{"id":18314,"date":"2024-12-13T08:30:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T09:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=18314"},"modified":"2024-12-13T10:29:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T10:29:37","slug":"a-sense-of-belonging-aids-our-cancer-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=18314","title":{"rendered":"‘A sense of belonging aids our cancer recovery’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"RichardRichard Donaldson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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A man who has been fighting prostate cancer<\/a> has described how group fitness sessions have helped recovery and offered a “sense of belonging”.<\/p>\n

Richard Donaldson, 55, is among a group of 16 men who have completed the varied health programme at Aberdeen FC’s Pittodrie Stadium in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Prostate FFIT (Football Fans in Training) has been provided by the Prostate Scotland and SPFL (Scottish Professional Football League) Trust charities.<\/p>\n

Mr Donaldson, from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, said the group members had formed a close lasting bond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Man<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Following a biopsy, cancer was found on the right side of the creel fisherman and Airbnb owner’s prostate. He had his prostate removed in April.<\/p>\n

He is now cancer free, but will continue to be tested every three months for the next three years.<\/p>\n

He said: “It’s a horrible feeling to be diagnosed with cancer, but early diagnosis saves lives.<\/p>\n

“You feel as though your whole world is caving in.<\/p>\n

“After they removed my prostate and they said it’s likely that the cancer would have broken out and spread to my bones. I’m very lucky.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"RichardRichard Donaldson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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During his treatment he suffered from fatigue, and said the course at Pittodrie made a big difference.<\/p>\n

“It’s a sense of belonging when you come into a group because when you get diagnosed with prostate cancer you’re on your own to start with,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Everybody is in the same boat here and you learn about how prostate cancer can affect you.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How has the course helped?<\/h2>\n
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He added: “This course helped me fight fatigue, the instructors and dieticians have been brilliant.<\/p>\n

“I’ve lost about half-a-stone, I try and look at my food better, and try to live a healthier life.<\/p>\n

“When fatigue hits, you have to fight back. I feel brilliant.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"RichardRichard Donaldson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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The programme at Pittodrie has lasted 12 weeks, with the whole group reducing their body mass index (BMI) – which measures the ratio of height to weight to estimate body fat – and blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Each 90-minute session was split between nutrition advice – to help balance the impact of treatment – and fitness. <\/p>\n

It included aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility exercises -often on the pitch, if the weather allowed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Woman<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Prostate Scotland’s services development manager Elaine Stewart hailed Prostate FFIT (Football Fans in Training) a success.<\/p>\n

“The feedback we receive from men is powerful,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Prostate FFIT is making a huge difference as they go through prostate cancer treatment which is a challenging process – emotionally, mentally and physically.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How can you take part?<\/h2>\n
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She said that following the success of the programme, they were announcing a second Prostate FFIT programme at Pittodrie starting on 29 January.<\/p>\n

“We’re inviting men going through their treatment in Aberdeenshire to sign up and take part,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great opportunity to get out of your head, do physical exercise, meet with others and have some fun – it offers a new perspective. Let us support you in your prostate cancer journey.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"RichardRichard Donaldson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Cancer exercise coach Nicola Graham, who runs the programme, said: “The idea is to enable participants to have a better quality of life so we teach them transferable exercises that can help them at home and increase these gradually.”<\/p>\n

Mr Donaldson, a big Rangers fan, said there was no rivalry among the group, despite the majority being Aberdeen fans.<\/p>\n

“Cancer has no colours,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“There’s no discrimination here – because we all know who the best team is.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What is prostate cancer?<\/h2>\n
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The prostate is a gland that is about the size of a walnut which sits just below the bladder within the pelvis.<\/p>\n

It surrounds the urethra – the tube that takes urine out of the body through the penis.<\/p>\n

Prostate cancer – abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth – often develops slowly.<\/p>\n

There may be no signs or symptoms for years and some people never develop any problems from it.<\/p>\n

But in others, the cancer can be aggressive and deadly.<\/p>\n

Prostate cancer that is detected early has the best chance for successful treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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More on this story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard DonaldsonA man who has been fighting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18323,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18314\/revisions\/18323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}