Horses during chemo?

[redlight]

Hi Vandy,
Sorry you have to go through cancer. Cancer sucks! I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2006, had a bi-lateral mastectomy and chemo. I took a month off from riding mostly because I had severe pain from the expanders. I was on vicodin and I didn’t feel quite sure about riding on pain killers. I was initially worried that if I fell off my expanders might crush but my plastic surgeon said it was completely okay so I felt good about that.

I did ride during chemo and it was the best therapy as it was the only time I was not thinking about cancer. I didn’t ride for the first five days after each treatment because I was wiped out with fatigue. I did have my horse on full care and training which was my present to myself for having to go through all this crap. I had a lot of lingering fatigue and shortness of breath so it was good I didn’t have to do any of the grooming, etc. As fit as I was before chemo it really sapped my strength and I lost a lot of muscle. I was quite the rag doll on my horse and a buck that normally would have been no problem for me to stay with sent me flying. Fortunately I didn’t get hurt except from some bruised ribs but I remember feeling so alive! I just did flat work as I just didn’t feel secure enough to jump.

I would also make my chemo appointments for the afternoon so I could get a ride in before then which got me mentally prepared for treatment. I hated leaving the barn knowing that I wouldn’t be back for almost a week. My oncologist thought I was nuts sometimes but he never told me I couldn’t do things. I was more worried about my kids getting me sick than picking up something at the barn.

There is no telling how you will feel on chemo until you actually do it. As you’ve read some people had an “easy” time on chemo and it didn’t slow them down. I’ve read about women running marathons while they were on chemo so I wouldn’t think you would have to stop doing the activities you enjoy. Just listen to your body. The one thing I would say is not to push it or try to be super woman. Take any help that is offered. If you stress your body too much then you will get sick.

As others have said, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion if you are not in agreement with your doctor. They all have their own protocol for better or worse. I wound up leaving my oncologist for another one when I was going through some bad side effects after chemo that were dismissed as being “nothing”.

You have a huge support network on here of women who have either gone through cancer or know someone who did. It sucks that cancer is becoming so common.

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. I’ll be jingling for you!

[leilatigress]

For the wonky taste try lemon lozenges. Those worked wonders for both a co- worker and my dad.

[casper324]

My experience…
I did ride a little and of course cared for the horses during my chemo but not full time, I didn’t have the energy. What kicked my butt the most was sinus infections. Chemo does away with those little nose hairs and I didn’t know how important they were until I didn’t have them. So I’d wear a mask which helped and allowed me to brush my muddy beast with out breathing in the recycled manure!

Recently I had a total hip replacement. Prior to surgery they gave me a ointment to put in my nose 5 days before surgery. I never found out if this was because I had horses or standard procedure as I thought I remembered hearing MERSA lives in a horses respiratory system. If your Dr is worried about bacteria maybe he could give you some of this stuff for your nose?

All that being said, getting on my horse reguvenated my soul when I was doing chemo. Even if it was a simple walk down the driveway. My kids, my husband and riding kept me going.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=leilatigress;5456010]
For the wonky taste try lemon lozenges. Those worked wonders for both a co- worker and my dad.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I’ll suggest that, thanks. (I think it’s particularly hard for my mom because she’s kind of a foodie - she’s done wine tasting classes and things like that, also - so eating and just not getting any flavor out of things, or a weird/bad flavor, really makes her not want to bother, because it takes the enjoyment out of it. Intellectually, she knows she has to eat to keep her strength up and give her body the best chance, but it’s difficult.)

Which reminds me of another food trick - my mom has found it much easier to face food (particularly if she’s feeling a bit ‘off’ or nauseated or just generally crummy from the medications) if she has fairly small portions in front of her at a time. Like - kid sized portions. Then she might go back for seconds or even thirds if something is going down well, but the larger portions to start with were just intimidating. (This is not the first time I’ve heard this from people, either, I think someone in her support group also mentioned a similar issue.)

We actually got a couple smaller plates to use (salad/dessert plates, I think they are) so it’s not like three lone spoonfuls on a sea of plate and looks more appealing visually.

Also - a lot of people might offer to help when they hear about your diagnosis. Keep them in mind and take them up on it. It doesn’t have to be anything major - a phone call, a visit, asking them to pick up groceries for you when they do their shopping, etc. If you do get hit a bit hard by the chemo energy-wise, having help getting daily tasks done like grocery shopping (or cooking, if you know anyone you trust to cook stuff you can just reheat) frees up just that tiny bit more energy to go and do something more rewarding, like a visit with your horse.

I don’t know if steroids are common as part of the chemo treatment for breast cancer, but if they are - take the ‘these might make you behave weirdly’ warnings seriously. The dose they had my mom on initially really made her kind of nuts. :eek: Mood swings, easily frustrated, randomly getting annoyed by small things, the works. Nothing like homicidal rage, just… Off.

Particularly if you do get the okay to keep doing stuff with your horses, if you are on steroids and that is a possible side effect, I’d mention it to people likely to be at the stable with you, so they can keep an eye out - you likely won’t notice you’re doing it, but of course you can’t explain to a horse that you have no patience with him because you’re on drugs that are making you nutty.