survivor story:

Swart knows of what he speaks. He trained Joy to Life co-founder Joy Blondheim for years, including before, during and immediately following her treatments for breast cancer. “For Joy, we first focused on getting back to normal function, doing some passive stretching and working on her range of motion. We did walking to boost her activity level,” he says. Next, as Joy got stronger, he added strength training back in, and he added this advice for those preparing to take this step. “You’ll need to work slowly back into strength training, and as it always is, proper form is crucial, as is finding the right weight and number or reps for you,” he says.

He’s seen the truth of this in his decades of training experience, so he also encourages those undergoing breast cancer treatment and those who’ve just finished it to find a way to keep moving. “In treatment, there will be good and bad days, but if you can move even a little, that’s better than nothing,” he says. He stressed listening to your body and always resting when you’re tired, but added, “Do what you can when you can. It all adds up.”

For those already living an active lifestyle, slowing down and tweaking their exercise plan can be hard. But it’s sometimes necessary. Swart offered this wisdom. “Some people used to more and more strenuous workouts might have to make adjustments and scale back,” he said. “You just have to remember, simply keeping moving is the goal.”

The appropriate type, duration and intensity of activity for you will vary greatly depending on your specific situation, but continually talking to your doctor about the best exercise regimen for you should stay on your priority list. “Everything and anything you do in terms of exercise before, during and after any treatment should be in accordance with your doctor’s orders, and you can’t compare yourself to other breast cancer patients,” he says. “Everyone’s body is different when it comes to exercise.”

If you did have to modify your exercise for a time and after treatment, you are raring to get back in the saddle, Swart says patience is important. “You’ll need to ramp back up slowly and pay attention to how you feel not just when you’re exercising but after a workout too,” he says. “If you are really sore, you did too much too fast. But you will get back to where you were. It simply takes some time.”

Rally Your Team

Cancer is a physical disease, but its ravages are not confined to the physical body. The stress of an upended schedule, the fear of the unknown, the pain and discomfort, the strain on finances: They all take a toll on a cancer patient’s mental and emotional wellbeing too, which can hinder healing.

But, according to Meg Lovett at Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center in Birmingham, there is a solution to some of these issues. “Research has shown us time and time again that when a cancer patient has a support system, their treatments are more successful,” she says. “Poor mental and emotional health can affect any of us physically. Our bodies carry stress through headaches, slumped posture, low-energy levels. When you compound that with the physical stress a breast cancer patient’s body is already experiencing from treatment, the ramifications can be even more drastic. When a patient has support that can help bear some of the ‘mental load,’ then they can focus on healing.”

Start identifying the family members and friends who can be the foundation of your personal support team, those who can walk beside you through treatments and beyond. You’ll need people who can help fill practical needs like transportation to appointments, meals and childcare, as well as those who know how to listen, encourage and be your biggest cheerleaders on the days you need an injection of laughter and positive energy far more than your meds.

And you don’t have to fill your support team roster from your inner circle alone. There are organizations designed to provide this kind of aid too, groups like Forge. Forge was founded to help breast cancer patients overcome any obstacle that could hinder their healing with a varied menu of programs and events to lessen the diverse list of hurdles they and their loved ones face. Forge provides its clients and/or their caregivers gas cards to help cover the compounding costs of frequent medical appointments and grocery cards to lessen some of cancer’s financial sting. Forge clients and their families have access to licensed mental health counseling at no cost to them as well as gentle exercise classes like yoga and Pilates.

But perhaps the most meaningful Forge services are opportunities it provides breast cancer patients to connect with each other and themselves through support groups plus art, cooking and gardening classes. They’re invited to visit the Forge office, housed in a historic home, too, where they find a comfortable, welcoming environment to meet friends, relax or just stop by for coffee before or after an appointment. “We also offer peer-to-peer matching where we pair a breast cancer patient or caregiver with a volunteer who’s experienced a similar diagnosis or role in a loved one’s life,” Meg says. “These volunteers have held our clients’ hands in doctors’ offices, waited with them for test results, helped them make difficult decisions or just been a support person ‘who’s been there’ and can listen and connect.”