Staying active can make a huge difference when it comes to how your body responds to cancer treatment. So finding some sort of activity that you enjoy, that doesn’t put too much of a strain on you physically, is something all survivors should look into. For breast cancer survivor Vera Trifunovich, it was Zumba. In fact, she loved Zumba class so much, that she was back at it four weeks, to the day, after her breast cancer surgery. “As I was recovering from my surgeries, it was very, very important for me to stay connected to my body,” Vera says. “Through movement, the dance. The dancing actually really helped my rehab.”
Not everyone who undergoes cancer surgery will be able to get up and dance after the fact, though, and that’s OK. Even Vera, who has always been very into fitness, says she had to take it easy when she first got back into Zumba. “I couldn’t really move my arm yet, because I was just starting PT (physical therapy) … I remember I was just dancing, and I would just dance with one arm. Dancing was good for my body, and it was also so good for my soul. It was in those moments when I was dancing, and listening to fun music, and being with my friends, it would all melt away.”
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