Cancer Care

How to Gain Mobility, Strength, and Confidence in Life Again
The Pink Ribbon Program Employs the Power of Pilates to Uniquely Address the Issues that Breast Cancer Survivors Face…and Achieves Phenomenal Results

Dealing with the crushing news of having breast cancer is a half the battle. The other half is getting through the recommended treatments and embracing life again. You’re physically and mentally zapped. Few women know the secret to getting back to 100 percent again, and one woman is on a mission to change that.

When Doreen Puglisi founded the non-profit Pink Ribbon Program (www.PinkRibbonProgram.com), she aimed to do more than create the best post-operative exercise program for women who’d faced breast cancer. She wanted to offer what no one else could: strength, self-esteem, and quality of life. With a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science, she first recognized the need for a specialized program in 1998 when she was helping patients get back on track. But then her own experience with breast cancer put her—and her ideas—to the test. This personal experience has helped Doreen to truly understand and reshape the Pink Ribbon Program, as well as the need to reach all breast cancer survivors. Today, she is transforming what it means to recover from breast cancer, and her revolutionary program based on Pilates is paving the way for how everyone—doctors and physical therapists combined—view the road back to wellness.

“In today’s fast-paced medical world, you don’t get the one-on-one care you really need once you’re done with surgery and are sent home,” Puglisi says. “My mission is not only to show women how to reclaim their physical health again, but also to prove how a specialized program like this can improve breast cancer survival. It rehabilitates the body, the mind, and the spirit.”

The Pink Ribbon Program offers three phases, each lasting two to four weeks. It helps women:

Regain strength and mobility in affected areas;
Retrain musculature of the upper body;
Improve self-confidence;
Reduce feelings of depression;
Decrease stress and tension while increase energy; and
Enhance physical and mental well-being.

Puglisi’s results with women in her Fairfield, New Jersey studio are nothing short of astounding, but she knows it’s impossible to reach every woman around the world. This is why the Doreen created a Certification Program enabling Pilates instructors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and nurses to be trained in her method. She trains healthcare providers nationwide and travels to anyone willing to host her two-day certification program.

“While everyone agrees Pilates can give you a leaner, stronger body, it also has therapeutic and mental benefits that demand concentration and focus—keys to feeling like you’re back in control again.” Pilates also happens to be one of the more versatile forms of exercise. Nearly everyone can practice it to some degree and tailor it to her body’s needs. Pilates actually has its roots in recovery circles, first created by Joseph Pilates during World War I to improve the rehabilitation of returning veterans.

Featured in numerous industry publications, including Fitness Expert and Women and Cancer, the Pink Ribbon Program is changing lives one breast cancer patient at a time. A program like this is bound to flourish. Just recently, scientists linked exercise to living longer, reversing the aging process, and even helping women survive breast cancer. With Puglisi’s guiding light, the Program will change how every woman thinks about recovering from breast cancer and reclaiming her quality of life.

To learn more about the Pink Ribbon Program or Doreen Puglisi, visit www.pinkribbonprogram.com or contact me at The Idea Network.