Dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors celebrates 30 years in Vancouver

CBC

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Nearly 30 years after it first started in Vancouver, a team of breast cancer survivors will compete in the upcoming Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival.
The Abreast In A Boat team was started by Vancouver doctor Don McKenzie in 1996 — initially as a six-month trial to show whether there was any evidence to back up a commonly held idea that was limiting the lives of breast cancer survivors.
At the time, the scientific consensus was that those who'd had a mastectomy shouldn't be raising their arms over their heads, lifting heavy objects or exercising.
Instead, the team demonstrated that not only was strenuous exercise possible for breast cancer survivors, but physical activity and a sense of belonging helped them in their recovery from cancer.
Ahead of the dragon boating festival, which starts June 20 in False Creek, members of the team told CBC News about how the team changed their lives.
'I could trust my body'
When Carol Dale signed up for the team in 1996, she was celebrating five years being cancer-free, and thought it was an interesting experiment worth trying.
"It just turned out to be a fascinating year, learning a new skill, learning that I could trust my body again to work for me," she said.
"And I met some wonderful people, and that's what keeps me going."
Dale says there are now six teams in the Lower Mainland alone composed of breast cancer survivors, and dozens more in Canada and around the world.
And, there's even an international commission encouraging the establishment of more dragon boat teams for those with breast cancer.
Recovery ideas change
Kristin Campbell, a professor at the University of British Columbia's department of physical therapy, says that when the team was first started in 1996, it was thought that repeated exercise would lead to lymphedema, a painful chronic condition where lymph fluid builds up in a person's arm due to being disrupted by the cancerous cells.
"The important piece about this dragon boat experience [is] how it's changed practice around the world," the researcher said.
"I think they really have shown that the role of exercise and the camaraderie, that you get from that, really changed how people thought about breast cancer, and thought about exercise and recovery after treatment," she added.
Dr. McKenzie's work, along with collaborators, helped demonstrate that regular physical activity is associated with a 35 per cent reduction in mortality among cancer survivors.
Breast cancer is the second most-common cancer in Canada, and roughly one in eight women are expected to be diagnosed with it in their lifetimes.
While some like Dale are veterans of the team, others like Anca Dobre, 29, are more recent competitors.
She was diagnosed in December 2023, and finished her radiation treatment the following August.
Dobre said that the team showed her that a diagnosis didn't necessarily mean she was going to be bedridden.
"Actually, it was the opposite," she told CBC News. "We all became more active.
"There's so much to life after cancer and it's not just about surviving, but actually thriving, with this team because they're all so inspirational in everything they do."