Helping People Get Ready For Cancer Treatment.

A cancer diagnosis is one of the most frightening shocks to experience. Your head becomes full of anxiety and fear.

Maggie’s Yorkshire is there to help you come to terms with the challenges ahead with their ‘prehab’ programme.

Prehabilitation, or prehab, as it’s known, helps people with cancer ‘get ready’ both mentally and physically for cancer treatment.

By participating in prehab courses before treatment, people also know that support is available right from the start. Not only is support available before treatment begins, but it is also available for as long as a person needs it, including during chemotherapy, surgery, and beyond. Prehab isn’t just a way to ensure people are as prepared as possible for treatment; it is an introduction to the expert staff at Maggie’s and the empowering emotional and psychological support they provide.

Prehab workshops also encourage newly diagnosed cancer patients to take control of things like light exercise and eating well ahead of their cancer treatment. Research indicates that early advice and support, along with maintaining optimal health, can enhance individuals' ability to manage the side effects of cancer treatment and improve their long-term health.

People can bring a family member along to the session, and they will also have the opportunity to meet other people who have recently been diagnosed. This means they can also offer each other peer support.

Amanda Proctor

Prehab really means getting ready. So, during a session, we talk about how people with a cancer diagnosis can optimise their physical health through exercise and nutrition. We’ll also look at the impact of emotional health and wellbeing before treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy begins.

The workshops are for anybody about to start non-surgical treatment, regardless of what treatment you will be starting or stage of cancer. People will also have the chance to meet and talk to others going through a similar experience.

The sessions regularly take place at Maggie’s Yorkshire, and if you are interested in coming along, just drop into our centre to find out more. You can also visit our website or give us a call. Amanda Procter, the head of Maggie's Yorkshire Centre.

Maggie’s Yorkshire opened in 2019 in the grounds of St James’s Hospital, on Alma Street, in Leeds. All support is free; no appointment or referral is necessary. Just come in. Cancer Support Specialists are available in all centres to chat about what support individuals may need. There are also psychologists and benefits advisors who can help with money worries, as well as members of staff who come into centres to provide sessions on yoga, art therapy, tai chi, and creative writing.

If you are on a non-surgical cancer pathway and want to learn more about Prehab at Maggie's Yorkshire, please drop-in to the centre and speak with a Cancer Support Specialist, or call 0113 457 8364 for more information or visit https://www.maggies.org/our-centres/maggies-yorkshire/.