Mike, 72 years young, first contacted me to start personal training in March 2023 after treatment for throat and mouth cancer. The cancer treatment included surgery which left Mike with a drooped shoulder, unable to fully lift his arm or turn his head. Mike had been discharged by his surgical team with no onward care or physical therapy to help regain full use of the arm or mobility. In Mike’s own words, cancer turned a man who had always been fit and in reasonable shape into an old person through weight loss and loss of muscle.
Personal training for rehabilitation
Over a period of months, we worked together on his rehabilitation, taking it slowly to regain the mobility in his neck and the strength in his arm. We had to be mindful of scar tissue and the risk of injury due to the restrictive range of motion we were working with, but we were successful in our endeavours, including restoring the full range of movement at the shoulder joint.
Mike returned to the ski slopes in January 2024 for his first ski trip since before his diagnosis and felt stronger and fitter than he had in a while. In February 2024, Mike was admitted to hospital for a suspected Urinary Tract Infection, which turned out to be something far more sinister - bladder cancer. Mike was advised that the best thing for him to do was to continue training when he felt well enough to do so, we carried on with our personal training sessions during chemotherapy to keep him fit and healthy for the looming surgery.
In July 2024, Mike had surgery to remove his bladder and to have a stoma fitted. During recovery, Mike lost a lot of weight and he was unable to eat for a long period of time which resulted in muscle loss.
Returning to personal training post-surgery
6-weeks post-surgery, in August 2024 Mike was cleared to return to exercise and we have been slowly working together again to rebuild him back to his pre-surgery strength, this time concentrating on trying to avoid herniation at his Stoma site.
Mike says that PT was hugely beneficial in maintaining his condition during chemo, helping him be in the best possible shape for surgery, something which he credits for his speedy recovery.