Exercise made me physically and mentally stronger during cancer battle

High Life Highland Wellness Month Blog

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, I had barely seen the inside of a gym – I loathed exercise – to me it was a chore. However, my diagnosis changed all that.

If I am being honest – in the past I paid too much attention to how I looked on the outside, so having cancer and losing everything that made me feel feminine, was tough.

By 2023 and having successfully completed my treatment – and now knowing that exercise can reduce the chance of cancer returning by 35% – I joined a gym. I was determined to do everything I could to help my body recover.

I discovered a fondness for lifting weights but given that I had undergone surgery as part of my treatment, I really needed help from a personal trainer with a suitable cancer rehabilitation qualification. This person was proving hard to find – so that’s when I decided that I would be that person!

With help from The Highland Council and High Life Highland I was able to secure a work placement and training at Inverness Leisure as a Leisure Assistant and Personal Trainer. And this month I start working towards gaining a cancer rehab exercise qualification so I can help others in the future.

Thinking about High Life Highland’s Wellness Month and looking back over the last few years, I realise that exercise helped me recover physically but also mentally. It’s also been great for my social wellbeing, meeting new people through my new career. I have more confidence and have learned to care less about appearances – there is so much more to this body than what it looks like.

Another thing that cancer has taught me, is to live for the moment. Fighting cancer made me appreciate my life in the here and now rather than always looking at what is on the horizon. So, while my physical health has taken a bit of a battering, the steps I have taken since receiving my diagnosis and undergoing treatment have greatly enhanced my overall wellbeing.