Getting back to exercise after brain cancer treatment

Surviving
Written By Liz Salmi

I've always loved this Henry Rollins quote,

PHOTO: The cat at my gym

PHOTO: The cat at my gym

Keep your blood clean, your body lean, and your mind sharp.

As a long-time straight edger, it's been easy to keep my blood "clean". I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. (Except for Temodar, I was HOOKED on that stuff.) <-- inside joke for those with brain cancer

If life is short, and if my tumor grows back, it is worth having made myself as strong as possible before the fight. It is worth feeling good in my own skin, especially if I only have a short time in this skin.

And if I have a long time left in my body, well fuckin' a, I will be stoked knowing I put in the effort for a reason: to feel good for the rest of my life.

Liz Salmi

Liz Salmi is Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Over the last 15 years Liz has been: a research subject; an advisor in patient stakeholder groups; a leader in “patient engagement” research initiatives; and an innovator, educator and investigator in national educational and research projects. Today her work focuses on involving patients and care partners in the co-design of research and research dissemination. It is rumored Liz was the drummer in a punk rock band.

https://thelizarmy.com
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My brain: 16 months after Temodar
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