FOR CANCER SURVIVORS | Sabine Evans

MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE

A Wellness Program For Cancer Survivors

How exercise helps you before, during, and after cancer treatment

Nobody wants to hear they have cancer. It stops you in your tracks. It alters the way you look at yourself and the world around you. It fosters an appreciation for life that wasn’t obvious before. It forces us to face a new reality. Your body is now at war with an invader, and you have two choices – give in, or join the fight.

The point is that you need to get your mind in the game to fight and fight effectively.

A diagnosis of cancer will often cause significant psychological distress that feels incapacitating. Making decisions about treatment options and the treatment itself is incapacitating both physically and mentally. It’s a time when you rely on your doctors to advocate for you and lead you through the ordeal.

Once in remission, you’re entering a new phase. Your doctors will tell you the short and long-term approaches to nutrition and exercise that you need to put in place to maximize your ability to stay healthy and maintain a good quality of life – for you and everyone else in your life.

But here’s the catch – the doctors just handed you the ball - YOU need to be your own advocate to make this happen.

One thing should be perfectly clear – regardless of how you may reassess your goals in life, the health of mind and body needs to be the priority. Without the latter, you cannot realize the former. One key to success – recognizing that mind and body are not distinct. They are codependent. If you are determined to give long term nutrition and exercise a chance, your body will respond in remarkable ways – and that in turn will reinforce your determination to keep going. You’ll see improvement in not just physical health but mental health as you feel better about yourself and see that you DO have the ability to effect positive change. It’s a recipe for ‘wellness’ that ought to be a lifelong commitment moving forward.

Movement is Medicine (MiM) - How the Program Works

This exercise/recovery program is created for patients and survivors at all stages of treatment and long into survivorship. Addressing comorbidities such as damage to the heart and lungs, osteoporosis, diabetes, and future cancers is critical for long-term survivorship. The class focuses on Lymphodemia exercises, stretching, balancing, and strength training.

Program outline:

Six-week exercise/recovery online program, 12 sessions, 2 x per week, including an individual assessment

Duration: 45 min

What you need:

Computer, laptop with high-speed internet to log into Zoom
one set of dumbbells (2 or 3 lb recommended)
exercises or yoga mat
bottle water

At the time of registration, all clients must fill out and submit the health history questionnaire form and medical clearance form along with this liability release and made part of the agreement together with any documents, reports, or other information provided by the client’s physician or doctor.

Why I Started Movement is Medicine -My Personal Story

This picture shows my sister Helene and me one year before she died at age 62 after battling breast cancer for over 20 years. Helene was diagnosed at age 40, and the cancer was in remission for 10 years before it became metastatic cancer stage 4 and spread through her liver and body.

The day we took the photograph, she woke up feeling energized and said she had one wish. She wanted to climb to the top of the mountain in front of the window she could see from her house in Germany. Helena used to jog up the hill daily and felt empowered to be physically able to do things she loved.

Instead of running up the mountain, we took the car and drove halfway up

to walk the rest. I didn't know she took a small bottle of champagne and two glasses with her to celebrate this moment.

We both had the feeling that this might be the last time to soak in the view from the top of the mountain and feel happy and alive.
Through my sister, I was consumed with the pain and suffering endured by

those battling cancer. As a legacy for her, I wanted to make a difference for others, which is why I created Movement is Medicine, a program for cancer survivors. It was a natural fit with my experience as a personal trainer and working as a certified coach for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. If you’re a cancer survivor, I want to be there for you during this truly challenging time in your life and invite you to talk to me about Movement is Medicine.

TESTIMONIALS

As a cardiologist specializing in cardiac care for athletes, heart failure patients, and cancer survivors, I can't stress enough the importance of physical activity to promote health and wellness for every one of us.
Wherever you are in your journey back to health, exercise will help give you strength, fitness, and confidence to feel better mentally and physically.
And as a client of Sabine's, I can personally vouch for how positively her training program impacts everyone that she trains.

~ Lili A. Barouch, MD, FACC, FAHA, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Sports Cardiology Program, Director, Columbia Heart Failure Clinic, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology

Relevant American Cancer Society Web Pages and Articles

ACS Journals REVIEW ARTICLE – American Cancer Society nutrition and physical activity guideline for cancer survivors
March 16, 2022
Authors: Cheryl L. Rock PhD, RD, Cynthia A. Thomson PhD, RD, Kristen R. Sullivan MS, MPH, Carol L. Howe MD, MLS, Lawrence H. Kushi ScD, Bette J. Caan DrPH, Marian L. Neuhouser PhD, RD, Elisa V. Bandera MD, PhD, Ying Wang PhD, Kimberly Robien PhD, RD, Karen M. Basen-Engquist PhD, MPH, Justin C. Brown PhD, Kerry S. Courneya PhD, Tracy E. Crane PhD, RDN, David O. Garcia PhD, FACSM, Barbara L. Grant MS, RDN, CSO, FAND, Kathryn K. Hamilton MA, RDN, CSO, CDN, FAND, Sheri J. Hartman PhD, Stacey A. Kenfield ScD, Maria Elena Martinez PhD, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt MD, MPH, Larissa Nekhlyudov MD, MPH, Linda Overholser MD, Alpa V. Patel PhD, Bernardine M. Pinto PhD, Mary E. Platek PhD, RD, CDN, Erika Rees-Punia PhD, MPH, Colleen K. Spees PhD, MEd, RD, LD, FAND, Susan M. Gapstur PhD, Marjorie L. McCullough ScD, RD

Please contact me to discuss the program with you!