Through her oncologist, Ineke learned about the PREFERABLE-EFFECT study, an exercise program designed for people with metastatic breast cancer. She decided to participate. “In the beginning, I hardly dared to do anything. I had lost all confidence in my body. Even standing on a wobble ball terrified me.”
But progress came, little by little. She relearned how to balance, climb stairs, and even get on and off the bus. “It may sound small, but it opens up your world. Suddenly I could go to the city or the library again.” She also got a special recumbent bicycle. After nine months of training, Ineke was walking indoors without a cane. And she kept going—until she dared to leave the cane at home for good. “I’ve now been training twice a week for more than two and a half years. I no longer feel like a rehab patient.”
Still, Ineke remains a patient in the oncological sense. “Metastatic breast cancer can’t be cured. I know there will come a time when the tumor will find a way around the medication. But I don’t look further ahead than two years. I could spend time worrying about what might go wrong, but that won’t make today any better.” The exercise program helped her grow stronger, physically, but also mentally. “I don’t need a mindfulness course anymore.”
Ineke hopes that others with cancer will also get—or take—the opportunity to exercise the way she did. “Take every chance you get. And if no one offers it, organize it yourself. For me, this program meant the difference between staying in bed and having a life again. Exercise is gold, if you want to make something of your life with cancer. It helps with fear, isolation, and it provides structure. I wish that for everyone.”