Fatigue and Cancer Treatment

• Fatigue, or feeling tired, is a common side effect of cancer treatment. But patients don’t have to lie down when it comes to dealing with it. Fox Chase has a program that teaches patients how to manage fatigue using a multi-faceted approach.

  “Fatigue is one of the primary complaints of cancer patients, no matter what type of cancer they have,” explains Barbara Ebersole, manager of Fox Chase’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. “For many people, fatigue lessens and goes away when treatments are over, but for others, it can last much longer.”

  A different kind of tired
  Fox Chase physical therapists Jeannie Kozempel and Lora Packel lead the  Fatigue Program. “Cancer-related fatigue is different in a number of ways from just feeling tired,” explains Packel, who also teaches physical therapy as an assistant professor at Philadelphia’s University of the Sciences. “While you or I could take a nap or get a good night’s sleep and feel recharged, someone with cancer fatigue may have ‘unrefreshed’ sleep, where they wake up and still feel tired.”

  “There’s no real link between the amount of activity and the feeling of fatigue,” adds Kozempel. “A person with cancer fatigue may feel tired much sooner than expected.”

  Fox Chase has a program to help with fatigue using both exercise and mindfulness. The program also includes advice on diet and lifestyle that can assist with improving fatigue.

  Call 215-728-2592 for more information, or read more about fatigue and rehabilitation at foxchase.org.