A third component of rehabbing from cancer treatment has quietly emerged over the past 15 years, according to a published report.
Following up with chemotherapy and radiation, physical therapy has emerged as a third method of treating clients following treatment for various forms of cancer, the Rockfored Register Star reports. Renowned biker Lance Armstrong, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, had physical therapy on top of his chemotherapy treatments, which proved to be a significant move.
“A lot of cancer treatment centers across the country are making physical therapy a part of their protocol,” physical therapist assistant Jenna Villafuerte with ORS Physical Therapy in Rockford, Illinois, told the publication. “Many cancer patients automatically receive physical therapy. Lance Armstrong had a lot to do with that.”
While Armstrong proceeded to win the Tour de France seven times, he also serves as an inspiration to cancer patients because his cancer went back
into remission.
The National Cancer Institute estimates 1,529,560 men and women were diagnosed with cancer during 2010, breaking down as 789,620 men and 739,940 women.