Preparing Your Body and Mind Before Cancer Treatment
After a cancer diagnosis, things move fast, and it can feel overwhelming. But there’s something you can do before treatment begins to help your body recover more easily: this is called prehabilitation, or prehab. Prehabilitation is about getting your body and nervous system ready for surgery, radiation, or other treatments. Even small steps now can make a big difference later.
What Prehabilitation Is
Prehabilitation means preparing your body before treatment. In my sessions, we focus on:
- ● Shoulder and arm mobility
- ● Posture and breathing
- ● Gentle movement to reduce tension
- ● Nervous system support to manage stress
- ● Preparing your body for smoother recovery after treatment
It’s gentle, personalized, and realistic — we focus on what you can actually do right now.
When Prehabilitation Can Help
Prehab is often linked to surgery, but it’s helpful before many cancer treatments:
- ● Surgery
- ● Radiation
- ● Chemotherapy
- ● Hormonal or targeted therapy
- ● Immunotherapy
AIdeally, we start after diagnosis and before treatment, but it’s helpful at any stage.
Benefits of Prehabilitation
Doing prehab can help you:
- ● Improve shoulder and arm movement
- ● Reduce post-treatment stiffness and pain
- ● Support faster recovery
- ● Reduce risk of complications or targeted therapy
- ● Improve energy and daily function
- ● Feel more in control of your healing
Even one or two sessions before treatment can help you feel stronger and calmer going into surgery.
What Happens in a Session
Each session is personalized to you. Depending on your needs, we may work on:
- ● Gentle mobility and exercises
- ● Breathing and relaxation
- ● Posture and tension release
- ● Education on safe movement after surgery
- ● Nervous system regulation
My goal is for you to feel prepared, informed, and supported — not overwhelmed.
Small Steps at Home
You can also do small things at home to support recovery:
- ● Move gently every day
- ● Practice deep breathing
- ● Focus on posture
- ● Follow any guidance I give for exercises
- ● Take small steps to manage stress
Even little changes make a difference.
You don’t have to wait until after treatment to start healing.
Schedule a prehabilitation session to support your recovery from the very beginning.