At the pre-surgery information session, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were told that daily exercise is good for our bodies to endure anesthetic and surgery, to aide in chemotherapy and radiation treatments that follow, and to help to reduce the recurrence of cancer post treatment.

Every day leading up to our surgery and thereafter for the rest of our lives, we need to exercise for a minimum of a half hour a day. Our family has had Y memberships for nearly 20 years. Exercise was not foreign to me, but became a lesser priority in recent months with the demands of life. It’s nice to have the time to get back into a predictable exercise routine. I feel so much healthier in just a few weeks of making this a daily activity.

I have been an Aquasize fan for probably 18 years. My kids jokingly call me hard core. Now, there is a new dimension and a new need to once again enjoy the resistance of water against my body while it’s active. When I have been frustrated with this recent cancer diagnosis, I visualize kicking it out of my body with karate kicks in the pool. At times, I feel like a boxer who wants to punch the cancer opponent and knock it out. When I’m not in the pool, I’ll go for a walk and visualize stomping cancer with my feet when I walk. Weird—but liberating!

Today was my last big splash in the pool, as my day before surgery. Aquasize will have to wait awhile for my return. The people I share space with in the pool at the Y will be happy. There will more room in the pool as my 5’ 10” body will no longer take up space in the bumper car traffic they call water aerobics.

I’ll be back in a few months complete with my swimming prosthesis! Maybe I’ll even consider teaching Aquasize classes offered to breast cancer survivors at one of the local Y’s.