Fly fishing helps breast cancer survivors cast out fear

Healing connections

Headquartered in Montana, Casting for Recovery was founded in 1996 in Manchester, Vermont, by a breast cancer reconstructive surgeon and a professional fly fisher as a catalyst for healing.

Nearly 30 years later, it has grown into one of the nation's leading quality-of-life programs for women with breast cancer with the help of national sponsors such as Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's Outdoor Fund, Orvis, Yeti and other foundations and corporations.

The nonprofit has served more than 12,000 women at nearly 900 retreats since its start, and this year will host 60 retreats for more than 800 women, including one for Western Pennsylvania residents on May 17-19 at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion. (Participants were selected in March.) In 2016, it also launched a retreat program exclusively for women with metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer.

Any woman, at any age and in any stage of breast cancer can apply to the program, which combines counseling, medical information and fly fishing to build a focus on wellness instead of illness, says Western Pennsylvania program coordinator Marci Sturgeon. Participants are chosen by a random lottery, and can always apply again if they come up short the first time, as many do.

One of the retreat's main appeals is that it is held outdoors in the fresh air. Or as survivor Tammy Ferraro of Adams explains: "It was just something new and unique and interesting."

Many women are reluctant to attend traditional support groups for fear of hearing too many bad stories, agrees Sturgeon. Baring your soul in a sterile setting such as a hospital or community center meeting room can also be off-putting. But navigating the challenges of cancer while surrounded by nature?

"It's so much more therapeutic on the stream or water with the sun and air than in an office setting," Sturgeon says.

Some of participants, understandably, are very nervous before arriving because they've never even gone camping, let alone picked up a fishing pole. Many are angry or sad about having cancer or what happened to them during treatment, or filled with anxiety about the future.

When you're on the water, retreat attendees say you can allow yourself to let go.

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