Dunedin sits in a strange tension with the university. Everyone knows the city cannot survive, let alone thrive without it. But nor can the university thrive without the city. Attracting quality international staff requires an attractive, well-resourced and serviced city. Moreover, much quality research requires the willing participation of large numbers of local people.
Dunedin is simultaneously proud of and irritated by students. We hold up the Dunedin Study as a flagship reinforcing our civic and global esteem. And we grumble about the intoxicated students, the glass-covered streets and squalid flats and the unwanted national publicity they attract. But we are family and the family can criticise its own. But beware the outsider who goes for us ...
We are all of us, Bono, wailing "I can’t live with or without you".
Our own adult children have all gradually departed Dunedin, and I find I miss not only them, but all their mates who have also moved on. But I find myself among students once again in a delightful and surprising way. I am part of a programme at the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences. I go regularly to the Exercise Prescription Clinic.
I chose to enrol but I didn’t choose the factor that qualified me to be on this programme.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Two or three times a week I am surrounded by the young, the fit, the smart and energetic students of the Phys Ed School of our university. I arrived on this scene little realising what an important and enabling part of my life it would become.
So how did I get there?
From the time I entered into that new territory of breast cancer, I kept hearing rumours about this amazing exercise programme and the dynamic woman who began it.
"You must go", "You have to get to this", "You would love it."
Long before I began, I knew I would be mad to pass this up. As soon as I finished my radiation treatment, I got myself referred.I was blown away.It was magnificent beyond my expectations and hopes. There were women of all ages and stages, from early 30s to a 91-year-old!
I met lawyers, teachers, carers, office workers, administrators, cleaners, community workers, lecturers, athletes, a surfer, retirees, musicians, singers and actors. Chat and laughter were the constant backdrop as women treadmilled, cycled, cross-trained, lifted, pulled and pushed weights and rowed. What you wore didn’t seem to matter, there were no pressures of either performance or appearance. Some were incredibly fit and went hard. Some moved slowly, some trotted and some did little bits and rested often. I quickly felt part of a new community. I even recognised familiar faces.
"I didn’t know you had breast cancer!", "I didn’t know YOU had breast cancer ..."
We all had two things in common: We had either had, or still had, breast cancer and were at various stages on the recovery pathway; and critically, we had all accepted the invitation to come. We were all "taking back the power" and giving ourselves the best chances we could!I was welcomed and interviewed by Dr Lynette Jones.
Dr Jones (we all know her as Lynette) is the Phys Ed School’s senior lecturer in physical activity and health and has been on the staff since 2000. She is a popular teacher. Her research is extensive in areas such as obesity, diabetes, spinal injury and prostate cancer. Her special focus is exercise-oncology research, particularly as it relates to breast cancer.In 2009 she set up EXPINKT for women with breast cancer.
Currently there are about 80 women per week actively engaged in EXPINKT. Since it began there have been 284 women come through. There are two-five new referrals per month. Some have been involved for years and some since it began. The programme’s best advertising is done by the women who know, in the broadest sense, that this is "saving" their lives on a daily basis.
EXPINKT is based on extensive research into the healing and restorative benefits of exercise interventions in the recovery and rehabilitation of many medical conditions and particularly in our case, breast cancer. Individualised programmes are devised to help deal to the particular challenges thrown up by breast surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. These include effects on particular muscle groups, internal and external scarring, compromised heart and lung function and upper body capacity and swelling caused by removal of lymph nodes.
We all keep going to the gym because we know it helps us physically but also emotionally. Mental well being is enhanced and self-esteem restored for women who have had a physical and emotional battering. Physical gains can be measured, emotional well being cannot. Anecdotal evidence abounds. Each woman has a story.
Lynnette H. had breast cancer recur last year. She is a house assistant and works full-time in a physically demanding job.
"I was very depressed after I had to come back again after five years and have a mastectomy. My specialist thought the programme would help me. I didn’t want to go, I only went to keep him happy. I felt so worthless, I never thought I would last the distance. I didn’t think I had it in me. When I went to the chemotherapy unit, I could barely climb the stairs, it took forever. I cried at the gym. But gradually the longer I went and the more I got into it, the more I changed and began to enjoy it. I got quicker on the treadmill. I was so proud of myself the day I could finally tie my own shoelaces again! My mindset has changed for the good. I feel worth something and that I have purpose to my life, something for me that keeps me going."
Another woman described the joy she felt on being able again to fasten her own bra. We don’t take our small victories for granted!Gill has been working out since 2011.
"I am not a natural exerciser," she explains.
"I would far rather sit down and read a book. I keep going because I am convinced that it makes a significant difference for me, especially to my upper body strength. But even more significant for me is the social support because we can talk about anything: drugs, what’s happening to our bodies, we encourage each other and there is no shame or embarrassment. We have black jokes. We can be real. I don’t find that everywhere."
For one who lives alone and isn’t working, the programme is crucial. Recently two gym friends helped Sheryl move house. She has been fronting up for six years and has often walked 40 minutes to town to make sure she doesn’t miss out. Her programme has helped her through chronic eczema reactions, heart issues while undergoing herceptin treatment and depression. She had emergency surgery for a complication during treatment.
"People are on your page. Seriously nodding heads! Everyone just gets. I love the chitter-chatter, I love being amongst it, but no one is in your face, no one is invasive and people respect the quiet moment. I never have to pretend, I can just be what I am. Someone will smile at me, or Lynette will give me a hug, and I think ‘Yes, that did it!’ When you are at your lowest and slowest, something always happens and it changes your mood and motivation. Sometimes I think, even if nothing else goes right this week, that did."
Sheryl is so struck by the value of her regular exercise and support network, that she sometimes asks herself, "Can it really be this simple?"
The answer is yes. Yes, it is!
The gym is managed day to day by a senior phys ed student, often doing postgraduate work, who is employed full-time. Sommer, our current superviser, is not only well-qualified academically, she is extraordinarily pastoral and sensitive beyond her years. Dr Jones comes in regularly to see how everyone is doing. She is considered legendary for her compassion and kindness as well as her expertise.
Ten advanced students are handpicked each year to do the "Exercise and Cancer Recovery" paper with Dr Jones. The academic component sits alongside the practical as each student works for 40 hours with one of the women in the gym. Ben is working with me this semester and he is diligent and helpful, always on hand with a glass of water, advice and support. He hopes eventually to study physiotherapy. We are both competitive and regularly compete at the ODT quiz! Occasionally he wins ...
Such relationships set up important connections between the university and the community. I cannot think of another initiative that bridges this "town and gown" gap in a more life-enhancing and positive way. This is PR at its best. How many problems could be mitigated if the university, via its students in the community, could utilise the various specialisations and skills of its diverse faculties? It is right up there with the student volunteering initiatives for creating goodwill in the city. The heart of a university is revealed in its willingness to serve the wider world we all inhabit and the city we share.
"Of those to whom much is given, much shall be required."
Right now, the word at the gym is "What’s going to happen to this programme?". There is widespread concern because we all know the quality of our lives, and of those who will come after us, is bound up with this. We know there are going to be cuts to the Phys Ed School staffing numbers. People are worried.
This is no ordinary gym. This is about survival and quality of life. EXPINKT is contributing to serious international research exploring how exercise can aid recovery after life-altering surgery and treatments. It is not something that can just be picked up at any gym around town.
Please, "to whom it may concern", whatever you do, save this initiative. It’s a game changer. There are women on the teaching and administrative staff of the university on this programme. It could be your daughter, your partner, your wife, your mother or your sister.
It could be you.
