To celebrate our Move More campaign next week, we’ll be bringing you a host of events including a web chat with physiotherapist Dr Karen Robb. Karen is a Macmillan physiotherapist and expert in cancer and rehabilitation and will be in the chat room on Wednesday 10th August from 1:30pm to 2:30pm to answer your questions about exercise, how physiotherapy can help you manage symptoms and some of the side effects of cancer treatment, returning to activities of daily living and how to get further support.

Put this date in your diaries now! Karen has been working in the field for nearly 20 years and this is an amazing opportunity for you to ask Karen any question about physical activity.

We all know that exercise is good for us, but did you know that a little physical activity can not only improve your chances of recovery, but could also prevent your cancer from coming back in many cases?

According to a new report by Macmillan:

• breast cancer patients’ risk of recurrence and of dying from the disease can be reduced by up 40% by doing recommended levels of physical activity,

• bowel cancer patients’ risk of recurrence and of dying from the disease can be reduced by around 50% by doing significant amounts of physical activity,

• prostate cancer patients’ risk of dying from the disease can be reduced by up to 30% by doing recommended levels of physical activity, and

• After treatment all cancer patients can reduce their risk of getting side effects of cancer and its treatment by doing recommended levels of physical activity. These include fatigue, depression, osteoporosis and heart disease.

Conventional wisdom may say that you should rest up after cancer treatment, however Jane Maher, Chief Medical Officer of Macmillan Cancer Support and leading clinical oncologist said: “The advice that I would have previously have given to one of my patients would have been to ‘take it easy’. This has now changed significantly because of the recognition that if physical exercise were a drug, it would be hitting the headlines. There really needs to be a cultural change, so that health professionals see physical activity as an integral part of cancer after care, not just a optional add-on.”

There will be lots of resources on our Move More pages including an activity diary, a getting started guide, ten top tips, National Garden Society physical activity and gardening leaflet with garden seeds and much more so do have a look over there to find out more. So hopefully August will see all of you moving more and feeling better.