More than 90 per cent of people living with or after cancer experience cancer-related fatigue. <\/p>\n
After successfully battling breast cancer for five years, Ottawa-based Elvira Spremo didn\u2019t feel like her fight was over. She was so consumed by chronic fatigue that she became a shell of her formal herself. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was having a hard time going back to work because I was tired,\u201d she told CTV News Toronto. \u201cAnd I couldn\u2019t explain what was happening, I had to extend my sick leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
She came across an ad on social media for a Toronto clinic called Cancer Fatigue Services, which piqued her interest. After reaching out, she completed some online tests that analyzed her symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually showed that I was really dealing with a lot of fatigue on different levels,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After a doctor\u2019s referral, the clinic assessed Spremo\u2019s physical conditions and arranged an exercise program that was intended to help her build strength and energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a bit skeptical\u2026but then I was committed because I just wanted to do anything to take myself from that despair of chronic tiredness,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to give it a try because I was tired of being tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the beginning, Spremo admits that it was a challenge. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to even property do a squat,\u201d she said. \u201cI was in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started with riding a stationary bike at a slow pace, then progressed to high intensity training. <\/p>\n
Now, a year later, she feels like herself again. The lingering fatigue is gone, thanks to various programs offered through the clinic, which are mostly covered by OHIP. <\/p>\n
Spermo has also attended a social worker-led peer group, offered by the clinic, which has helped teach her how to preserve her energy. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, it really reflected what was going on with me,\u201d Spremo said <\/p>\n
Clinic started to provide help to fill treatment gap <\/p>\n
Dr. Scott Adams is the CEO of Cancer Fatigue Services, the clinic which Spremo attended near Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue. He said he started the service to connect with patients who weren\u2019t getting the right help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spent my career watching people living with and after cancer get dismissed every time they talked about how exhausted they were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Adams said when attending conferences, people would come up to different professionals to discus common cancer symptoms, like psychosocial oncology or nutritional related concerns.<\/p>\n
But there was a gap when it came to cancer-related fatigue.<\/p>\n
\u201cFatigue had been the one thing that there was consistently never a place for anyone to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the lack of action really is the product of its complexity and the current way our healthcare system is structured.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that the limited amount of time a patient has with an oncologist doesn\u2019t allow for them to meaningfully dig into all the likely contributing factors behind the fatigue. In turn, the patient is transitioned back to their general practitioner, who often can\u2019t identify the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of the solution is making sure that we assess things comprehensively and give people the time they need to digest the information, so that they can actually have meaningful conversations about it and really understand the challenges that are before them,\u201d Adams said. <\/p>\n
A toolkit is needed, but doesn\u2019t exist<\/p>\n
Lindsay Timm is the executive director of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network, which includes Cancer Fatigue Services in their network. <\/p>\n
She said having specialized care for something as commonplace and debilitating as fatigue in cancer patients and survivors is a gamechanger, especially since the latter don\u2019t often have a lot of options for in-depth extended care. That can leave survivors who are still experiencing the effects of cancer to feel overwhelmed. <\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, it\u2019s like a mother bird pushing their baby out of the nest and saying \u2018Fly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The clinic\u2019s focus on exercise as a first line of treatment is hugely beneficial for overall wellness, Timm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t just jump to a prescription, because often it\u2019s sleeping medications that are quite addictive and hard on the body,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, using exercise as an intervention is a natural way to like increase energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there are specialists that cancer patients and survivors can see to treat specific symptoms related to things like nutrition, swelling and skin conditions, Timm said they aren\u2019t found in one place. That means, the patients have to do all the research themselves.<\/p>\n
Timm wants to see a directory for physicians who treat cancer survivors, so they know where to send them for continued specialized rehab treatment. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey do get a small amount of time of rehab given to them, but after that it\u2019s like \u2018you\u2019re on your own, kid,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThey need that toolkit from their physician, but that doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 90 per cent of people living with or after cancer experience cancer-related fatigue. After successfully battling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[712,49,48,84],"class_list":["post-643204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}