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Cristina G. Lucio Madrid
Madrid
Updated Tuesday, February 13, 2024-01:34
Alicia
enters like a whirlwind. You can tell that she knows the small gym well, the challenges of each machine, the ins and outs of all the devices. She jumps on top of one and starts exercising her arms. But today training will have to wait. She is fasting and in just a few minutes she will have to undergo intrathecal therapy, an injection that will go directly to her bone marrow to
treat the leukemia that she was diagnosed with almost a year ago
, when she had just turned 11.
Exercise is part of your treatment; It is undoubtedly the medicine he likes the most, and he can't wait for the time of the session to arrive. "This is one of my favorite places in the hospital," she says. And the smile hidden by her mask peeks into her blue eyes.
When it was proposed to
Helios
, 12 years old, the idea of being able to incorporate physical activity into his therapy seemed fantastic. "They told me it was beneficial, so
what I think when I train is that I am accelerating the treatment
, a little closer to being cured with each step."
Both receive cancer treatment at the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, which has what is called
the Accelerator
, a non-pharmacological therapy unit created by the Unoentrecienmil Foundation that is designed to allow the practice of precision physical exercise in children with cancer. and promote research in this area.
Exercise, another part of the treatment
«The term treatment is increasingly extended to more areas apart from pharmacology, including physical exercise. It is an area that has been seen to have a clear benefit in cancer patients, both physically and psychologically. And it is a part of the treatment that patients like, they enjoy while they are receiving it," explains
Carlos Echecopar
, a pediatric hematooncologist at the Madrid center, who recalls that "the exercise is indicated in a personalized way, adapting to the needs and abilities of each person. one and at the time of the illness in which the patient is.
This is corroborated by
Rocío Llorente
, physiotherapist, graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and therapist responsible for the Accelerator, which cares for children and adolescents with cancer between 4 and 21 years old.
«The training is always individualized, agreed upon with the doctors and after a constant re-evaluation to adapt to how the patient is physically, how they have received the treatments, how they are feeling, whether they are in the hospital or from home... If they leave very tired of the
chemo
, perhaps that day's training will be very brief, a few minutes. And sometimes nothing can be done. There is always a study of the situation and needs first,” explains Llorente.
Workouts are usually divided into a resistance part and a strength part. «The bike or the treadmill are very aimed at reducing the fatigue caused by the treatments and the
toxicity of the therapies
», He explains. Instead, strength exercises aim to reduce as much as possible the weakness and muscle breakdown associated with the disease and the aggressive therapies that allow it to be combated, he continues. "We try to focus it so that they lose as little muscle mass as possible and that they can maintain a
good quality of life
throughout the entire process."
For Alicia and Helios, the sessions are, above all,
games and fun
. But there is a lot of science behind each exercise.
It is explained by Carmen Fiuza, principal researcher at the Unoentrecienmil Accelerator, who has been studying the benefits of sport against different diseases for more than 20 years. «There is clear evidence not only that exercise in children with cancer is safe but that it provides very positive effects. Little by little it is being incorporated into the clinic but at the moment there are few hospitals where it is available," she says. Right now her team is embarking on a project with Accelerator patients to evaluate the changes that physical activity generates in the aerobic capacity, muscle strength or defenses of the patients.
"We want to see how exercise impacts the patient's quality of life and
we want to see what happens at the level of the immune system
," he details. «Another very important part of the project is to see if with different approaches we can increase patients' adherence to exercise. One of these approaches has been the creation of a digital tool that allows the patient to have more motivation to participate in the sessions and see their evolution while helping the clinical and research team to collect data on their status.
In addition, at the Accelerator, parents and siblings can also exercise with the children. "The other day was one of the best for me because I was able to train with my sister," confirms Alicia. And Rocío Llorente emphasizes her words: «In a situation like this, the family becomes a bit of a doctor, nurse, teacher, etc. for their son and brother. So, coming to an area where you can play, have a good time, let off steam or be with your child, simply being mother and son or brother and sister, I think
is something truly very special
.
This is the debut of the disease
Both Alicia and Helios, who suffer from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, are, one year after diagnosis, in a maintenance therapeutic phase. This means fewer visits to the hospital and being able to recover some of the activities that the disease put on hold, such as training with their basketball teams, a sport of which the two Madrid residents are fans.
Helios has recorded the
exact 312 days
that elapsed between March 2, 2023 - the last day he practiced with his club before receiving the diagnosis - and January 9, 2024, when he was able to return to the team, Real Canoe.
"It all started with what
we thought were tonsils
," recalls Carlos, his father. «We had just returned from a trip in which we had gone skiing and he had not fully recovered. He was very tired, he said his legs hurt, he had a little low-grade fever. At first they thought that the angina had not been taken care of well and they gave him antibiotics, but he did not improve. Then everything pointed to the fact that it could be mononucleosis. They did an analysis to clear up any doubts and that's when everything came out. That night they already started the treatment. "Imagine what a slap in the face that is for the whole family."
"Life changes you radically," agrees Teresa, Alicia's mother. In her case, the initial confusion was even greater, because
the little girl did not have any worrying symptoms
. «Alicia has celiac disease and in a routine check-up they saw that there were some values that did not match what was expected. They referred us directly to La Paz and upon arrival they did some tests but they told us to go home, that everything was probably fine. Three hours later they called us directly to enter. We went from thinking everything was perfect to having to stay in the hospital for weeks. He spent 20 days in the hospital on that first admission. And then to study from home, to avoid closed places, to leave the club... Of course, when they gave us the diagnosis my feeling was that suddenly there was an explosion of help and love. Everyone turned out. There we felt what is sometimes said about tribal education. Our family multiplied by 100,000, for which we are very grateful.
Like Helios, Alicia has also recently returned to training with her club, Villalba. But in these months she has always had basketball very present. Since she couldn't train indoors, her sisters Paula and Claudia recruited several friends to organize small outdoor workouts. "We were looking for a way, because it is something that I love," confesses Alicia, who has been playing basketball since she was six years old and when she grows up she wants to be a "basketball teacher and coach."
Helios, who wants to dedicate himself to marine biology when he grows up, also intends to always remain linked to sport. Yesterday, the little boy participated in the presentation of the
Baskets against childhood cancer
action , a movement through which 3,000 teams from 16 autonomous communities have committed to exchange the points they score during the matches this weekend for euros. for the fight against childhood cancer. "The proceeds will go to the Unoentrecienmil Accelerator project, to make physical exercise possible for all children with cancer in hospitals."
Over the phone, just before hanging up, we asked Helios, who told us his story, if there is anything else he would like to add. And you don't even have to think about it: "To all those who are going through this situation or to those who are going to go through it later,
I would like to say that there is a lot of courage and a lot of strength
, that they do not give up and that they trust that whatever it takes to exercise and getting stronger is going to help them."