I am the director of the WSUE program and as such I meet with our survivors and organize the movement science students to serve as personal trainers for their rehabilitation. The program is a course, so it involves me teaching the students about what cancer is, considerations and concerns for patients with cancer and safe, appropriate exercises for survivors because different types of exercise are prescribed for different types of cancer.<\/p>\n
After 3-4 weeks of classroom education, we meet with the survivors for the rest of the semester in the IWC. Survivors are often referred to the WSUE program from Gunderson Lutheran and Winona Health, but some just hear about us through word of mouth and then they\u2019ll call and I\u2019ll get their physicians to sign off on their participation. Last semester we had 13 students and 17 survivors; next semester there\u2019s 20 students signed up and I\u2019m for hoping 20 survivors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What is your favorite part about this program<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nMy favorite part is having survivors share their stories and enjoy each other socially. We meet at 6:30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and NO ONE likes getting up that early. The students don\u2019t like it, the survivors don\u2019t like it and the director doesn\u2019t like it, but it\u2019s my favorite part of the week because I get to see the survivors and see how they\u2019re doing. All people are similar\u2014 we\u2019re social beings, we want to communicate, we want to enjoy each other\u2014and it becomes heightened with cancer survivors because their lives have been threatened and they tend to think a little differently about each and every day.<\/p>\n
One of the best things we do in the program is have cancer survivors share their story with the rest of the group and you get to understand what somebody else has gone through and try to come alongside them because you may have had similar experiences with chemotherapy or radiation etc. A question that I always ask the survivors is \u201cHas it changed your life in any way?\u201d and the majority of them say \u201cOddly enough, it has changed me for the better. I don\u2019t take things for granted and I try to cherish every day.\u201d For me, that\u2019s a huge motivation for me and the heart of the program.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why did you decide to start the WSUE program?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nNow that\u2019s a great question! I didn\u2019t start this program; it was a student\u2019s idea. Ashely Rundel was inspired by her mother who, after finishing treatment for breast cancer, wanted some sort of extended rehabilitation. There really wasn\u2019t much out there, but she found a survivors exercise program at UW-Eau Claire and really enjoyed it. Ashley came to me and said, \u201cGosh, it seems very comparable. We\u2019ve got a wellness center, we\u2019ve got movement science students and we know safe exercises. Why don\u2019t we have a program like that here?\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, there\u2019s no reason we can\u2019t have one, if you\u2019re willing to do some of the legwork.\u201d So she and I set up a plan to divide and conquer\u2014 and it took us about a year.<\/p>\n
Ashely contacted a professional organization to train myself and several other students to be certified professional cancer exercise specialists while I took care of the paperwork. Now the interesting twist of fate is that we\u2019re all excited that we\u2019re going to start in Fall 2011 and just two months before it starts, I find out I have cancer. Because I was going through treatment, I couldn\u2019t start the program, so Theresa Lee directed the program that first semester. I\u2019ve been the director ever since and, while it\u2019s never good to get cancer, it\u2019s really helped me to understand what cancer survivors go through with surgeries, biopsies and chemo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What do you hope that the survivors and students gain from the WSUE program?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nIn the HERS department, we attempt to get students some hands-on working experience with a patient population, so that is one of the things I hope they gain. They\u2019ve spent three years studying exercise and exercise programming, and now they get to use it in a practical way while gaining confidence that they do have the necessary knowledge and social skills to be a good clinician. I also hope some become cancer exercise specialists because I think that certification will help them with future patients and help them gain entrance into graduate programs.<\/p>\n
Part of what I hope survivors gain is support from others like them and opportunity return that support mentally or socially, which helps us all progress. The other thing I hope survivors get out of the program is that they have enhanced their quality of life by getting physically better and able to do activities of daily living more easily.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Who has influenced you the most?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nI would have to answer that the most influential thing in my life has been a belief in Jesus Christ and his most important command to love one another. Faith plays a role in who I am and how I make decisions on a daily basis. In every situation, I always try to go back and say \u201cWhat\u2019s the most important thing we have?\u201d That\u2019s to love one another, and we can all do a better job of loving one another.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If you could invite anyone to sit on\u00a0this bench\u00a0and have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nOh my\u2026if I get to choose anybody\u2014anybody at all\u2014 I would choose God and ask about creation. I\u2019d basically ask him \u201cHow did you pull it off?\u201d and then my next question would be \u201cAre you done?\u201d I\u2019d ask about creation because it would answer a lot of questions for mankind about chemistry, physics, geology and lots of other controversial topics. It would be great to have some definitive answers since we\u2019re just poking and prodding and doing the best we can with the scientific method. We\u2019re doing good work, but it would be nice just to know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Interviewed and Edited by Elizabeth Meinders ’15<\/span> and photographed by Anna Rae Butler ’15<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nTo nominate someone in the WSU\u00a0community \u2014 faculty, staff, student, alumni or friend of WSU \u2014 for Warrior Way<\/em>, or if you have other\u00a0feedback to share, please email Mollee Sheehan, director of web communications: msheehan@winona.edu<\/a>
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