Who Does Your Hair?

Published by smangiafico

This year I will celebrate five years being cancer free! Yes, I am a cancer survivor, but I am also a mom, wife, and literacy coach. But my goal is to work with those who have had to endure what I have and worse to cure themselves. I am a Cancer Exercise Specialist. This is how the story begins... Once upon a time I found a lump in my right breast. I was diagnosed with stage 2, grade 3 invasive breast cancer. I had surgery—a bilateral mastectomy (the amputation of both breasts) and one lymph node was removed. A month later I started my course of chemotherapy, resulting in the loss of all of my hair shortly after. I would soon find out that this cancer would be the kickoff to my lifelong purpose. Being a fitness instructor meant that a major aspect of my identity would be greatly impacted. I mean—I had been going hard at working out for about 20 years! I no longer could raise my arms over my head, never mind lift a weight. I wore my cancer in silence; my wig was my shield from the rest of the world. As my identity was changing, so was my inner self. This was me. I didn’t fit in anymore in my fitness world. I was extremely active, teaching and participating in intense exercise workouts. Suddenly, I was marching in place, kicking my weights to the curb, and feeling like a misfit at our fitness studio. It made me feel bad being there, seeing all my fit friends sweating their hearts out, while I sat from the sidelines. My physical therapists said, “I don’t know what to do with you. You are more advanced than what I have to offer.” At that moment, I was stuck. I needed myself now. The me in 2020! I decided I was not going to waste my this cancer. I made the decision to reach out to friends of friends and family members of those I knew to support them with what I could—experience and information. Suddenly I was no longer going to be that “polite—see if they need help before I’m asked for it”. I moved forward, leaving any trace of victimization behind. And it’s all history from there. Each year I attend fitness conferences with the best of the best trainers in the fitness world. This past summer I found my niche—specializing in exercise programming for cancer survivors. I am humbled & empowered to get others to move! View more posts