I was just diagnosed with nasalpharyngeal cancer last week. I will be starting chemo soon. My Dr said to stay in the gym and get as strong as possible (awesome). Will I still be able to train when I get my port? I obviously have a million questions, and right now an just trying to control what I can.
Sorry to hear about this, but I am glad to hear that your doctor is making this recommendation! I agree that continuing to train is going to be very important.
We can’t provide you with immediate post-procedural recommendations after you have the port placed (I would defer those to the physician who places it), but once it’s healed you should be able to train normally.
1 Like
Hey THG… sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I was recently diagnosed with cancer too, and resumed training about 3 weeks after my abdominal surgery.
Ive had 1/6 cycles of chemo so far, and trained right through the first cycle. I didn’t suffer too badly with the chemo, either with symptoms or blood counts, at least so far, and my onc was impressed. I attribute it to training. Hard to know how much of a factor it is, but it is one factor I control, so I’m going for it.
I avoided getting a port. My chemo is 3 days of infusions every 3 weeks. The infusion nurses were impressed by my arm veins (they’re not that impressive really, but better than what they usually see I guess) so they agreed to forego a port and see how it went. So far so good. You should check to see if the port is essential. Sometimes the volume of fluid or the type of medication requires a central line, but otherwise it is definitely possible to get chemo through a regular peripheral IV. If you are a hard stick they may be looking for a port for their convenience rather than medical necessity.
if you do get a port, ask if there are options about different types, and get the least obtrusive one that will work. When I considered having a port, I looked on other boards and saw mention of lifters able to bench with a port (that would be the biggest concern for me, wouldn’t want to rest a heavy bar right on a port). Once it’s healed, I think most lifts should be fine, except possibly bench, but the doc who installs it should be able to explain which movements might possibly disrupt it.
Good luck, and keep training no matter what adjustments you have to make!
Thanks for your contribution here, and I hope everything continues to go well for you through the treatment process.
I think it’s very likely to be a significant factor, as there are strong independent associations between physical status / muscle mass / strength and things like treatment eligibility (obviously), as well as treatment-related toxicities, patient-reported outcomes (including things like fatigue and quality of life), and survival (again, obviously). These associations are also independent of BMI.
For details (and the evidence on the matter), see here: Muscle dysfunction in cancer patients - PubMed
1 Like