About a year ago, we told the story of Power Pilates Teacher Trainer "Lisa May", who was being treated for Stage 2 Breast Cancer. Many readers felt that her story was a wonderful example of how a positive can-do attitude, coupled with a healthy regimen of exercise can make a difference in the way patients handle the effects of Cancer treatment. So, we decided to follow up with Lisa May and find out how she is doing.
"Well, I won’t say it was easy," she says, "But it wasn’t the devastating experience that I expected." We might not be surprised to hear this from the woman who has managed, over the last year, to design and build a brand new Pilates Studio in Irvine, CA, as well as purchase a share of another studio operating a few blocks from the ocean in Newport Beach, and adopt a baby girl from the Marshall Islands; but then, we are talking about someone who is so deeply committed to the Pilates Method that she refers to it as a "lifestyle."
"I think the secret to getting through something like this is to embrace it, but retain whatever it is about yourself that is special – the thing that defines you and makes you who you are. If you don’t, you risk becoming defined by your illness, and by the treatment and their side effects. For instance, I would like to be known by my friends and family as something more than the 'Survivor.'"
In Lisa May’s case, treatment included twelve weeks of chemotherapy which would result in the complete loss of her wavy brown hair, a case of "chemo-pause", where her libido dropped like a shot, and a few cases of fatigue. During this time Lisa May completed double breast reconstructive surgery, followed by a full year of bi-weekly immunotherapy treatments. And yet, through it all, she says that she never missed a day of work, and remembers only one bad weekend, but otherwise life continued more or less normally – as long as she kept up the exercise, and didn’t allow herself to succumb to the side effects of the treatments. She says that the concept of "Movement" really made sense at this point. "I felt that if I kept on moving forward that whatever it was that was looming behind me would stay behind me." In some cases, this meant extra, impromptu Pilates sessions when no one else was around, but she says that it was during some of those solo sessions that she connected with her body in ways that she couldn’t have done with the social distractions of the studio.
We then asked if perhaps losing the hair and maybe some of her vivaciousness had impacted her ability to teach, or to run the studio in the way she was used to.
"In my line of work, health, vibrancy, appearance – these are all important, but you can’t crawl under a rock just because you don’t meet the ‘expected criteria’ of the Pilates instructor. And this goes back to being yourself – for instance, after I lost my hair, instead of wearing the wig I bought, I decided to get the pink Breast Cancer ribbon with the words "Movement Heals" tattooed to the back of head – that is, until my oncologist talked me out of it because of risk from infection."
But while she has very few memories of the side effects crippling her ability to do anything, she now realizes that perhaps the most significant effect of the treatment was the suppression of her hormones.
"It’s funny," she says, "But when you are in the thick of it all – running a business, raising a family, dealing with the daily logistics of life – going through something like chemotherapy feels more like an annoyance than anything. But now that I’m done, and my estrogen levels have returned, I realize that there was a LOT I was missing. Reconnecting recently with my husband on a few different levels has shown me what I had lost during that stage!", she says, with a faintly embarrassed smile.
And it is precisely this return of estrogen that has caused her to again contemplate some serious options. As it turns out, Lisa May test positive for all three receptors – estrogen, Her2neu and progesterone – that is, her form of cancer responds to all possible hormonal conditions. And it so happens that Lisa May is blessed/cursed with more than twice the natural level of estrogen. So, such an option like Tamoxifen may not be indicated. Her oncologist has suggested that the best course of treatment is "hormonal suppression," which can be approached a variety of ways – chemically or surgically.
"I have the utmost respect for my oncologist," she says, "but I am taking some time to think about this one. After having gone through the whole "chemo-pause" thing, I am tending toward chemical suppression, for a couple of reasons – one, it’s reversible, and two, the effects can be mitigated by hormonal replacement." This is opposed, she says, to the removal of the ovaries altogether, which is not reversible.
"You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere," she says. "Quality of life is important. I don’t mind fighting this thing in every way I can, but at some point you have to choose your weapons. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, ultimately, about this decision, but whatever it is, I am determined that it will not change who I am, and my approach to life in general."
After talking with Lisa May, we can’t imagine a scenario where that would happen. Her story shows us that the concept of "Movement Heals" is not just about exercise, but is about continuing to move forward despite life’s most challenging obstacles.
Read about Part 1 of Lisa May's story.
