Laura Ryan leads 75km Trek the Trail fundraiser for cancer exercise support
After going through chemotherapy, radiation, and multiple surgeries a Toowoomba cancer survivor said exercise was one of the few things she felt she could control.
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Laura Ryan still struggles to look at her scars.
It took her weeks after her first surgery before she could even glance at them.
In 2023 Ms Ryan was diagnosed with breast cancer and has since undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and multiple surgeries.
While Ms Ryan was still breastfeeding her youngest son she thought she had a blocked milk duct.
“Being a busy mum, it took me a few months before I even got to my GP,” she said.
“The journey after that (diagnosis) was just horrendous, as you can imagine.”
Ms Ryan underwent a mastectomy on her right side almost two years ago but unfortunately that was just the beginning of her treatment. After the first surgery didn’t get rid of it all, she had to undergo a full mastectomy a month later.
“It’s extremely difficult,” she said.
“The first complete mastectomy was very confronting.”
Just three weeks ago she underwent a risk reduction mastectomy and hasn’t shown her new scar to anyone, not even her husband.
“Basically, it’s just to try and avoid in the future any risk of anything nasty happening on the other side,” she said.
“I think anyone who faces this diagnosis knows that there is an ongoing risk and would want to do what they can to look after themselves.”
Ms Ryan said she could possibly undergo another reconstruction following her most recent surgery.
“I’ve got a four-year-old and a six-year-old, and I’ve spent enough time in hospital,” she said.
“I was able to feed them, and now I don’t need to, so I don’t need more ongoing surgeries.
“I accept that this is who I am now, and I would rather be able to enjoy the time that I have.
“Cancer or otherwise, we don’t know how long we are here.”
Throughout the past few years Ms Ryan said one of the few things she felt she could control was exercise.
“Research has increasingly shown it to minimise the side effects of cancer treatment,” she said.
“It is also shown, in many cancers, to significantly reduce the risk of any cancers returning.”
Low intensity exercise has been found to reduce fatigue, anaemia, loss of muscle strength, lymphoedema, mood changes, heart problems, joint pain, and more, according to research from the Cancer Council.
After noticing a difference in her symptoms once she got back into low intensity exercise, Ms Ryan realised there needed to be more support for cancer patients.
Ms Ryan is now running the Trek the Trail fundraiser to raise money for Toowoomba Hospital Regional Cancer Centre.
When she first went back to the gym a year after her diagnosis, Ms Ryan said she went in too hard.
“Every bit of my body was hurting,” she said.
“I thought I was doing something positive for myself when I was actually putting myself at risk at that point.”
Ms Ryan said although she was given exercise guidelines by physiotherapists at Toowoomba Hospital she said exercising with cancer was not their expertise.
“They couldn’t advise me on what exercise to do, how to exercise safely, how to exercise through chemo, or how to exercise after a mastectomy,” she said.
“The missing link is that exercise physiology support. It should be a core part of cancer treatment.
“There are very few people in this life that aren’t touched by cancer, whether it’s themselves or a loved one, so if I can change that for other people in the future, then why wouldn’t I?”
The 75 hikers will hit the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail from Yarraman to Toogoolawah for the two day hike on August 30.
Trek the Trail has raised more than $56,000 so far.
Donate at toowoombahospitalfoundation.org.au to help the team of hikers get to $75,000.
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