MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! Tattoo Zoo is having a Halloween fundraiser!
100% of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the YWCA ENCORE After Breast Cancer Exercise Program and The Callanish Society.
Gerry’s wife Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2013. She did her treatment and once she left the care of the Cancer Center … was left to acclimatize herself from being a full time patient back to being a “normal” person again.
Breast cancer treatment can be very isolating and Sarah struggled with depression, anxiety and had a difficult time finding her way back to being social. She felt very much like a new-born baby deer. Her legs were unsteady and she was unsure of herself.
Sarah started the YWCA ENCORE After Breast Cancer Exercise Program through a recommendation from her oncologist in early 2014 and did the program 3x before she decided to train to be a teacher and is now volunteering as an instructor for this years 2015 session of Encore.
“Encore changed my life! I found Breast Cancer treatment extremely isolating and the Encore program at the Y pulled me out of my self imposed cocoon and helped me realize that life is about balance. Mind, body and spirit.
Having peer support and being with other woman who have similar scars, similar experiences and who just “get it†when you talk about your treatment – is incredibly comforting. The educational aspect of the classes are also helpful. We learned about nutrition, lymphedema, meditation, yoga, dragon boating, etc. Most importantly Encore helped me get back in touch with my body by getting me to be physical again. I learned that the more I move my body – the better I feel.
We start each Encore class in the pool and I found that the water is very healing. Some of the lasting collateral damage of cancer treatment is pain. I had a lot of joint and bone pain and because of Encore I discovered that being in the water and doing Aquafit gave me relief from pain. I now do Aquafit every single day!! Encore was just the tonic I needed to help me transition from cancer patient to a thriving cancer survivor and I will be forever grateful to the Y for this program.”
The money raised from the TZ fundraiser will help offset the costs of running the ENCORE program.
Sarah also went away to a week long retreat through the Callanish Society. The retreat is a six-night experience of immersion into personal reflection and community engagement— and Sarah emerged with a renewed connection with life. Participants experience a foundational shift towards inner peace and happiness, a new perspective that carries them forward.
“My time at Callanish is something that is impossible to explain and what it did for me is immeasurable. It helped me connect with the grief I felt during my cancer treatment, we visited old wounds and I learned how to let go of my grief with love and compassion for myself. My trip to Brew Creek and the time I spent with the facilitators and participants at Callanish is something I will carry in my heart forever.”
So as you can see why … everyone at TZ is thrilled to participate in this event and give some much needed support to these two incredible resources for woman who have finished cancer treatment.
Thank you for your support. 🙂