Preparation + Rehabilitation = Prehabilitation
"There's no way I would've been able to handle chemotherapy if I hadn't done this first." This quote comes from a person who did prehabilitation before beginning chemotherapy for abdominal cancer.
What is Prehabilitation?
Prehabilitation may be a new term to you. Think of it as adding a “p” to rehabilitation. Rehabilitation helps people regain strength and recover from serious illness, injury or surgery. Prehabilitation flips the model, helping you get stronger and healthier before starting a treatment regimen or undergoing surgery. It’s proactive instead of reactive – and is increasingly recommended for cancer patients.
According to Mayo Clinic, “cancer prehabilitation helps improve your baseline health before you begin cancer treatment and decrease the chance of having difficult or severe post-treatment side effects. The idea centers on developing healthy habits and strengthening the body and mind, leading to a faster recovery.”
The Ghosh Center PhaseOne Prehabilitation Program
Because The Ghosh Center believes in the value of prehabilitation, we offer our PhaseOne prehabilitation program free of charge to patients and their caregivers. Our program focuses on mind, body and spirit, helping you get physically and mentally ready for the demands of treatment and supporting you as you move through it. According to Dr. Ghosh, “prehabilitation helps our patients complete treatment on time with fewer complications and side effects.”
Our PhaseOne prehab program has four components:
Nutrition – to help you benefit from a healthy diet
Exercise – to build strength and stamina
Yoga – to improve mindfulness and control
Relaxation – to restore calm and help you manage side effects
We offer these therapeutic services on a weekly basis at our clinic and on a seasonal basis at the Ghosh Center Retreat, located in Palisades-Kepler State Park. Relaxation services include meditation and Reiki, a technique designed to activate the natural healing process of the body. We promote other wellness practices, such as art therapy, offered by Russ Fagle, a former Ghosh Center patient and local artist.
“Prehabilitation helps our patients complete treatment on time with fewer complications and side effects.”
All of these services are examples of complementary medicine, used in conjunction with standard medicine, to help you cope, heal and thrive.