Nicole said finding out she had cancer as a young mother was "harrowing" and inspired her to take up exercise in a bid to fight the disease. Photo / 7 News
Nicole said finding out she had cancer as a young mother was "harrowing" and inspired her to take up exercise in a bid to fight the disease. Photo / 7 News
A group of Australian cancer experts wants to launch a "world-first" in calling for exercise to be prescribed to cancer patients after a mother's remarkable recovery from terminal cancer.
When Nicole Cooper was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer a month after giving birth, she was told she had justyears to live. But a second opinion gave her a glimmer of hope.
"Being told you have terminal cancer when you also have an 8-month-old baby is one of the most harrowing experiences that a person can have," she told 7 News.
In between bouts of chemotherapy and surgery, the 33-year-old started to add in long runs and heavy weights into her recovery routine.
Since Cooper's diagnosis in 2017, she said she has focused on exercise as much as chemotherapy, often heading straight from her chemotherapy sessions to the gym.
Nicole said finding out she had cancer as a young mother was "harrowing" and inspired her to take up exercise in a bid to fight the disease. Photo / 7 News
She describes both chemotherapy and exercise as "potentially life-saving" and is now officially in remission.
"I've done personal bests in the gym since being diagnosed with cancer," she told ABC.
"Cancer is a lifelong battle, once you have it you're kind of with it.
"So you have to plan out your life around how you can live best [and] I'm certainly doing that now."
Historically, cancer patients are encouraged to rest and avoid exercise, however, experts now believe that that's the worst advice.
Clinical Oncology Society Associate Professor Prue Cormie believes that patients should instead jog, cycle or walk five times a week.
Nicole Cooper during her cancer battle. Photo / 7 News
The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia has now prepared the Exercise in Cancer Care paper which encourages doctors to prescribe patients exercise regimes.
While it will not be possible for everyone, the recommendations respond to mounting scientific evidence that exercise can drastically improve people's chances of survival, in one study by up to 44 per cent.
The paper has been endorsed by more than 25 health organisations including the Cancer Council.
Cormie, an exercise physiologist and lead author of the new position statement, says exercise can help stop cancer returning and reduce the nasty side-effects of cancer treatment.
"The original thought that we would have to protect the patient and encourage rest has been completely turned on its head," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"We are talking about a dramatic change in how cancer is treated."
In just 12 months Cooper has beaten her terminal diagnosis and is now in remission and credits exercise for saving her life.
