Brian’s Good Life Continues
On a hot August morning at the edge of Greenwood Pond, where brown grass mingles with green grass, and tree branches with drying leaves flicker above still waters birthing green algae, is where I first meet Brian.
Brian smiles warmly and walks with a tenderness in his gait. We spoke briefly days before, about his esophageal cancer, his surgery, his one week in the hospital, and his being “released” just weeks prior. Brian is searching for ways to recover, to heal, to get moving more, to find out what “released” means to him. In this heat of the summer and the heat of a pandemic, he also yearns for more human connection.
Brian shows me his long scar, as we discuss the pending hike, and which yoga poses are his friend, and which to pause. We slowly hike on a packed dirt path, between trees and shrubs and over a shallow creek. We anchor a long and spread-out line of cancer survivors and caregivers trekking on a Tuesday morning in the heart of Des Moines.
I learn Brian is a father of four, a spouse, a soon-to-be grandfather again, an actor, and a musician. Brian, with his cap over his wavy and white hair, doesn’t care if he is the slowest hiker that day. He beams as bright as the sun, chatting about life.
“Wow, this is wonderful, it’s a great walk on a new path, and laying down on my back for yoga with a blue sky overhead, this is fabulous,” Brian reflects later. “I can do this.”
More weeks pass, and I learn Brian plays the guitar, piano, and banjo, he was a traveling Shakespeare teacher and actor, and started Shakespeare in the Park in Des Moines, IA. More weeks pass, and Brian’s tender gait becomes stronger, his yoga poses more fluid and friendly to his body.
In February Brian attends our newly launched Urban Pole Walking Program. He, with fellow survivors and caregivers, commit to walking weekly with Urban Poles, tracking their exercises, stretches, and nutrition goals. Four months into this program we complete post assessments. Brian shows improvements in resting heart rate and balance, less body fat, and a gain of 1.5 pounds of muscle. His strength tests improve by 75% and walking gait 40%.
“I credit Above + Beyond Cancer, and my own moxie, to getting healthy again,” says Brian.
“Early 2020 I was a feeling that I had no more life to live. I really thought, this is it. I’m 71, maybe this is the down slide for me. We made a CaringBridge site, and called it Brian’s good life, because I thought I had lived most of it.”
Brian explains this organization is more than changing a muscle and fat ratio. “It’s how you exist in the world, with the rest of the world. It’s joyful. I feel like I have been given permission again to experience joy and share it. I feel like my life is beautiful.”
Brian’s good life continues. Thank you, Brian, for sharing your love of life with us.
Mary Van Heukelom is the Program Director and Certified Cancer Exercise Trainer for Above + Beyond Cancer. If you’d like to hear more about our programs and how to get involved email mary@aboveandbeyondcancer.org or check out our website calendar.
If you’d like to donate or volunteer to support these life changing programs you may click here to make it happen!
