Hello

Danielle was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer in 2018 at the age of 29. Like anyone newly diagnosed, no one knew how Danielle would respond to treatment which for her was 6 rounds of chemotherapy and 2 maintenance drugs that she’s still on today. Danielle’s mental health was at rock bottom but she knew she had to pick herself up for her 6 month old daughter, Joey. After a couple of months Danielle got back into exercising when she could, mainly going for short runs and taking up yoga. After a while she added in a solid weekly gym routine and nearly 3 years later she’s joined a boxing club in Kent and sees a personal trainer once a week.

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Astonishingly, Danielle has had no evidence of active disease on her scans since July 2019. She puts this down to her medication working incredibly well for her but she feels as though exercise has played a huge part in how she has handled her diagnosis mentally and physically and now she wants to make it more accessible to others faced with cancer.

 She says: “I know the impact getting up and exercising has had on me since my diagnosis. It reminds me I am alive and that my body can do incredible things and it’s stronger than I give it credit for. Exercise is a wonder drug so I’m surprised at how little we’re encouraged to stay active after a cancer diagnosis. This huge plan is put in place for us to start treatment but there’s no exercise plan or information given on what we can do to stay active and help ourselves. I want to fill this gap and that’s why I created The Fitness Support Network; so that newly diagnosed cancer patients can feel encouraged to exercise and stay active on the days when they feel like they can.

 

Exercise classes and gym memberships can be expensive so we want to take that financial burden away from the cancer patient for 12 months so they can enjoy exercising without worrying about the pennies!”