Mark Pilgrim says rebounding has been instrumental in his fight against cancer

According to wellness and fitness expert, Lisa Raleigh, exercise can reduce your chances of getting cancer by 42% which is why she believes one should incorporate it into one’s daily life, whether you have cancer or not. We also speak with Mark Pilgrim, who is currently living with cancer.

Considering its effects on draining your lymphatic system, rebounding is a no-brainer.

“Take your lymph seriously,” she says.

What is your lymphatic system?

Mark Pilgrim explains the lymphatic system is the ‘creepy crawly’ of your body, but it doesn’t have a natural pump.

You have to use gravity to get it to pump.

Raleigh says people are starting to understand the lymphatic system at last and that wellness and fitness is not just about movement, but about your lymph.

According to Gabriella Kourie, a qualified occupational therapist and qualified PORi oncology and breast cancer rehabilitation therapist, your lymph runs all over your body, made up of vessels and nodes and other structures.

Two primary functions are defence against infection and fighting disease, and circulation and drainage.

It meets at the sites of the capillaries and filters through lymph fluid, which then goes out into your tissue and filters out any bad toxins, viruses and cancer cells. “It’s the core of your immunity.”

If your lymphatic system is not working properly, there are a lot of health problems that come with it, including lymphoedema.

READ: Now is the perfect time to get your cancer screening checks. Here’s why

Warning signs

Early signs that there is a problem with your lymphatic system include:

• Swelling at the site where there is an obstruction or where lymph nodes have been removed due to cancer.
• Tightness in the arm, difficulty to lift the arm (breast cancer).
• Axillary web syndrome – cords running along the arm showing strain.

Rebounding has CANSA’s seal of approval

Megan Kluyts-Pentz from CANSA says they have just given rebounding their seal of approval.

Physical activity has been added as a category for the seal of approval and is therefore currently the only physical exercise endorsed by CANSA for the reduction of cancer.

Kourie sees patients throughout various stages of cancer, including a survivorship group. According to her, only 5% of breast cancers globally are hereditary.

The rest is sporadic and is often linked to lifestyle-related causes like stress, trauma, and the controversial topic of foods we eat.

As she mainly works with patients after they have been diagnosed with cancer, her role is very much a rehabilitating one.

She, therefore, aims to empower her patients by giving them something they can do: Exercise.

While she says they often do manual lymph drainage, cancer’s first line of defence is exercise.

“Pumping those lymph nodes. When you contract your muscles, you activate those nodes, so a ‘pumping’ movement like rebounding is ideal.”

Lymph is an up and down system, which means rebounding’s up and down motion pumps the lymph up and down. The motion of rebounding is unusual, which is why it works so well.

Kourie also suggests a preventative lifestyle, including a healthy diet, regular activities, good life choices, not smoking, limited alcohol intake and exercise.

The causes of cancer

Dr Deepak Patel – who represents Vitality – says Vitality’s focus is mainly on preventative when it comes to cancer.

According to him, cancer is caused either by unmodifiable causes like age or genes, or modifiable factors like environmental influences.

He says smoking is not natural and is one of the most important causes of lung cancer, oral cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer and bladder cancer.

He also suggests alcohol intake be kept to a minimum as it has been linked to liver cancer.

UV radiation is also something he feels people are not educated on – something that could cause skin cancer and more specifically, melanoma.

He believes physical activity and healthy eating are the two major preventative measures one could take when it comes to cancer.

Why rebounding?

Mark Pilgrim says rebounding is one of the things he has been doing since being diagnosed and he feels more energetic now than in February this year.

For him, chemotherapy is a scary word.

He uses the word ‘healing juice’, which makes him feel better. He doesn’t want to be in fight-or-flight, and he doesn’t want to say he’s battling cancer.

He wants to be in ‘rest-and-digest’. Pilgrim says his words are “harmony, balance, how do I bring peace, calmness back to the physicality of my body.”

According to Pilgrim, Raleigh and her team have been instrumental in his healing process.

He had a 40% shrinkage in tumours and says that his diet and rebounding were two of the most important factors that helped him heal thus far.