Exercise and cancer: Jo’s experience

“Yorkshire Cancer Research’s fitness and wellbeing programme will make such a difference to people navigating cancer in the region. I only wish it had existed when I started on my cancer journey.”

Jo Beagley from Harrogate was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer at the age of 39 in summer 2014. She had surgery to remove the cancer, followed by chemotherapy. Since her cancer returned in 2017, she has been treated with a drug called ‘Lynparza’, which was discovered with funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research.

In this blog post, Jo explains how physical activity has played an essential role in managing both her physical and mental wellbeing throughout her cancer experience.

Exercise was an important part of my life before my diagnosis. I was committed to my regular fix of exercise, be it running, cycling, swimming or a gym session.

It was a welcome escape from the whirlwind of daily life juggling work commitments and a young family, and it was really important for my mental wellbeing.

A diagnosis of ovarian cancer turned my world upside down. It became all-consuming. It felt indulgent to ask how treatment might impact my ability to exercise. Instead, I felt I should just be grateful that I had treatment options.

I was relatively lucky when it came to the side effects of chemotherapy. Yes, I lost my hair, I had the overwhelming metallic taste for days after every dose, I lost the feeling in my fingers from time to time. I had the aches and pains and the fatigue but, on the whole, I didn’t fare too badly.

My chemo was administered every three weeks and towards the end of the second week of the cycle I was able to exercise to a degree.

Even just being able to manage the half hour walk to the local hospital was a satisfying achievement, and a sign that the chemo hangover was subsiding. But chemo brought with it a constant anxiety around how much constituted overdoing it.

As a cancer patient it’s hard to know what’s sensible to attempt by way of exercise during treatment, particularly as the side effects of treatment can differ day to day, not to mention other factors such as recent surgery, compromised immunity, having a portacath fitted and guilt about exercising when signed off work on sick leave.

Turning up for my pre-chemo blood tests in my gym kit felt like a small victory, proof that cancer couldn’t take the pleasure of exercise away from me. In my view my fitness is something over which I have control, and maintaining a decent level of fitness can only be a good thing if I’m faced with surgery or treatment in the future.

Taking part in group exercise in a darkened spin studio did me the world of good. I could dictate how hard I worked depending on how I felt. It provided me with a bit of refreshing normality in a world that had become dominated by hospital appointments and updates on the unknown to well-wishers.

Whilst I couldn’t swim immediately post-surgery, I got back to it as soon as I was allowed and being underwater felt like some sort of escapism. Parkrun was and continues to be my other saviour. Having others around me provided much needed motivation and reassurance, particularly when I was self-conscious about exercising without my wig.

All initiatives promoting exercise among those affected by cancer are a welcome development, helping people who enjoy exercise to establish what is appropriate given their fitness levels and treatment regime, as well as guiding those who are less active to build their fitness.

There’s also the benefit of connecting cancer patients with others who are going through similar.

Yorkshire Cancer Research’s fitness and wellbeing programme will make such a difference to people navigating cancer in the region. I only wish it had existed when I started on my own cancer journey.