This pink packs power
BY ROY M. WALLACK The pink has a way of standing out. If you attend a dragon boat competition or festival around L.A., you can almost always expect to see a group of competitors in pink. Dragon boating has developed a niche following among many who are fighting breast cancer: It’s a way to rebuild upper body strength and a symbol of what it takes to conquer the disease. One competitor, Patti Carey Floren, a San Diego teacher who competes with Team Survivor San Diego, told Roy M. Wallack why she’s drawn to the fiercely decorated watercrafts:
My journey has been long and I’ve been through the wringer. The last 17 years, since I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2000, I’ve been through chemo three times, radiation, several surgeries, lost all my hair twice. But people live with a lot of things — diabetes, HIV — and I live with this. It’s not easy. But I raised five kids, traveled and had a great life. And I’m going to keep doing the things I enjoy — like dragon boating every Sunday morning with a team of breast cancer survivors.
There were so many things to concentrate on. How the paddle blade enters the water. How to hold your shoulder and twist your torso to pull across your body, since you stroke on one side of the boat. The big one: Staying in time with your teammates; everyone’s paddle goes in and out of the water at
the same time. That wasn’t hard — it’s choreographed like dancing.
I thought I’d be all crazy with my paddle, hitting people in the head. But I could do this! I drove home the first day and told my husband, “I can’t wait to do this again.”
I haven’t missed a Sunday. We’re out there a couple hours. A coach in front calls out commands and there’s a steers-person in the back. After an hour, we switch sides, so you work right-left equally.
In late July, we went to the Dragon Boat Festival in Long Beach. A highlight was the Survivor’s Ceremony with other Team Survivors. We paddled out to Marine Stadium in Naples, lined the boats up side by side, put our arms out and held together. They passed out roses. It was all about what it means to have survived … and think about those who didn’t. A lot of emotion for everybody. I was just taking it in, not thinking of my own life journey, how unlikely at times it seemed that I’d make it to 60.
The fact that I am 60 and out there paddling 50 strokes in a row with other women is hugely empowering. I’m conquering some fears. I’ve never been afraid of water, but I don’t have a lot of physical confidence. When I was a kid, I’d ride my bike with no hands and ride down in the riverbed — now I can’t even believe I did that. Today, I’m getting a little of that confidence back. In fact, my goal is to be in the competitive group by next summer, so I can do some races. I’ll be practicing all winter.
It’s funny how the sport takes over. On the team, we’re all cancer survivors, but it’s an unspoken connection. We don’t spend any time having heart-to-heart talks about it. It’s just, “Get in the boat and paddle.”