Diane Cusworth proud as punch after having completed the Leeds 10K in record time.
Diane joined us on a Crocodile Walk a few months ago and was inspired to restart park runs. She was introduced to a fellow park runner at one of our Wellness Days and there was no stopping her.
She signed up for the Leeds 10K in June as well as
the Aspire Health course and Live Well Wakefield, Cancer- Thriving and Surviving course.
Diane said “For myself, I saw a big impact on my physical and mental wellbeing during the 12 weeks that I attended the Aspire course”.
Diane has now joined the gym through Aspire and is a true mentor to us all.
Exercise and me: Sharon Schofield talks about how she has worked to regain her fitness levels following a cancer diagnosis.
“18 months ago being diagnosed with cancer for a second time completely knocked me off my feet! I was at my fittest I had been for a long time, running regularly and attending exercise classes 6 days a week.
Undergoing weekly chemo stopped me in my tracks, both mentally and physically. Then undergoing a double mastectomy with Diep flap reconstruction hindered me further.
Being able to get a health referral to Aspire Gym to engage with a rehabilitation class was the start of my journey back to fitness and walking the dog daily really helped - to get outside in nature boosted my general well-being.
At the start of my getting back to fitness journey I found the “Mid Yorkshire Breast Cancer Support Group” and have not looked back since! The “MY” group offered me the support I needed to engage with a weekly Pilates class in Leeds with the lovely Jo Sheridan-Hawley and to join them on a weekly walk in Horbury on Sundays. As I built up my fitness, I was then able to attend the fortnightly dance class that followed Pilates, which is a lot of fun focusing on conditioning, flexibility and core strength.
It’s been a long, hard, steady slog but I am now starting to feel stronger as regular exercises with like-minded people is now part of my routine.
More recently I have joined a ladies-only small PT class in Ossett run by the very supportive Paula Appleton, Mental Health and Exercise Coach, focusing on strength and conditioning.
I may never get back to full fitness as before but the new me is coming back stronger than ever!”
I was initially diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer in 2011, and following a mastectomy I had implants fitted in 2013. I had a number of ongoing problems with my implants and had them removed in 2019 when it was subsequently found that one of them was leaking.
In July 2020 following scans it was shown that I had a tumour in my upper chest wall and I had this removed at Barnsley Hospital, however a second tumour in my left armpit could not be removed due to it being too close to a major blood vessel. I had a second opinion through Mr Turton at the Nuffield Hospital in Leeds and he agreed to try and remove this, which he did successfully in January 2021 at St James. At this point I was relieved to be what I thought was cancer free.
In April I found a lump in my lymph node area under my armpit. A subsequent scan and biopsies showed that my cancer had returned in 5 new areas in my sternum, spine, lungs and lymph nodes. In June 2021 I started on my secondary breast cancer treatment with fulvestrant, which is designed to block the oestrogen receptors to my tumours. After 6 months of treatment I found it difficult to tolerate the treatment.
After my husband did some research we found a story about a lady in Switzerland who had been taking half a dose of fulvestrant due to similar side effects to me and this had proved successful in keeping her secondary breast cancer tumours stable. In December 2021 following a discussion with Prof Perrin, he agreed to put me on half a dose and I have tolerated this treatment better.
I still suffer from ongoing side effects from my scar tissue caused by the number of surgeries, especially pain under my armpit and across my chest wall. I am having regular physio at St James to try and help with this. What made it a little more complicated was some years earlier I had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the side effects from this were similar to the ones from my medication for my cancer treatment. During this period I had also been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and I am taking regular medication for this too which is thankfully keeping this under control..
All my recent scans have shown that I am responding to the treatment and have shown that my tumours are stable and not growing. My monthly treatment continues and my next scan is due soon which always causes a little bit of anxiety, however I try to remain positive.
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