By Eunice Quek

Fitness buff Andrew Hallam is raring to run in a competitive road race next month.

The 39-year-old Canadian expatriate will participate in the 5.6km J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, which he won last year with a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds.

But there is a difference this time. He will be running just six months after being diagnosed with a type of bone cancer and undergoing surgery to remove parts of three ribs.

He says: "Last time, I would just run to win. It's not about that anymore. Running this race is a symbol that things will get back to normal. And it's so much more meaningful for me." It is not the hasty return to exercise it might seem.

Dr Tan Mann Hong, senior consultant in the department of orthopaedic surgery at Singapore General Hospital, says running the race, which focuses more on speed than endurance, is "not unreasonable for Mr Hallam.

Many journals have published studies showing how exercise is beneficial for cancer survivors. Light sport such as ball games, tennis, golf or gym workouts are suitable".

Mr Hallam tells LifeStyle he could have been living with the cancer cells since 2003, when a CT scan done on him during a mandatory check-up for employment in Singapore showed a "cloudy image".

Doctors told him to monitor the situation with annual checks. He did that for the next four years and discovered no development, then skipped the check-up in 2008. Last November, his wife forced him to get screened again and his doctor at Gleneagles Hospital diagnosed him with chondrosarcoma, a cancer of the cartilage.

While his family has a history of prostate, pancreatic and skin cancer, no one else has bone cancer and the disease is not known to be hereditary.

Within a week, he had 8cm pieces from three separate ribs removed in an operation. "Parts of my spine that the ribs were attached to were also taken out, including a slice of lung," he says.

He spent two weeks in hospital without exercise, had to wear a spinal brace for a month and for two months could not go back to work at the Singapore American School where he teaches English and English literature.

Since the surgery, he has lost 9kg and has been unable to resume his usual exercise regimen, which included running four times a week, each time between 4 and 8km, at different speeds.

To prepare for the J.P. Morgan run, he started exercising again last week, with a progressive workout plan that includes "abdominal exercises, working out in the gym with light weights and short jogs of 2km as frequently as possible".

Dr Tan Yew Oo, a specialist in medical oncology at Mount Alvernia Medical Centre, says that having a "high protein and balanced diet" is also important for recovery from cancer in general.

He recommends healthy food such as fruit, vegetables, chicken, fish and advises against eating too much red meat.

Mr Hallam has taken the advice.

On top of his "extremely healthy" diet, he now takes organic Japanese green tea daily as well as pomegranate juice and brown rice instead of white rice as he found out through research that these are also supposed to be healthy.

He will be happy to know retiree Amos Phua, 63, recommends light sport as an effective way of strengthening one's health during recovery from bone cancer.

Mr Phua was first diagnosed with chondrosarcoma 15 years ago and it has been in remission for the past 10 years.

On the advice of his doctor, he started exercising. "I started slowly by going for leisurely walks and playing a bit of golf. I didn't want to aggravate my condition," he says.

"As I progressed to jogging twice a week, I did feel stronger and healthier."

euniceq@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times.