"It just helps meeting other women like yourself," says Ferraro, who underwent a bilateral mastectomy after being diagnosed in 2012, and weathered a year of both chemo and radiation therapy.

She chose a C4R retreat over hospital support groups and loved it in 2014.

"Having something to laugh about is a coping mechanism," Ferraro said.

Yes, she was nervous when she arrived and saw chairs in a circle and a big box of tissues. "I thought, 'I'm not sharing.'" But because the group is so intimate — it's limited to 14 people — "you end up opening up eventually" to the emotional upheaval of your malignancies after getting to know people through workshops.

Former Mt. Lebanon resident Gerrie Delaney, who attended a retreat in 2016 after being diagnosed with two tumors in 2014, agrees the group discussions were healing in a way she never expected.

After a cancer diagnosis, "you're kind of numb," she says. Even saying the word "cancer" was hard. "I'd just break down."

The sense of community she found through Casting For Recovery helped dry many of the 67-year-old's tears.

"At first I thought, 'What am I doing here? I'm not an outdoorswoman, and I'm definitely not a fisherwoman,'" Delaney says.

Yet the experiences the women shared and the things she learned about being outdoors changed her whole perspective.

"It wasn't just intense talking about cancer," Delaney says. "We talked about everything from family to sex lives to how [being diagnosed] changed and affected us. It was just so beautifully done.

"I was so much calmer and happier. I felt like I wasn't alone."

Giving back

Sturgeon agrees the bonding and connections the ladies make over the weekend because of their shared experiences are priceless. Many, in fact, take up fishing seriously after a retreat.

Ferraro, who is still on endocrine treatment but in remission, bought used equipment after her retreat and now fishes regularly around North Park, Pine Creek and Volant. She's also gone on fly fishing trips with other participants to Montana, Utah and Tennessee. Kapalka and Delaney also have become dedicated fly fishers

"It's the calm of being on the water," says Ferraro. "You don't have to hurry up and the worst thing that can happen is to not get a fish."

Some participants have such a life-changing experience that they want to give back and end up becoming volunteers. Ferraro stepped in as a sub with two days' notice in 2016 when a staff member had a family emergency. This year, she'll join Kapalka — who started volunteering in 2014 — as an instructor.

Now a resident of South Carolina, Delaney is also an enthusiastic C4R cheerleader program who spreads the word at fundraisers and events such as health fairs. "I want to pay it forward," she says.

They have good company in lead fly casting instructor Gretchen Fay of Shaler, who runs the nonprofit Stephen Foster Community Center in Lawrenceville whenever she isn't on the water.

An avid outdoorswoman who skis, rock climbs and kayaks, Fay started fishing about 15 years ago to maintain her connection to the outdoors during retirement. She became interested in volunteering with Casting For Recovery after reading (and loving) "Time is a River" by Mary Alice Monroe.

Still relatively new to the sport when she started volunteering in 2010, "I thought it would enhance my skills as a teacher and connect me with people I was sure I'd admire," she says. "And that's exactly what happened."

Every year, she meets different women going through this terrible time, "and they're so strong and courageous and brave," Fay says. "They're such an inspiration and it's just very emotional."

'A spiritual experience'

Fay teaches the Joan Wulff method of fly fishing, which is anchored on a correct grip of the fly rod and proper use of the shoulder, arm and wrist to achieve the perfect cast. The women also learn how to read the weather to see where the fish might be and how to "match the hatch" with flies that mimic aquatic insects in various stages.

Once they catch a fish, they also set the hook, then handle the fish very gently in a catch-and-release that returns it to the water unharmed. "It's a spiritual experience for the ladies," Fay says.

Not to mention that it's good for them physically.

The trauma of surgery can cause tightness in the chest and limit arm and shoulder mobility. The action of casting, Fay says, helps stretch soft tissue and build up arm muscle.

"Just wading in the water helps them use muscles they haven't used before" because it's such a balancing act, she says. For those with mobility issues because of neuropathy, volunteers put their wheelchairs right in the water, "and we're right next to them making them stable."

After they fish on Sunday morning, participants receive a certificate and other mementos and river guides share a few words about their time on the water. There are always lots of tears, along with the sharing of pictures, promises to stay in touch and vows to keep fishing.

Breast cancer offers immediate entrance into a sisterhood you don't ever want to belong to, says Fay. But the friendships survivors make at C4R retreats with women who completely get it is incredibly special

"They come in on Friday night not knowing anyone, and they don't know us, and I swear within 15 minutes there is a connection," she says. "It just blows my mind."

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