“You know when you’ve had a really hard day at work, and you
flop down on the settee in front of the telly at the end of the day……if the
phone rings across the other side of the room, you might feel so tired that you
choose to ignore it. But, if you smelt
burning from the kitchen and saw black smoke you would be able to jump up and
go and find out what’s going on…….well, the way I am feeling at the moment, if
that was me, I think I would have to take my chances with the fire, as I have
absolutely no energy reserves left, I have nothing!”
Cancer Related fatigue (CRF) as describe above by a patient
of mine a few years ago is a very common side effect of cancer or cancer
treatment. It is suggested that most
people undergoing treatment for cancer will at some stage experience a degree
of CRF. In my experience I would have to
say I think everyone who has cancer or is having treatment will suffer with CRF
at some stage throughout their treatment journey. It can happen during or after treatment and
can persist for weeks, months even years for some people. It can
affect every single aspect of a person’s life – every day activities, hobbies,
work and social life, and can have a detrimental effect on their wellbeing and
state of mind. CRF can be quite
debilitating, but the good news is that help is available, and it can be
alleviated. A physio is typically the
last person on earth that a patient feeling fatigued would want to see, but
actually, we are probably one of the most important members of the cancer
rehabilitation team when it comes to treating CRF. We are able to assess a person’s individual level
of fitness and activity and prescribe an appropriate activity or exercise
programme to help that person break the vicious cycle of CRF. It’s all about finding a balance between
having the right amount of rest (which is important to enable the body to repair
and recover from the treatments) and the right amount of activity, which will
maintain and improve muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness. As these improve so too do energy levels
meaning that fatigue is reduced.
A research review (here) paper was published last week,
which confirms everything that us physio’s
have always known…..that if you have CRF then rest is most definitely not
best!
No comments:
Post a Comment