Last summer, professor, author, musician, runner, and mother, Nana Lee, was busy preparing for her first-ever full marathon in Toronto. Then, she was diagnosed with cancer.
For years, doctors had been keeping an eye on suspicious tissue in her breast, found through a routine mammogram. A biopsy later confirmed it was Atypical Hyperplasia, a sign which indicates an increased risk of breast cancer in the future. The doctor advised Nana to undergo and proceed with a preventative lumpectomy on her breast.
That same month, Nana was not feeling well, and a series of tests confirmed she also had endometrial cancer. She underwent a second surgery to remove all the cancer from the endometrium.
Thankfully, Nana has been cancer-free since then, but lingering side effects and symptoms still affect her. “This cancer journey has been emotionally and physically difficult. Although they have subsided over the past year, I still experience cancer-related fatigue and painful intestinal spasms,” she says.
Wellspring programs
Nana ventured into Wellspring’s Westerkirk House in December last year because she had heard about the physical and emotional support programming it offered. As soon as she walked in, she was grateful for the warm and welcoming environment. The staff and volunteers made her feel understood from day one. Since then, she has found many of Wellspring’s programs helpful for her physical and mental health.
“Since December, I have discovered helpful books in Wellspring’s library and participated in sessions for Cancer Exercise, Nourish, Healing Journey, Relaxation and Visualization, Cancer-Related Fatigue, Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Returning to Work, Reiki, Yoga, and I connected with a Peer Support volunteer. Most of all, I have met a community and new friends who just “get it.” All these programs and the circle of supportive people have aided my healing and recovery journey,” she says.
Born to run
After the two surgeries, recovery was tough for Nana. “I wasn’t even able to walk around the block – which was depressing because I had been training for long-distance running for my marathon. That was a big emotional hurdle for me,” she says.
“However, I would walk at my pace when I could, and at just over five weeks, I was happy to run again slowly.” Then Nana joined the Cancer Exercise Program at Wellspring, where they personalized a workout regime to regain her endurance. “It was the best thing for me. They knew that I had been training for a marathon and the kind of fitness I was capable of. They understood where I wanted to get to and the types of problems I was facing after the surgeries – like my intestinal spasms and zingers (a sharp pain that runs through my breast). The team was amazing – they tailored a program for me to recover and build my stamina, endurance, and core strength,” she says.
Nana joined the 12-week program from January to April, after which she was transferred to the maintenance program. “In June, I ran my first 10 km in an hour and three minutes, and last weekend, I ran my first 15 km!” she says. Nana just completed a five-kilometre run for charity on October 6, achieving her personal record since her surgeries, and plans to complete her first half marathon since her cancer diagnosis in 2025.
Mind over matter
Although deemed “cancer-free,” one of the toughest emotional challenges Nana still faces is fear of recurrence, especially every night before her three-month checkups at the hospital. “There is a psychological component to it that gets me stressed out. I always thought, “This can’t happen to me,” but it did happen to me. The fact that my mom passed away when she was 47 years old due to colon cancer worries me too,” she says.
When Nana started taking the Relaxation and Visualization (R&V) program, she discovered she could use tools to cope with these thoughts. “The Program Leader said, “Worrying is just your imagination thinking about something that hasn’t happened yet.” I used to get worried about these things, but now, after taking R&V, I use these visualization and breathing techniques to visualize my happy place before appointments. I still worry, but I am not as stressed,” she says.
Returning to work
Nana tried to go back to work in January – only four months after her surgeries. However, she discovered that it was just too soon. “It was not an optimal choice for me. Usually, I have a lot of energy with teaching, but I underestimated the effect that cancer and the surgeries would have on my body. I love my fulfilling job and working with my students, and it was frustrating because my mind was ready, but my body wasn’t yet. I was exhausted even after an hour lecture, which I was not used to,” she says.
With strong support from her physician and her work colleagues, Nana took another leave of absence from work and spoke to Wellspring’s Returning to Work Program Leader to help with the transition when she was ready to make the leap again. “She gave me advice on the transition, such as taking things easy and doing just a little bit of work at a time, and she talked about making sure I had a good support system at work, which I am so grateful to have,” she says.
Nana successfully transitioned back into work in early September. “The experience taught me to give myself permission to listen to my body with grace and self-compassion,” she says.
Why join Wellspring?
Initially, Nana did not believe she was “sick enough” to come to Wellspring. She recalls how those presumptions changed as soon as she walked through the doors of Westerkirk House in Toronto. “It does not matter what clinical stage the cancer is. Almost all patients at any stage experience cancer-related fatigue, and just the diagnosis alone brings with it an emotional journey. Wellspring provided a home to deal with the recovery needed from these experiences,” she says.
“Wellspring is such a critical support system for people impacted by cancer. In Canada, we have hospitals and great healthcare practitioners who will treat our cancer, and Wellspring extends this phenomenal healthcare to heal a person’s soul. Wellspring is vital for our physical and emotional healing.”
| The healing properties of music
Nana attended the “Let’s Sing” music program at Wellspring because she had already experienced great benefits from music with her cancer symptoms. “The only thing that helped me through nausea from surgery recovery for three weeks was playing and composing music on my piano,” she says. Inspired by her cancer experience, Nana poured her heart into writing and recording a song about her journey through cancer and other hardships in life. “My support system throughout my life, which includes my passion for music, mentors, loved ones, therapy, most understanding work colleagues, health team at Sunnybrook, and Wellspring, have all been vital in supporting my courage and boldness in a new life, including the releasing of my own vocal/piano compositions,” she says. Nana recalls the emotional experience of sharing her first produced song, “Dance with Your Dawn,” with a Wellspring peer before she sadly passed away a few weeks later. “She cried and said, “Thank you for playing that for me.” If my music helps anyone even for a brief moment, then I have done my job,” she says. |
