Page 193 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

Ihave Cancer. I am learning to live with this reality and dealing with the negative thoughts, difficult times and the impact it has on my physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.
Diagnosed in Oct 18, operated on six weeks later and ‘bang,’ you enter a world of endless consultations, scans and new drugs. Hormone, Chemo and Radiotherapy followed in 2019. Then 2020 brought a bonus frozen shoulder from a bad injection during Covid, and a Bowel Hernia that decided to arrive like an alien from the original operation scar – winner!
I was well versed in how to ‘motivate,’ (both physically and academically) but this was different – this was me, but not how I recognised me: muscle mass and core fitness drops, weight is put on, a lethargy becomes part of daily life and don’t get me started on all the problems that connect to your Pelvic Floor! Dark times certainly followed, and it wasn’t until a psychologist recommended I attend ‘Active Against Cancer (AAC)’ that I started to turn the corner. All these issues are often overlooked in the perception of ‘Cancer,’ or any other major illness or disease.
‘Active Against Cancer (AAC)’ is a [currently] unique service for patients living with cancer in the Harrogate District. It was initially set up with founder funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research, who supported the service through the pilot phase. A high- quality health and wellbeing service with exercise at its core. AAC [and that’s not Army Air Corps!], has provided me a way to escape a personally difficult place. Initially, I didn’t want to talk about Cancer, let alone join an exercise class filled with others in a similar position – I say similar, as we all have a connection to something often misunderstood by the many: Living with Cancer is truly a life changer for all those involved. AAC has helped my physical building blocks get reset; it has given the support needed to overcome emotional grief related to change and provided opportunities for continued improvement, especially with mental wellbeing.
During my time within the RAPTC I was always focused on the physical outcomes and the training needed to reach each goal, but rarely did I consider an individual’s deeper emotional and
psychological well-being as equal aspects of overall fitness. I always drove ‘Mens Sana in Corpore Sano’ as ‘fit in mind and fit in body,’ but the true translation reads: ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body – this difference now resonates as fundamentally essential. I never worked in the world of remedial therapy (I was a ‘woolly hatter’ and not a ‘skin rubber’), but the last six months have clearly shown the impact of mental health, often far deeper and more hidden from that which we provide Service personnel in core physical fitness development and training. I know that the understanding of mental health is an integrated aspect of training within the specialised world of remedial therapy, but outside of these specialised units is there more we can understand and build into training regimes for soldiers generally?
AAC has provided an understanding of connecting physical training with emotional and psychological support for those in need of all aspects of recovery. I attend Core Stability (specific post-op internal muscle strengthening), and general fitness sessions, that allow all patients to train as hard as they can (or should), dependent on their recovery time and ability. I often fondly regard the main sessions as good old fashioned ‘circuit training,’ where after 45-mins I am truly exhausted – it is fantastic! It has often been commented on that I work too hard and need to slow down (hmm, too many Corps years for that to change)! But the missing piece wasn’t the circuits directly, but the comradery, the connection and support to those around me: both PT instructors and patients – we are all equal. Everyone talks about their issues, and often, I am left both uplifted and upset in equal measure – some have very difficult pathways, but some bring together the ‘clang’ of a coffee cup.
Life has certainly changed, and Active Against Cancer has provided the ‘Happy Place’ for this to progress in a positive way. As a direct consequence, I now feel ready for a new challenge and I have subsequently signed up to run my first ever marathon (The Rob Burrows Marathon in May 23), and as a crazy steppingstone, The Great North Run in Sep 22. My intention is to complete these events, return to a part of ‘me’ that existed before Cancer, and raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK.
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ACTIVE AGAINST CANCER
Maj (Retd) Steve Higgins
ROYAL ARMY PHYSICAL TRAINING CORPS NORTH WEST BRANCH ASSOCIATION
Lt Col (Retd) Sheff Appleby
The RAPTC North West Branch Association continues to hold our annual events in Blackpool. However, due to a change of owner of the Ruskin Hotel over the COVID period and a significant rise in prices we changed Hotels and moved to the Grand Hotel on the North Shore sea front. In addition, due to other Branches moving their Reunion Weekend dates we took the decision to move our Reunion weekend date to September.
The Branch continues to hold 2 functions, our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Reunion weekend, consisting of a Fri night Buffet and Gala Dinner, which is now combined with the RAPTC Rugby Football Club (The Apostles) Reunion Dinner and is held on the 3rd or 4th weekend in September. The second function is our Christmas Dinner which is held on the 1st or 2nd Tuesday in December.
Social Evening, AGM, Reunion Gala & Rugby Dinner – Sep 21. On the Friday evening, as well as NW Branch Association members
Dave & Barbara Redding, Terry & Dot Goulding, John & Linda Sorenson, Danny & Cath Bryant