By Kinisha O'Neill, Staff Reporter
Porter: Some people didn't even realise that I was sick or that I was being treated for cancer. I still looked healthy. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
INSPIRING. THAT is Icilda Porter, a four-year cancer survivor and fitness enthusiast.
Her dedication to keeping her body in top form has given her the edge in her battle with breast cancer, she says. "I handled the cancer better because of the physical state of my body," she told Flair in an interview last week.
Lately, Porter has been training to participate in the 'Run for Life' 5K run/walk scheduled for Saturday, October 11. The race is organised by Jamaica Reach to Recovery (a group of breast cancer survivors of which Porter is a member), an affiliate of the Jamaica Cancer Society. She has taken part in the run since its start three years ago. Despite being in the process of recuperating from cancer, Porter was the winner among the walkers in the first year, and in the second got close, but was unable to beat the competition.
Flair met Porter in the midst of a two-hour work out a three to five day per week ritual at Spartan Health Club on Lady Musgrave Road, Kingston. In preparation for the upcoming event she is putting in a half hour extra on the treadmill while maintaining her basic weight and aerobic routine. Her slender, toned, youthful physique is a testimony of her proclamation that she has made her life a devotion to exercise.
Once a physical education teacher at Holy Childhood High School in Half-Way Tree, Porter says when she left the job she had to immediately find a means of replacing the regular activity that went with the post. It was then, 1990, that she joined Spartan.
Porter's real story, however, revolves around how she has used exercise as a tool to help her through the trauma of breast cancer and to bounce back. What must be told is her account of only experiencing minor pain during the taxing months of cancer treatment. It is the story of how exercise, diet and a healthy attitude have shaped and saved her life.
BEFORE CANCER
Porter's exercise routine was similar to her present routine. She worked out three to five days a week, including aerobics and strength training. The only difference is that today she uses less weights, on the advice of her oncologist.
Although Porter says she never really dieted before she was diagnosed with cancer, she does say that she carefully watched what she ate because she was adamant that she did not want the extra pounds. "So I always tried to eat the right things even then."
DURING CANCER TREATMENT
Porter worked out in the gym while undergoing treatment, but notes that she had to slightly lower the intensity and eliminate weight training because the chemotherapy had weakened her system.
"Some people didn't even realise that I was sick or that I was being treated for cancer. I still looked healthy. My body was able to manage it better because I was working out."
Her treatment lasted from October 1998 to June 1999, and she worked out until May 1999 when she stopped going to the gym all together. "One day I felt very weak and told myself that I would ease up on the gym for a while."
Still, it was not the end of the work out routine for this over 55-year-old woman. "I walked around the neighbourhood instead," she said. This shift from the gym might've tempted most people to slack off, but not Porter. She replaced exercising indoors with a 40-minute uphill trek which she did daily until the end of her treatment.
During chemotherapy Porter said she was picky about the foods she ate and was told by her doctor to eat particular foods to help build her blood count. During that period she lost her appetite and often felt sick and nauseated. Ironically, she still gained some weight during that time.
AFTER TREATMENT
After June 1999, the former school teacher made a few more drastic changes to her lifestyle.
In an effort to take off the excess weight (most of which settled around her mid section) she rejoined the gym and got a
personal trainer.
She also made significant changes to her diet, eliminating meat, except fish, and most diary products. She has a small amount of cheese on occasions. She has also introduced more fibre to her diet and reduced her intake of refined sugar and flour.
"I listened to a doctor speak on a study done on the recurrence of cancer. What he said helped to
convince me that if I stick to a diet free of certain things it would build up my immune system and keep me free from cancer. I cut out things that I thought were destructive." She gradually lost the excess weight.
THE ATTITUDE
"Exercise is a part of me," she explained. "The gym is my favourite pastime. I do not put it off for many things. It motivates me. I like the fact that I can work out and manage and control my weight and fitness level. I feel motivated to know that I can still look this physically fit at my age.
"Exercise is a good way to not think about whatever is bothering you. It relaxes you, you just feel better afterwards.
"By getting over cancer I have proven to myself that it all depends on the attitude you have. You can't just sit back and feel bad that you've got cancer. You need to fight and say here I am.
"Apart from death there isn't anything else that would make me feel worse than being diagnosed with breast cancer. I am a stronger person now. With the help of God I have overcome. I know now that there's nothing you cannot achieve if you have faith."
