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Fitness Author, Karon Karter
Fighting Goal to the Finish Line
How does she smile so brightly when life seems so unfair? She knows that her tears won’t win the war waging in her body. I knew in advance that I would be working with women living with cancer, but I wasn’t prepared to meet someone in her mid-thirties. I wondered if her prognosis included the word, “terminal.” Was her cancer operable? She is cute and vivacious, thin and tall. Her body doesn’t wear the signs—no scarf, no wig. Several black and blue bruises adorn her arm—perhaps from numerous intravenous therapies. While her complexion is ashen, her unwavering smile outshines any illness she may have.
Christi Sestak has cancer. Today her brain tumor is stable, with no new growth, but the fight to stunt its growth has taken five years. From the moment the neurosurgeon spoke those dreaded words, “brain cancer,” Christi vowed to fight it. “There was no way that I would leave my family behind.” She and Michael were dating only eight months before her first grand mal seizure. She awoke in his arms, dazed, groggy, and bloody—she had bitten her tongue—unaware of what had just happened to her.
A little over a month later, July 1998, she had her first crainectomy. Michael, her family, and many devoted friends held an all day vigil. She laughs, then jokingly whispers: “I was more nervous about my mother’s sewing club girlfriends sequestering Michael than the . . . four-hour surgery. I remember, opening my eyes in the intensive care unit, and there was my mother looking down at me—so I lifted these little glasses that were put over my eyes I guess for the surgery, and said “I-C-U—get it! That’s when we all laughed—I think my family was so relieved because I made that joke. ICU, as it turns out is a wonderful place. They really pamper you there.”
Only after a few days in the hospital, Christi went home. “I felt good,” she says. She was ready to get on with her life as if the cancer was just a passing nuisance. Prior to her surgery, she exercised every day. Her favorite memory was running the relay race of the White Rock Marathon just six months before her surgery. After surgery, Christi underwent six weeks of radiation for five days a week. “After my morning radiation treatment, I would hit the treadmill. I knew that if I didn’t exercise in the morning directly after my treatments, then I would be too tired in the afternoon.” Her oncologist gave her the biggest compliment of all: “you don’t look like someone who just had six-weeks of radiation."
She would never have to walk alone. Somewhere between a crainectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and several blood transfusions, Michael and Christi were married. “Michael could’ve left me at any point during my illness, but didn’t. Now, he too lives with my cancer.” With a new husband and the “okay” to return to work as an attorney, life seemed almost normal. But Christi suffered a major setback: the brain tumor was growing again. This time her oncologist wanted to treat the brain cancer with an aggressive dose of radiation. “I liked that,” she says. “But I was so bummed that I can no longer practice law. I really loved my job.”
Michael was her soul, but fitness kept her body strong and spirits soaring. After an intense dose of radiation therapy, Christi began training for a triathlon. "I needed something to do,” she says. “I loved being an attorney, and giving up work was like a divorce. I had to replace that loss with something, so fitness seemed right. It was what I also loved to do. I was trying yoga, swimming, and then I met Bev. She gave me a whole new challenge—triathlons. I had something to work for again.”
Bev Sigler, a cancer exercise specialists, trained Christi for back-to-back triathlons. “It’s not uncommon for cancer patients to use fitness to offset the feelings of isolation, depression, and fatigue,” Bev says. “Moderate exercise keeps them moving forward, despite the obstacles of treatments and the disease itself. They can make choices about their health, when the cancer leaves them none.” Most cancer experts agree.
Barbara Quash, R.N., manager of Baylor Sammons Breast Center Dallas, says “Some studies have found that exercise has a positive effect on physical and psychological well being, as well as the prevention of some cancers such as breast cancer. We cannot change all risks factors for breast cancer, let’s say family history, but we can change lifestyle factors including exercise.” Moderate daily exercise may, for example, reduce fatigue, improve energy levels, accelerate post treatment recovery and help those living with cancer feel that they have some control of their health.
Christi says she felt “normal” while triathlon training. “At first, unless I told them, nobody in the triathlon group knew that I had cancer. I felt so good about myself because I could physically keep up with them. When my teammates found out, which they eventually did, they were so surprised by my illness because I didn’t look sick. I was happy that I looked normal.”
During her triathlon training, Christi suffered a second reoccurrence. This time, she had to take an oral chemotherapy for four months. But she didn’t stop training for the triathlon. Her twelve-week training program included two-hour workouts—running, biking or swimming—topping off the week with a group workout. Her resolve, along with the support from her teammates, kept her attaining her weekly fitness goals. “Their support was tremendous,” Christi recalls.
“We were biking around White Rock Lake and it was a super hot summer day. I remember feeling tired and was falling behind the group. But there was no way that I was going to quit. Sam Leake, head of the triathlon training program at the Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center, peddled beside me. He rode beside me, with his hand on my back the whole time, pushing me along—so I could make it around the lake.” Denise Edmiston, program director of Gilda’s Club North Texas says, “participation in a group exercise setting can unite people living with cancer so they don’t feel so alone—emotionally and physically.”
Since crossing the finish line of back-to-back triathlons, Christi has endured yet another reoccurrence. Radiation and chemotherapy were out of the question. However, her doctor suggested another crainectormy. Christi’s resolve grew stronger. “I was ready for it,” she says. “Since I lived through the first one, I knew I could do it again; it just didn’t seem so bad the second time around.” How could she not be frightened? How could she recover with such optimism? Her husband says, “Christi has maintained her exercise routine throughout her surgeries, radiation, and multiple chemotherapies.
Not only did her strong conditioning help her tolerate the treatments, it also helps her self-confidence so she can stay positive regarding her disease. She has found that exercise is a constant in her life when so many things in her life are unstable.”
The loss of choice is the worst thing about having cancer. She is retired at thirty-two years old. She can’t ride the roller coasters at Six Flags—she and Michael used to love Six Flags. She wanted to sky dive on their vacation in Hawaii but decided against it. She would have done those things in a heartbeat if she were not sick. She says, “I’m lucky to be here. Given the choice between life and Six Flags, well . . . giving up a few rides is not such a big deal. I can’t ride my bike anymore—so no more triathlons for me. My balance was okay before my cancer, but now I’m not as coordinated. But I love Spin classes; I’ve become a high maintenance exerciser, she laughs. I like air-conditioning and having my water bottle within reach. I like fun runs such as the Jingle Bell and Freedom runs. Michael and I like to run or walk the Katy Trail on most Saturday mornings. And, of course, there’s Pilates.”
And that’s where this story begins. Several months ago, I began teaching Pilates at Gilda’s Club North Texas. Christi walked into class as if she truly loved getting up each morning. She was physically strong enough to perform, without modifications, exercises such as the hundred, roll up and rolling-like-a-ball. She oohed and aahed and was not shy to embrace the very essence of this mind body work. When she genuinely expressed disappointment that the hour was over, that’s when I knew I was blessed—and the one inspired.
Bev confirms, “Christi’s fighting spirit, to live as normal of a life as she can, gets her through this.” She recalls that only five or so minutes into the triathlon, Christi crashed her bike directly in front of her mother. Perhaps many would have quit. But Christi dusted off the dirt and got back on her bike. During the 5K run, Christi decided to walk rather than run. Along the trail to the finish line, she picked the daisies and lemon and purple wild flowers. At the finish line, she gave her mother the bouquet of flowers.
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