one of the later cycles! I couldn’t do a lot of cardio as my strength and stamina is not fully back.

HOBBIES

Everyone tells you to find a hobby but sometimes, you don’t know where to start. So I tried everything! :) One new activity each cycle. 😆

Art class - I started taking weekly art lessons and realize I enjoy learning art techniques (even though my drawing skills suck!)
Drum lessons - I did a crash course and loved it!
One-off activities - these are great distractions and required focused attention for 3-4 hours.
- Floral arrangements
- Rug Tufting
- Miniature clay food art
- Cooking classes
- Kaya-making class
- Miso ball Making workshop
- Day trips to JB
- Making my own umeshu

The photos throughout the blog are from the activities I did during the chemo months. I also continued with self-care, such as facials and trips to the hair salons.

Basically do anything that makes you happy! :)

10. Exercise and Hobbies

9. Diet

11. Complementary Care