Remaining Active After Cancer Treatment Comes With Benefits
“Dancing with the Stars” personality Brooke Burke, 53, continues to be a beacon of hope for countless women who faced a cancer diagnosis and continue to live an active lifestyle after reaching remission.
Burke was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2012 after a doctor discovered a lump on her throat during a routine checkup. She underwent surgery to help the mom of four reach remission.
Thyroid cancer occurs when cancer cells form in the tissues of the thyroid gland and grow out of control. The thyroid is located at the base of the neck and produces hormones that regulate your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. A lump or swelling in the neck is a common symptom of this type of cancer.
SurvivorNet experts say exercise (think, moderate physical activity, not a full-on gym program) can offer major benefits after cancer surgery because movement and deep breathing can help to improve circulation and soften scar tissue.
Walking around can also help prevent dangerous blood clots during recovery.
At 53, Brooke Burke—best known for her time on Dancing With the Stars—is more committed than ever to her physical health, sharing daily yoga videos and words of encouragement with her followers. As a mother of four and a cancer survivor, she embraces fitness not just as a routine, but as a powerful tool for resilience and well-being.
“Show up today, be better tomorrow, fitness motivation,” Burke wrote in an Instagram post showcasing a yoga routine.
Burke’s public persona focusing on physical fitness has long been part of her brand. She’s produced several workout videos geared toward women over the years and continues to this day. Amazingly, the popular TV personality also managed to overcome a thyroid cancer diagnosis in the early 2000s.
Thyroid cancer occurs when cancer cells form in the tissues of the thyroid gland and grow out of control. The thyroid is located at the base of the neck and produces hormones that regulate your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. A lump or swelling in the neck is a common symptom of this type of cancer.
Burke maintains a strong connection to her loyal fanbase who supported her over the years through her cancer journey through today.
“I’ve been watching you for years, and you always look amazing,” Instagram user Richard Zarate wrote.
“I’m really working on it [muscle growth], increasing weights, doing more strength training, and perfecting my yoga flow,” Burke said while replying to a loyal follower.
How Maintaining a Balanced Diet and Exercise Regimen Are Helpful After Cancer
Exercising helps strengthen your heart and is good for your overall sense of well-being. Keeping even a little bit active helps alleviate some of the symptoms of chemotherapy, especially among cancer patients.
For example, programs geared for breast cancer patients, like yoga, provide benefits both physically and mentally.
WATCH: How exercising can help reduce your breast cancer risk.
Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos, an oncology physical therapist for Cancer Rehab and Integrative Medicine, says exercise offers a massive benefit to ovarian cancer patients regarding recovery. Examples include:
Improve your circulation, which improves your wound healing and the fluid movement through your body
Help soften any scar tissue that may be in the area (especially exercises that involve deep breathing or extending your chest and arms)
Improve your endurance after surgery
In the very beginning, after surgery, Dr. Wicker-Ramos prefers to recommend “physical activity and movement” as opposed to “exercise” to reassure women that she isn’t saying they have to get right back into a full-on gym program right after surgery.
“But starting to move more — starting a moderate walking program [or] a deep breathing program… all of those things can help with posture, can help with endurance, can help with your strength, and just get you back to where you were before,” says Dr. Wicker-Ramos.
Diet, exercise, and stress control are essential when going through cancer therapy, as well as once you’re done treating your cancer and trying to get back to the rest of your life, according to Dr. Sairah Ahmed, associate professor in the division of cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“Often, I will tell patients there is not any one diet that has a better potential to keep their cancer away. There’s no data that shows that any of those help to treat cancer any better,” Dr. Ahmed said.
Dr. Ahmed adds that people with cancer are encouraged to avoid losing weight during chemotherapy. “You want to have a moderate diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables, but also fat and protein, and you want to maintain physical exercise,” she explained.
Dr. Ahmed supports the idea of patients remaining active – if possible – because it will allow them to better endure treatment and possibly experience less severe side effects.
Burke’s Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis
Burke’s cancer journey began in 2012 after a doctor found a lump on her throat during a routine checkup. After coping with the shock of an unexpected diagnosis, she soon prepared for surgery at the request of her doctor.
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 12: Brooke Burke attends the Celebration of Smiles Event hosted by Dionne Warwick on her 81st Birthday to benefit medical charity organization Operation Smile and The Kind Music Academy on December 12, 2021, in Malibu, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images)
“At that time in my life, I was already struggling with an abnormal thyroid,” Burke told Yahoo Life.
“I remember being in the kitchen in the morning and getting the phone call, and I sort of just wanted to carry on with my coffee routine. I was like, OK, I’m going to get back to you. And they’re like, no. You have to process this. And we have to schedule surgery. And I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, which I think is quite a normal reaction. And then, as a mom, I was thinking about my kids and my family, and now what’s next.”
Burke’s surgery was a success and helped her reach remission. Her cancer journey has turned her into a cancer advocate who supports ongoing research for more treatment options.
“My advice for people who are fighting it, for people who are behind the scenes, for people who are researching and trying to raise money so that we can fund these projects, just keep fighting the fight. Take advantage of the medical research that we have available to us. Get your yearly physical. Get your mammograms. Denying that is denying yourself. I’ve been there, and I beat it.”
Understanding Thyroid Cancer and How It Is Treated
Thyroid cancer is generally grouped based on the specific cells it develops from.
The most common type is differentiated thyroid cancer, such as papillary thyroid cancer. Under the microscope, these cancer cells still look somewhat like normal thyroid tissue. They typically start in follicular cells, the part of the thyroid responsible for making hormones.
Non-differentiated cancers can come from the thyroid’s calcium-controlling cells, the immune cells that fight infections within the thyroid, or from follicular cells that are so mutated that they no longer look like thyroid cells under a microscope.
“Although papillary thyroid cancer is the most common, the other types of cancers tend to be more aggressive and tend to spread more widely, at least in advanced cases,” Dr. Lisa Orloff, a head and neck surgeon at Stanford Medicine, explained to SurvivorNet.
WATCH: Diagnosing Thyroid Cancer.
When being diagnosed, patients may receive the following tests:
Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) Test. This blood test mainly checks levels of a hormone called TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), which is made by a small gland in the brain (the pituitary) to regulate thyroid function. While the test can’t tell if a thyroid issue is cancerous, it helps doctors see if a thyroid nodule is producing hormones. In many cases, hormone-producing nodules are not cancerous.
Ultrasound. An ultrasound can detect subtle thyroid changes, ranging from small nodules to extensive changes. However, not all nodules detected are necessarily harmful.
Biopsy. The biopsy may follow an ultrasound, which detected a nodule. In this procedure, a radiologist visualizes the nodule on a screen and directs the needle precisely into the targeted area to collect a tissue sample for further testing for signs of cancer.
Depending on the size of the tumor and if it has spread into nearby lymph nodes or tissues, doctors determine the stage or how advanced the thyroid cancer is.
Thyroid cancer patients may be faced with surgery to help treat the cancer. There are varying surgery options, including a total thyroidectomy, which involves completely removing the thyroid. In other cases, a partial thyroidectomy may be necessary, which means only a portion of the thyroid gland is removed. A partial thyroidectomy may be optimal if the nodule is confined to one side or has smaller growths affecting a smaller portion of the thyroid.
WATCH: Understanding what goes into thyroid cancer surgery.
After the surgery, patients may experience some soreness in or near their throat, mainly because a breathing tube was needed during the procedure. Over-the-counter pain medications may also be prescribed. Recovery time may last up to two weeks.
For thyroid cancer patients whose cancer is at an advanced stage, in addition to possible surgery, treatment may also involve chemotherapy, thyroid-stimulating hormone therapy (stimulates hormone production), and/or radiation therapy. In some cases, when thyroid cancer is very aggressive, surgery may no longer be effective, so relying on other treatment methods may be more optimal.
Thyroid cancer has reasonable treatment success rates. However, there is a chance of recurrence, meaning the cancer can return after treatment (also called recurrence). Recurrence may happen a few months after remission or sometimes even decades — later. Patients should ask their doctor after treatment what their risk of recurrence is.
WATCH: Thyroid cancer surveillance.
If a doctor finds your recurrence at an early stage, your chance of quickly regaining remission is often higher. This is why regular follow-ups, blood tests, and neck ultrasounds are essential.
Some of the more common signs and symptoms of a return include:
A lingering cough that doesn’t go away
A lump or swelling in the neck that you can feel or see
Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
Neck pain that isn’t explained by muscle strain or other causes
Hoarseness or voice changes
Questions To Ask Your Doctor
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, consider the following questions when talking with the doctor about treatment options.
What are my treatment options, and which do you recommend?
Are there clinical trials available for someone in my situation?
How frequently should we be checking my thyroglobulin levels now?
What lifestyle changes can I make to help support my treatment and recovery?
