An Innovative Community Medical Center Program Is Helping Patients Regain Their Energy
After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in 2018, Louise Lago underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Louise, 71, felt drained when her treatment finished in January 2019, and she thought her energy would return once the drugs left her body. But months later, she still felt worn down. Exhaustion interfered with her daily activities, including preparing meals and washing up after dinner. “I didn’t have the energy I wanted,” she says. Louise’s physician, Gurpreet Lamba, MD, a hematologist/oncologist at Community Medical Center (CMC), referred her to the Rehabilitation Department, which offers a Cancer Fatigue Program. The program is designed to help patients struggling with a lack of energy due to cancer and its treatment. It includes fitness activities and lifestyle strategies focused on helping patients regain their energy. “The program works,” says Dr. Lamba. “It helps patients recover from chemotherapy more quickly.”
A Lingering Side Effect
The Rehabilitation Department created the Cancer Fatigue Program after reviewing the results of the Distress Thermometer, an evaluation tool patients fill out to describe their physical, emotional and social challenges. When Dale Ofei-Ayisi, LCSW, a social worker at CMC, analyzed two years’ worth of Distress Thermometer results, she discovered that fatigue was the No. 1 problem for the hospital’s cancer patients. These findings were brought to the CMC Cancer Committee and soon after, plans for a Cancer Fatigue Program began taking shape. Committee members researched other cancer fatigue programs around the country and created a program customized for CMC patients.
A Focus On Exercise
Activity is the centerpiece of the Cancer Fatigue Program. “It seems counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to treat fatigue is exercise,” says Raymond Howard, PT, DPT, OCS, Regional Director of Rehabilitation Services at CMC. Exercise strengthens muscles weakened by inactivity during cancer treatment, and it helps to increase energy and boost mood in people affected by cancer-related anxiety and depression, which can also contribute to fatigue.
Louis, a retired teacher who lives in Toms River, began participating in the program in October 2019. Two or three times a week, she lifted weights, stretched, worked out on an elliptical trainer and performed strength-building exercises, such as squats and heel lifts. The exercises improved her fatigue as well as her peripheral neuropathy symptoms (weakness, numbness and pain related to nerve damage caused by the cancer treatment).
The program also includes education about how to conserve energy and manage fatigue. “I do a little bit of activity, then I sit down for a while,” says Louise.
The Cancer Fatigue Program addresses each patient’s unique needs, according to Howard. “We individualize the program and modify it as needed,” he says. Although the program is designed for two or three visits per week for six weeks, a customized plan can be arranged for patients who have trouble fitting appointments into their schedules.
Beyond alleviating fatigue, the program, which is supervised by licensed physical therapists, is designed to increase strength, build stamina, boost functional mobility, improve quality of life, prevent falls and make it easier for patients to move around and participate in the activities that matter to them.
The program also teaches breathing and relaxation techniques that can help patients cope with some of the emotional challenges of cancer treatment and survivorship. “Patients have said it gives them some sense of control over their lives,” says Howard. Participating patients may also receive referrals for other services that address their fatigue, such as nutritional counseling and occupational therapy.
So far, the program appears to lift patients’ spirits. “It instills hope because it shows patients that they can get back some of the life cancer deprived them of,” says Howard. As for Louise, she’s “really benefited from the program,” says Dr. Lamba. “I don’t think she could have tolerated the chemotherapy without it.” Louise achieved her goals and was discharged from the program in January. She purchased a recumbent bike and is exercising at home. “I’m less fatigued,” she says. “I can do the simple things in life, like go to church, prepare food and do the dishes. My nerve-related symptoms have improved so I can walk without a walker or cane. Things are coming around.”
For a referral to the Cancer Fatigue Program, ask your physician or call 732.557.8046.