ATLANTA — There is a unique way to support patients, survivors, and caretakers happening inside a workout room in Fayetteville, an impactful program through Piedmont Hospital that supports body, mind and soul.
It's instructed by Trish Gurney, a uterine cancer survivor who leads a group of cancer patients in tai chi.
“It’s a type of meditation, so when you are doing tai chi, you can’t think about anything else,” Gurney said. “There’s no health problems, no mortgage, and no troublesome kids.”
Two years ago, after being told she was disease-free, Gurney's oncologist told her to get a mammogram. That appointment ended up likely saving her life because a rare type of breast cancer was found.
The only way to treat the disease was through a mastectomy.
Three weeks after her procedure, Gurney is back teaching with Piedmont Fayette’s Cancer Wellness program.
The experience is something everyone in her class knows from experience. They are all either current cancer patients, survivors, or caretakers.
“So many people in the class have had such a hard time having to go through chemotherapy or radiation," Gurney, who has been an instructor for more than 20 years, explained.
“I’ve been through cancer twice,” she added. “I’m a survivor of uterine cancer, and now I have breast cancer.”
Ultimately, for all those in the class, it's the time together that brings clarity, calm, and comradery.
For those like Marcela Webber, it's been a seven-year journey. She says the class makes a big difference. “We all share our cancer experience,” Webber said. “It does help to talk through it.”
The power and healing of shared life experience.
The class meets every week. It’s a lifetime invitation for free.