2024-02-13 11:00:00
Jean-Jacques Bernard is 67 years old and since last October, he has been treated for a lung tumor at Sainte Musse hospital in Toulon. That morning, there was a meeting. He will continue his treatment in front of a sports mat, facing Romain, a sports therapy practitioner. Like the other patients in the group, he benefits from the “sport and cancer” system developed in partnership by the hospital and CAMI Sport et Cancer..
“An asset for patients”
“Therapeutic physical activity is a real asset for patients facing cancer, explains Dr. Clarisse Audigier Valette, onco-pulmonologist, head of the multidisciplinary medicine and oncology center. Regular and sustained practice helps combat the adverse effects of treatments, both physical and psychological. It is also associated with an improvement in patients’ quality of life, a reduction in the risk of recurrence of major cancers and, counterintuitively, a reduction in fatigue.”
For a year, the Toulon La Seyne intercommunal hospital center has therefore welcomed the CAMI sport and cancer, which is responsible for the organization, each week, of two sessions of therapeutic activities for patients suffering from cancer followed at the hospital.
A personalized program
“An initial assessment allows us to know the patient’s care pathway and assess their physical deconditioning, their muscle loss and their possible need for musculoskeletal repositioning, summarizes Romain Cottard, sports therapy practitioner. We determine objectives together and he then joins a group – eight people maximum – who shares them. We do muscle strengthening, we work on balance… The exercises are adapted on a case-by-case basis and must allow the patient to immerse themselves in their body, to regain their sensations but also to meet other patients, to exchange with them .”
This personalized program, lasting three to nine months, is subject to a quarterly assessment in conjunction with the medical teams.
His doctor did not have to convince Jean-Jacques of the usefulness of adapted physical activity as supportive care. “I was very demanding, he confides. I realized the incredible speed at which we lose muscle. I have always been very sporty and I no longer have any muscles: in three months! Going up a step is horrible… When I was offered this support, I thought it was great! It is also a way of planning for the future, of not remaining passive in the face of illness. We decide to take charge of ourselves, we maintain a positive dynamic to be ready to leave. It’s not that easy: we quickly accept and let go… The group, like here, is all the more interesting. There is emulation!”
The results are in. “This innovative initiative combining supervised physical activity and psychological support has made a real difference in the journey of our cancer patients, confirms Dr Audigier-Valette. It effectively complements our medical approach […]it is a valuable complement that fits harmoniously into our holistic approach to oncological care.”
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