My name is Carrie Slater, I am 47-years old and a full-time employee for the City of Troy! I enjoy my work and enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I am very active in the running community and I enjoy working! In my spare time I enjoy running, biking and swimming! I am married to my husband, Mark, we have been married for 17-years and have a step-daugther and a granddaughter! I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, HER -2, triple positive breast cancer in March of 2020 while going in for what was a routine mammogram.
Being diagnosed with cancer at age 47 was not easy to absorb. I had been living my life on “easy street”, but suddenly had to take a major detour. Before my diagnosis, I was enjoying life to the fullest, I was busy and always on the go. As you can imagine, the news was devastating for me and my family. I went through a gamut of emotions and once I worked my way through these emotions with the support of my family and friends I made a promise to myself that I was going to attack this cancer and beat it with a positive attitude and successful treatment plan!
After meeting with my team of doctors, I took comfort in knowing that I was in the right place to receive the best possible care at Kettering Health (and BOY DID I)! My cancer journey has been a long 15-month process that included 5 surgeries, 12 chemotherapy treatments, 1-year of Herceptin infusions and MANY doctor’s visits to ensure that my body was staying strong for treatment. That included cardiologist visits every 2-months for an echocardiogram and many visits to the oncologist and plastic surgeon. The cancer diagnosis led me down a path where I had to “slow down” and actually let my body heal while I trusted the 15-months of treatment to do it’s “magic”. Slowing down and not being able to do everything that my body could do before the diagnosis was probably THE HARDEST part of the journey!
I was introduced to Maple Tree Cancer Alliance on one of my first visits to Dr. Sabiers. He HIGHLY recommended that I begin with Maple Tree. Unfortunately, COVID-19 was prevalent and I was unable to start until November of 2020.
I have had a GREAT experience with Maple Tree! Prior to my first visit with Maple Tree I was very active and enjoyed doing cardio workouts and running, however I RARELY included any kind of weight training. I have had the pleasure of working with Kaleb Holbrook at Maple Tree, his expertise has helped me gain more knowledge about weight training and why I should include it in my fitness plan. I have been able to see how the weight training, especially the core training has played a role in my running and I have since decreased my 1-mile time. Furthermore, adding the strength training has made me feel stronger at the completion of my workouts and long runs. Kaleb has made suggestions to my lifting, nutrition, and stretching that has helped me to continue to be active during my cancer journey. Since joining Maple Tree, I have been able to make the most of my new workout routine that has helped with my overall fitness!
I would tell anyone that is “on the fence” about joining Maple Tree that starting a new fitness journey is always hard whether you are active or not active at all. Maple Tree Cancer Alliance has been a very instrumental part of my treatment plan. I would encourage everyone who has the opportunity to join Maple Tree to do so! The Maple Tree program has given me more confidence in working out and helped me gain more respect for my body! Meeting with a trainer every week helps you to be accountable in your fitness journey. The positive support received from the Maple Tree staff makes it easier to keep coming back week-after-week for training!
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Since coming to Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, Carrie has seen the following improvements:
Muscular strength (right): +29.09%
Muscular strength (left): +52.27%
Cardiovascular fitness: +35.79%
Muscular endurance: +35%
Flexibility: +18.75%