Exercise program grows to help cancer patients
Building strength and confidence after cancer treatment is the aim of an expanded exercise program being offered by the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program Run in conjunction with Windsor Regional Hospital, RENEW is a wellness program designed to help people heal from the physical and emotional side-effects of cancer and cancer treatments. Since the program began at Windsor Regional Hospital in 2013, more than 400 people have participated.
Now, the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program has joined forces with eight fitness centres to expand its RENEW exercise program throughout the region. Specially trained fitness instructors help participants build strength and confidence, allowing them to start slow and go at their pace while working with other patients.
“The treatments made me very weak and the gym was never really my cup of tea, so I was nervous at first,” said patient and family advisory committee co-chair Diane Marley, who went through the program in 2013 after breast cancer treatment.
“But this program was about so much more than fitness. It helped me walk distances, carry my own purse and get my own groceries, which I had not been able to do after the treatments,” she said. “It was an incredible opportunity to work out with instructors who understood my needs and limitations, and other participants who supported each other in and out of the class.”
The classes were previously only offered at one location during certain times of the year. But the program will branch out starting next month. Classes will run yearround at Windsor Squash and Fitness Club, the Windsor YMCA at Central Park Athletics, Pure Cycle and Yoga Studio in Belle River, Performance 360 Health and Fitness Club in Chatham, Ironworks Gym in Sarnia, Beachwalk Family Fitness in Essex, Windsor’s St. Denis Centre and the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County. The 60-minute exercise classes will run twice a week at each location.
Times will vary depending on location.
The classes include light to moderate strengthening and toning exercises, which are modified to allow people to work at their own pace and meet their personal goals. “People living with cancer, on active treatment or those who have recently completed treatment can benefit greatly from a moderate amount of regular exercise,” said chief of oncology Dr. Sindu Kanjeekal. “It helps improve quality of life, as well as cardiovascular and muscular fitness.”
All patients at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre who are receiving treatment or who are in followup care are eligible for the program. But physician clearance is required.
Thanks to support from the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation, participants pay a subsidized fee of $40 for their first 10-week session.