From Breast Cancer Survivor to Figure Competitor: How I Out-Muscled Cancer

Leslie Spencer is a professor of health and exercise science at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, where she coordinates both an undergraduate and graduate degree program in health promotion and wellness. She is married to Stuart Spencer, a Presbyterian minister, and they have two sons, Sam and Miles.

 

Ask the average person how someone’s body is likely to change over the course of cancer treatment and you’ll hear a variety of responses that might include:

• Weight loss
• Weight gain
• Loss of muscle mass and strength
• A general appearance of aging skin and the lack of a healthy glow
• Chronic fatigue, resulting in less energy for both pleasure and work
• Hair loss from chemotherapy treatments, though some people do not lose their hair at all

What you would not expect to hear is that this person became stronger, gained muscle, and that people told her she looked better after cancer treatment than she did before her diagnosis. Yet this is exactly what happened to me!

 

At age 44, I was diagnosed with aggressive cancer in both breasts. In April of 2009, I began my treatment journey with a double mastectomy. In August of 2010, I celebrated its conclusion by competing in my first women’s figure and fitness contest. In between were three additional surgeries (including a hysterectomy for cervical pre-cancer), 18 weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation therapy. Of the above list of expected symptoms, I managed to avoid the first three entirely and minimize the chronic fatigue. The hair loss from chemotherapy was unavoidable, but it grew back thick and healthy-looking.

 

It’s ironic that a life-long believer in health and fitness who becomes a college health professor should get cancer. When I was diagnosed, people were shocked. My whole life has been devoted to healthful and whole living. I’ve taught courses and written articles that focus on behavior change and what it takes to help people maintain good health habits, including cancer-avoiding ones. What’s not ironic, though, is that I responded to my cancer with the full force of the beliefs and habits I’ve cultivated over my life. As crazy as it sounds, cancer gave me an opportunity to put to the test all I’ve been espousing for the past two decades. What’s been really thrilling is to see that it works! Someone going through cancer treatment can buck the typical, often negative, reaction to it and instead approach it with expectations of improved fitness and an enhanced joy for living.

 

So what motivated me to train for a figure competition through cancer treatment? I did it to experience victory over cancer in a direct, unexpected and powerful way. I wanted to be known as the woman who was training for an athletic competition through her cancer treatment, not just a woman who was going through cancer treatment. Was cancer the dominant theme in my life during that time? Of course it was; I would be in a state of denial if I said otherwise. But that didn’t mean that cancer was the only theme in my life.

 

I also found it highly encouraging to have a vision for something to look forward to and be excited about beyond cancer. When you have cancer, it’s easy to fill every day with medical appointments and research on your treatment options and decisions you have to make. I remember taking “days off” from cancer, i.e. days in which I would have no cancer-related appointments, phone calls or internet research. Planning for the figure competition was a very satisfying way to spend a day off from cancer.

 

Finally, you might be wondering why I chose to pursue a figure competition and not a triathlon or other fitness goal. The answer is that the figure competition gave me something unique that a different goal would not have provided in the same way. It allowed me to feel beautiful to the point of being stage-worthy in a “glitter” bikini and four inch heels! After having both a mastectomy and hysterectomy, it was special to me to feel beautiful, feminine and sexy after losing the parts of my body that are associated with being female.

 

Did I win any trophies? No, but I didn’t need to. I knew I was a winner just being there. Since then, I’ve started a website and blog, Strong and Built, to support and inspire other women to aspire to their dreams after cancer. Please visit and share your story with me!

 

Learn more about breast cancer treatment at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center.
The Abramson Cancer Center is pleased to present the Focus on Women's Cancers Conference featuring:
20th Life After Breast Cancer
10th Focus On Gynecologic Cancers
Focus On Your Risk of Breast and Ovarian Cancer

 

Attend Penn Medicine’s Focus On Women’s Cancer Conference
Friday, October 28, 2011
7:30 am to 3:30 pm
Hilton Hotel, 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131

 

Register and view the full agenda at The Abramson Cancer Center, or register by phone at 800-789-PENN(7366).

 

Please register for only one conference but feel free on the day of the conference to attend sessions at any of the 3 conferences.

 

Portions of the program will be livestreamed at PennMedicine.org/Abramson/WomensCancersLIVE on the day of the conference.