This is to let you know that Ovacome will be holding a dance exercise afternoon on Sunday 11 November, from 2 - 4:30 PM, in Central London.
Fleur Estelle, who taught the belly dancing workshop at our Health and Wellbeing Day in September, will be hosting a special afternoon session for Ovacome. Fleur's classes can be tailored to suit all abilities and can be taken seated for those who have difficulty with mobility.
The dance class will be followed by refreshments and the chance to meet and mingle with other members of the Ovacome community.
Come along to learn some gentle dance moves that you can practice at home, meet other women with similar experiences and above all, to have fun!
There will be a requested contribution of £7 towards the afternoon and all money raised will go towards helping us to continue providing our free support services for women with ovarian cancer and their families.
Thanks for this. I suspect though many women with Ovarian or peritoneal might find dance painful or inappropriate, especially the twisting, turning and stretching. And tiredness might be a problem too. There is also the fear that too much friction might cause a recurrence. I’d be very interested to see what Ovarian specific clinical trials have been done to monitor exercise and outcomes.
I know that exercise can lift mood so from that aspect, I think it’s good if a woman can manage it.
Personally, I’d like more research into the effects of gentle cycling for Ovarian women. This puts less pressure on the abdomen which can be kept straight. Even better, is electric biking so assist can be used taking a lot of the effort out. That way, a woman can get out in the fresh air and be in nature.
Thank you for your message. Before we organised the session as part of our Health and Wellbeing Day, in addition to our usual risk assessments, we had a detailed conversation with Fleur about this and the fact that almost everyone in the session would have had abdominal surgery. Fleur was able to adapt the exercise so it is low impact and would not put anyone at risk or worsen any symptoms or side effects.
Fleur has researched the psychological impact of belly dancing for women as part of her studies and so the focus is very much on feeling good, coming together as a group, and enjoying health benefits too. The class is open to anyone who wants to take part and Fleur can adapt any activities to individual need.
It would be really interesting to see more research into exercise and ovarian cancer. A little while ago I did a literature search for this but it was hard to find studies focused specifically on ovarian, although there is plenty around exercise and cancer generally. As you say, the benefits can be wide-ranging in terms of physical health and mood too.
I hope this is reassuring regarding the class, but please do get in touch with me if you have any concerns or queries.
We're all sensible women on here and are unlikely to do anything for pleasure which will harm ourselves .
We're much more likely to do this trying to keeping things going normally for the rest of the family/work etc, eg lifting heavier loads earlier than advised, children, standing too long, driving too soon, cutting corners etc.
And we can get a bit overcautious about things which would make us feel good and which we can stop if it feels a strain.
I bought a new bike after being diagnosed with my first recurrence. The only concession was it no longer had a male crossbar so easier to get on and off and a smaller frame for shrinking me.
I've had lots of abdo surgery since then, and I can honestly say I've had to make no concessions to how I cycle and have had not problems from it.
Indeed, I invariably get a real buzz from doing it, two fingers to the cancers. Lest this sound like superwoman, I'm not. The bike spends most of the year in the shed and comes out in fair weather and for holidays.
And we do need to try and keep our core strong, even if we've had bits and pieces removed, so I am really not in favour of going electric unless you live in the Alps or somewhere.
I did the belly dancing on well-being day, and like Kim, thoroughly enjoyed it. I heard one woman say it was the best fun she'd had for years. I'm hoping to do this too, but just started new chemo regime so need to see how I'll be feeling before committing.
I’d really love to come but it’s a bit too far away for me and we have the memorial service at our local church and cenotaph on the 11th. I think this is a lovely idea and also. I think the social side is probably equally as important as the actual exercise. To all you lovely ladies that do go I hope you have a lovely time. Enjoy ❤️Xx Jane
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