My Cancer Care Didn't End After Treatment

Now, thanks to the Dr. Margot Burnell Cancer Support Program,
I’m stronger than I was before my diagnosis.

 

“Well look! We just did a whole hour of exercises. Aren’t we smart?”

That’s what I think every Tuesday when our yoga class at the Cancer Support Program wraps up. We all smile at each other. Nobody talks about cancer, but everybody understands exactly why it feels so good to finish that hour together.

If you’d told me years ago that yoga would become one of the most important parts of my week, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’ve never been a very coordinated person. Playing sports when I was younger was just a disaster for me.

But after I retired, I started walking every day I could. And I realized how important exercise is and how much better you feel when you’ve been out moving in the fresh air.

Then came breast cancer. The diagnosis didn’t shock me; it runs in my family and, luckily, it was caught early and, at first, I breezed through the surgery and radiation. Even drove myself to my appointments. Everything was tickety-boo, as we say around here.

But then I started having reactions to my medications and repeated infections. The stress and pain took a huge toll on me.

Thankfully, Stay Strong helped me get back on my feet.

But it was at the yoga and meditation sessions on Tuesdays where I found something that fit me perfectly.

The instructor understands cancer. She knows what our bodies can do, and what they shouldn’t be pushed to do. And at my age, staying

limber matters.

I’m more flexible now than I was before cancer. And if I overdo it wiping down the cupboards or gardening, I can call on some of those exercises to help fix my minor aches and pains.

All of the Cancer Support Program services are 100% donor-funded and completely free for participants and their loved ones.

So, I’ve joined generous people like you and choose to support this vital program that has done so much for me.

“I don’t feel pressured or out of place because we’re all in the same boat, even if nobody says it out loud.” -Donna Harbinson