LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is a free 12-week program designed to help cancer survivors reclaim their strength and health.

Sessions are rotated throughout the year at Greater Wichita YMCA branches, and there’s absolutely no cost to attend. Donations to the Y’s Strong Community Campaign ensure that individuals at any point in their cancer journey have access to this life-changing program that includes physical activity (cardiovascular conditioning, strength training, balance and flexibility exercises) and emotional support from individuals on similar journeys.

Hearing from participants about why they joined LIVESTRONG and the incredible results they experienced brings an even deeper understanding of the profound impact the program has on individuals.

We received this letter from Kenna Morrison, a Spring 2023 LIVESTRONG at the YMCA participant at the West YMCA, and are sharing her words with you to both encourage and inspire:

In 2019, I was diagnosed with stage 1 ER/PR+, Her2(+) breast cancer. The tumor began growing while I was pregnant but went undiagnosed until 6 months postpartum. I did the full range of treatments -- chemo, surgery and radiation -- all while caring for a newborn. A year later, in the fall of 2020, I got my NED report, went off some of the medications and life began to feel normal again. But after a while, like a year or so, I started experiencing excruciating pain in my side. Talked to my doctor, ran some tests and it was confirmed that the same breast cancer had come back in my liver. So here we go again! It didn’t require radiation or surgery, only chemo so I knew the drill. That second diagnosis came in the spring of 2022 and in the fall of 2022, after all the mean chemo was done, I knew that I needed to be doing more with my health and fitness. My daughter was 2½  years old and FULL of energy. I...was...not.

I came across a flyer for LIVESTRONG at the YMCA as I was cleaning one day and decided to sign up. My original intention was to just get my butt off the couch and move my body for the sake of trying to keep up with my little girl, but quickly discovered it had much more to offer me.

I always had a very supportive family, friends, and church family through everything. I truly thought I had it all covered, and I was good. I never felt like I needed a specific cancer support group. But when you start telling people about your diagnosis or treatments or medications, the majority of people just don’t understand what you’re saying. When I started coming to my LIVESTRONG at the YMCA group, I quickly realized that this group of people were different.

For the first time, I could talk openly about my cancer stuff with all the scientific terminology and be candid about the side effects, and THEY UNDERSTOOD. These people were in, or had been in, that boat too.  And it felt so refreshing!

LIVESTRONG has been impactful for me in not only helping me get back into exercise and moving my body, but it’s given me a community of people who speak my same language, who understand me, what I’ve gone through, and continue to go through.

The last four years of my life have been really hard. It has been a season of suffering but there’s been a lot of joy and blessing in it too. Ever since I got that phone call when they first told me that I had cancer, I’ve been very intentional about looking for God in it because I knew that He was with me and that there was purpose in it, something to be learned.

It has been in this season of suffering that:

• I’ve experienced more freedom and growth and transformation than I ever have before
• My faith and my hope has been strengthened more than it ever has before
• I’ve clung to Jesus and grown closer to God more than I ever have before and so much more! 

Even as painful as it has been and no matter how long it lasts, I truly thank God for this season.

I still get maintenance treatment every 3 weeks. 

I still get a shot in my ovaries every month. 

I still take oral medication.

I still get regular blood work taken, MRI scans, PET scans and echocardiograms. 

All the things because I’m not yet out of the woods. I keep moving forward putting more and more of my hope in Jesus, my true Healer.

Thank you for letting me share my story with you all and becoming part of my story.

–  Kenna Morrison