At The Pilates Body in Woodbury, there is a special program that started in the fall for unique individuals. It’s called the Pink Ribbon Program, and it’s a post-operative workout-enhancing recovery program for women who have had breast cancer.
The Pilates Body owner Lisa Hein and her team became certified breast cancer exercise specialists in October, in the hopes of helping women get their lives, and their bodies, back. “The premise of the program, first and foremost, is range of motion, mobility, stability,” Hein says. “And we also want clients to feel safe and successful.” The difference between this program and a regular workout program is that it’s tailored to the specific issues that arise after breast cancer surgery, like the inability to raise your arm above your head.
Clients fill out an in-depth intake form, Hein says, so they know what type of surgery the client had, which side (or both), and the type of reconstruction done. “The beauty of the Pink Ribbon Program [in the training] is we’ve been versed so we understand how to handle any kind of complications they’ve had from surgery,” Hein says. “What type of reconstruction? Everybody thinks, ‘Well, people who have had breast cancer automatically get implants.’ Not so.”
The six-week program has three phases, and clients generally come in twice a week. Depending on the client’s ability—some had surgery six to eight weeks prior, some 10 years—it’s a lot of range-of-motion, she says. “We might just be doing some arm raises … some lengthening of the chest.” From there, phase two would be core strength and stability, “maybe a little bit more spinal mobilization. Then we can progress from there.”
Aside from regaining physical strength and mobility, the program is designed to create confidence. “A lot of times, once people have had their surgery, they think, ‘I’m kind of feeling okay, I’m gonna get back in the gym and go for it,’” Hein says. “And then [they realize], ‘Wait a minute, I can’t lift my arm up, I can’t do that.’ And they feel unsuccessful.” Hein and The Pilates Body team set up clients for success so they can do mainstream exercise again.
Hein has seen the success the program has, and says it’s really quite emotional. “They’ve broken down in tears because it’s like … ‘I haven’t been able to do that,’” she says. “They feel better.”
Breast cancer survivor Debra McGrath was one of those clients. She used to go to The Pilates Body, but after being diagnosed and going through surgery, took a step back from exercising. Then she heard about the Pink Ribbon Program, and she jumped back in. “I was so limited in my movement in my right side,” she says.
McGrath had a partial mastectomy and lymph node removal. “At first you can’t even brush your hair,” she says. “You can just feel the tension and stress and scar tissue.” The program helped her over those hurdles.
“[They] were so knowledgeable,” McGrath says. “Anything from the breast cancer itself to surgery techniques used. They were so aware of the skeletal part of it, the tissue part of it … whether you had lymph nodes removed. I was amazed because neither one of them had experienced it.”
McGrath started the program a year after her surgery, but she wishes she had known about it sooner. “It’s what I needed. It got me out of that funk.” She adds, “I think the main thing is feeling relief. I actually cried; it’s a mental thing. It’s like I let go of thinking, ‘It’s all over for me.’”
For Hein, that reaction is the reason The Pilates Body became certified in the Pink Ribbon Program. “If people walk out of that door with a smile on their face and they feel better about themselves, you’ve done your job,” she says. //
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For more information on The Pilates Body Pink Ribbon Post-Operative Workout-Enhancing Recovery Program:
The Pilates Body
9900 Valley Creek Road Suite 115
651.247.1455
