According to the National Cancer Institute, 64 percent of adults whose cancer is diagnosed today can expect to live for five or more years, and breast cancer patients are the largest group of those survivors. Living with and beyond cancer is a growing health challenge demanding new approaches to achieve the best quality of life.

Terry Corrigan, Simon Family Jewish Community Center membership chair, and Starr Kimmer, JCC fitness and aquatics director, have stepped up to that challenge by designing a program to meet the need. Positively Pink is a free eight-week fitness program to help breast cancer patients regain their health. It is open to those who are undergoing treatment as well as those who are past treatment.

DESIGNING A PROGRAM

“Positively Pink was a labor of love,” Starr said. Both women are familiar with how illness affects the minds and bodies of people. Terry’s sister is a breast cancer survivor, and Starr worked for years as a wellness therapist for the chronically ill at Jewish Family Service.

“It took a while to design the program and to come up with a name,” Starr said. They were aware of the importance of fitness, but they needed to learn how to set up a program that would meet the specific needs of a breast cancer survivor—defined as someone from the diagnosis of cancer to the end of her life. What exercises were most beneficial? What were safest? What do patients need to know about nutrition, physical symptoms, or emotional health?

Each woman has extensive experience working with wellness issues and both have advanced degrees. Still, they realized that to help breast cancer survivors, they needed more training. With a grant from the Susan G. Komen foundation, Terry and Starr became Certified Cancer Exercise Specialists through the Cancer Institute under Andrea Leonard, a physical therapist whose interest in the specialty was sparked when her mother died of breast cancer.

DIFFERENT NEEDS

“I didn’t realize how different breast cancers could be,” Terry said. “I learned about all the different breast cancers and their side effects.” And there are lots of side effects.

“Different medications and varying degrees of surgery and treatments affect patients differently,” Starr explained. “Some may even have two or more types of cancer.” Through the Cancer Institute course, the women learned how these treatments affect the patients’ range of motion or balance and the best types of exercise to overcome these problems.

For example, when women have breast reconstruction that takes tissue and muscle from the abdomen, it causes imbalance to the core area of the body. “They get sway back,” Starr said. To counteract that kind of weakness, Positively Pink teaches exercises that will strengthen the abdominal area.

Another type of reconstructive breast surgery uses muscle and tissue from the back and shoulder. “This surgery causes total imbalance of the upper body,” Starr added. For this problem, they have specific exercises and stretching techniques that develop strength and stability.

“We also learned that certain meds can induce hot flashes, so it is important to make sure the environment is cool,” Terry said.

A key aspect of wellness is the mental health of the breast cancer survivor. She is experiencing a physical and emotional ordeal. For that reason, Positively Pink assesses participants’ progress at the beginning and end.

When the program was offered for the first time in October of this year, the women noticed range-of-motion issues. They also found many of the women suffered from rounded shoulder syndrome from reconstructive surgery. Assessment at the end of the program notes the progress each woman made and enables Terry and Starr to make recommendations for continued progress.

A TEAM APPROACH

The complex needs of breast cancer survivors require a team approach. In order to achieve this goal, the Jewish Family Service of Tidewater works with Simon Family JCC to develop an individual plan of care for each participant that includes health and social services as needed. JFS also provides a 30-minute education component following the hour of aerobics, stretching, and strength building.

“We gave lectures on nutrition, stress reduction, finding balance, and lymphedema,” said Jan Ganderson, JFS nursing supervisor.

If needed, JFS can offer individual counseling. “Some people have a problem coping with their diagnosis. We can also supply assistance in the home and give wound care,” Jan said. These special services are not included in the free Positively Pink program, but they can be arranged on a sliding scale of payment if the survivor has no insurance. Of worthy interest is that the JFS is one of only a few providers of lymphedema therapy in Hampton Roads.

One component of the education segment is learning how to keep a journal. Terry believes that taking the time to write in a journal is a source of comfort. “I kept a journal through my sister’s breast cancer treatment,” she said. To get the women started, Terry hands out books and gives prompts like, “Write about the top 10 things you like about yourself,” or “Write a phrase about your kids – something that happened or what they said.” These writings will become precious memories.

ENCOURAGING RESULTS

Terry and Starr hope to offer Positively Pink three times a year, again in the spring and another session in the summer. The program is currently sponsored by The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, which also supports about fifteen local organizations and three overseas. The women are hoping to obtain grants by using data from the outcomes of their first effort. So far the results are very encouraging. As one woman said, “I want you guys to make me feel better.” That is their goal, and reactions from their participants have been positive.

Starr and Terry also feel positive about the experience, despite all of the hard work. “I have learned how many dimensions there are to breast cancer,” Terry said. “We had to learn the limitations of our participants and make sure they are comfortable.”

Their work has also taught the women some important life lessons. As Terry said, “I have learned to never complain. One woman was in treatment two years after a double mastectomy. I appreciate life more.”

For information call:

• Simon Family Jewish Community Center: Visit www.simonfamilyj.org or call 757-321-2338.

• Jewish Family Service: Visit www.jfshamptonroads.org or call 757-489-3111.

Virginia O’Keefe is the author of Speaking to Think/Thinking to Speak.