Cancer question

[Speer Carrier]

I have a hiking buddy who will shortly begin radiation treatment for cancer. He will be through with the treatment by late May. I've heard, and read, that even after the completion of treatment, fatigue lasts for quite sometime.

For anyone who has knowledge on the subject, my question is this, how many weeks would you think it would take before a 3-4 week hike could be undertaken? We normally hike from 12 to 15 miles per day.

[kayak karl]

ask a doctor. there are some questions that just don't belong on WB. have a little respect for your friend.

[Sunshine Tami Jo]

ask a doctor. there are some questions that just don't belong on WB. have a little respect for your friend.

Easy, Kayak. I think he does have respect for his friend, which is why he is asking when his friend might be up for a hike. He wants to spend time with his friend without pushing him too much, and unless Speer has a friend who is a doctor, he can't just ask a doctor unless he makes an appointment, for which he'll have to pay. If I knew the answer I would gladly give it, and I'll bet someone who knows will give Speer some insight without being disparaging, because Speer IS thinking of his friend. I wish your friend well, Speer, and you too.

[Jim Adams]

I have no problem with this on WB...there may be others out there that already went through this obsticle.
Being a paramedic, I transport pts regularly that have radiation treatment. Just from what they convey to me and what I see, I would say that a 10 mile day would be too much for your friend and his / her recovery times will be alot longer than yours.
Go slow and enjoy the hike...it will probably be great for your friend.

geek

[lava]

I have a hiking buddy who will shortly begin radiation treatment for cancer. He will be through with the treatment by late May. I've heard, and read, that even after the completion of treatment, fatigue lasts for quite sometime.

For anyone who has knowledge on the subject, my question is this, how many weeks would you think it would take before a 3-4 week hike could be undertaken? We normally hike from 12 to 15 miles per day.

I'm not an expert on this stuff by any means. Based on my experience with my brother this is extremely unpredictable. He was treated for colon cancer in 2010. He did very well through his chemo and we did a lot of hiking during the early part of his treatment. However, his treatment is now complete and he is suffering from side effects of the treatment that make walking long distances very uncomfortable. It is unknown how long it might take for those symptoms to subside. There are many different treatments for different types of cancer and how soon he may be able to tackle such an endeavor would be dependent on both how successful the treatment was as well as how the side effects of his particular treatment impact him.

This event really made me stop and reassess a lot of things. I hiked more with my brother in the past year than I had in, well, ever.

I would say be there for your friend in whatever way you can, but the best way to determine what he can handle and what he is up to doing at any given time is to ask him how he is feeling and what his doctor recommends.

[Papa D]

you can do more than you think you can - I'm not a doctor, but assuming your friend "feels" ok, he should / could go for whatever mileage he wants to - why not try for just one-shelter apart spacing at the start of his hike? - this is usually 6-8 miles on most of the AT - if he want's to go for more then he should go for it. I've never heard that exercise can hurt a cancer patient - I imagine it will only make him happy with his accomplishment. - good luck!

[Delta-Dawn]

As someone who did the Breast Cancer 3 day (60 miles) successfully and with plenty of zip just a few days after a treatment, I say.....everyone is different. Every treatment regimen in different. I had plenty of energy then to do the 3-Day, but weeks later in the course of treatment I could barely move. My last cancer was much worse, my medications were completely different than the previous. It took almost 2 years to recover enough to get back to where I had been before the reoccurrence and I had to really go slow for a long while. It really is going to depend on so many variables, it is hard to give an accurate report to someone, I can just opine on my own experience. I commend you for caring about your friend enough to ask, what a lucky guy he is.

[Shutterbug]

I have a hiking buddy who will shortly begin radiation treatment for cancer. He will be through with the treatment by late May. I've heard, and read, that even after the completion of treatment, fatigue lasts for quite sometime.

For anyone who has knowledge on the subject, my question is this, how many weeks would you think it would take before a 3-4 week hike could be undertaken? We normally hike from 12 to 15 miles per day.

There are many different kinds of radiation treatment. The recovery period will depend on what kind of radiation treatment he has, the kind of cancer he has, and whether or not the radiation treatment is followed by chemo.

I had CyberKnife (a type of external beam radiation) treatment for prostate cancer. There really wasn't a recovery period. I did not expeience the fatigue that some patients feel. I was able to hike again immediately.

I did have some side effects, frequent urination, that lasted for more than six months. From that experience, I would assume that others would feel the effects of radiation for at least that long.

[mweinstone]

he will be ready for hiking july 3rd at noon.

[Speer Carrier]

Thanks to all who responded. I know I could have asked a doctor, and probably will, but I'm not sure just any doctor would understand the nature of hiking on a trail for a whole day as opposed to going for a long walk around the city. I figured that the WB group might have some insight from actual experience.

Oh, and thank you Doctor Weinstone for your always very precise and pithy answer. Interestingly enough, early July is what my friend is thinking/hoping.