Striving to Combat the Effects of Cancer with Exercise

Group photo of cancer survivorship exercise workshop attendees
Friday, June 29, 2018

In celebration of National Survivor Month, we held a collaborative event with Breast Cancer Hawaii, Young Survival Coalition, and Aloha Cancer Project to present the benefits and importance of exercise as it pertains to cancer survivors recovery and survivorship. We started off the Cancer Survivorship Exercise Workshop by sharing each of our survivor experiences.

Cancer survivor, Joanne Hayashi, shared how her lifestyle has improved after being diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative Invasive Breast Cancer.  Joanne went from no exercise to finishing a marathon!  She now makes it a mission to get her workout in twice a week in our REHAB Strong group exercise class, REHAB Recovery & Rejuvenation, designed for the recovery and rejuvenation of Cancer Survivors after they have completed their treatments.

Special guest speakers Cancer Exercise Specialist, Josh Cordova, and REHAB’s Lifestyle and Wellbeing Coordinator and Cancer Exercise Specialist, Kory Kawaguchi, explained the benefits of exercising and reducing some of the side effects of cancer treatment such as neuropathy, fatigue and chemo brain.  After their lecture, they conducted an interactive exercise workshop specially designed for our 24 attendees. The exercises were crafted for cancer survivors who have undergone treatment or are recovering from surgery. They are lighter/modified exercises and can be done anywhere, even right in the comfort of their own home. One of our attendees said, "What a great meeting and program today. I felt uplifted all day. Looking forward to seeing everyone again. The support is priceless."

Learn more about our specialized programs for cancer survivors and fighters: