Contribution beyond Tocher’s (2005) How to Ride a Dragon

A reflection on Tocher’s (2005) book How to Ride a Dragon is needed since she provides readers with individual stories of 22 women with breast cancer, including stories of their diagnosis with breast cancer, how breast cancer has impacted their personal lives, and how the women became involved in breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams.

Tocher’s (2005) book is unique since she focuses only on dragon boating and provides insight into how the women overcome their struggles with breast cancer by participating in breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams. My work contributes beyond Tocher’s (2005) book How to Ride a Dragon, for three reasons: (1) Study 1 focused on the body image experiences of breast cancer survivors’ participating in CIBC Run for the Cure 5k, (2), Study 1 and Study 2 both provided depth to the constructs of body image and

camaraderie in breast cancer survivors and endurance sporting events, and (3) Study 2 used camaraderie narratives to focus on a group perspectives of breast cancer survivors participating in dragon boating.

First, in Tocher’s (2005) book she only focused on dragon boating and was limited in the scope of discussion related to breast cancer survivors’ body image experiences specifically. The women in Tocher’s (2005) book discussed their body image experiences in regards to their breast cancer diagnosis, surgeries, and treatments.

Furthermore, she talked about how the women felt after their surgeries and treatments and their body-related changes from cancer. Specifically, the women discussed a loss of femininity from losing breasts and scarring from surgeries. Tocher’s (2005) book also stated that body image was an important part of the women’s shared experiences in dragon boating. My work extends beyond Tocher’s (2005) in that I explored the body image experiences of breast cancer survivors’ in CIBC Run for the Cure 5k. The theme

“new normal” was similar to Tocher’s description of the women getting used to body-related changes from cancer surgeries and treatments. However, the women in my Study

1 stated that the “new normal” also consisted of participating in different physical activities, such as the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k. The women reported that participation in dragon boat prompted their interest in training and running the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k since it was a different endurance sport that also promoted breast cancer awareness.

Goal setting was also important to the women’s body image experiences in Study 1 since the women set goals that specifically focused on eating healthy, staying fit, and

controlling their body shape. The women stated that setting goals allowed them to feel better about themselves, improve their body image, and promoted a healthy lifestyle. For the women, endurance sports such as CIBC Run for the Cure 5k was a means to

accomplish body image goals that led to positive body image experiences, and improved their health and quality of life. My work goes beyond Tocher’s discussion since the women in my study specifically stated that the “new normal” included participating in endurance sports such as CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and dragon boating. Further, the women also stated that goal setting improved their body image since they achieved their body image goals through hard work and dedication that resulted in feeling better about themselves, preventing cancer reoccurrence, and enhancing their health and quality of life. In addition to goal setting, camaraderie was a salient theme in the women’s body image experiences since the support of other women allowed them to focus on their physical capabilities, accept their bodies, and create an overall body image experience in the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k. For the women in my study, camaraderie consisted of the shared experience of breast cancer experiences and social support that led to acceptance of their bodies and body-related changes that resulted from cancer. The women in my study had developed camaraderie with the other women during training and participation in the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k that helped them to improve or maintain their body image while providing hope and support for breast cancer awareness. My work extended beyond Tocher’s (2005) in that the women in her book briefly discussed camaraderie in their dragon boat experiences, but did not explicitly explain what camaraderie is or the role of camaraderie in their body image experiences. Overall, Study 1 demonstrated that breast cancer survivors participated in endurance sporting events associated with breast cancer for many reasons, including the camaraderie and positive body image experiences.

Second, I explored the intersection between body image and camaraderie in the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and dragon boating. In Tocher’s (2005) book, she only focused on dragon boating and briefly discussed body image and camaraderie. Study 1 and Study 2 focused specifically on body image and camaraderie where as Tocher’s (2005) book discussed the women’s breast cancer diagnosis, stories of their personal lives, and how they started dragon boating. My work informed Tocher’s (2005) by describing the relationship between the camaraderie and body image experiences for the women involved in both the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and a season of dragon boating.

In Study 1 and Study 2, camaraderie was found to be the motivating force that created overall positive body image experiences for the women. Specifically, camaraderie enabled the women to share and understand each other’s body image experiences throughout their training for the CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and a season of dragon boating. Since both endurance sports were found to be natural, comfortable, and safe environments, the women in Study 1 and Study 2 engaged in discussions on body-related changes from cancer that helped them to accepted their bodies and moved beyond their breast cancer experiences. Further, the camaraderie found in CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and dragon boating fulfilled the women’s physical, emotional, and social needs that contributed to their positive body image experiences. My work informs Tocher’s (2005) since the women in her book only discussed their body image experiences in regards to their breast cancer diagnosis, surgeries, and treatments and did not explicitly explain what camaraderie is nor the importance of camaraderie in their body image experiences and participation in dragon boating experiences.

Third, Study 2 focused on a group perspective to represent the women’s

camaraderie experiences. Tocher’s (2005) book consisted of individual women’s stories weaved together to tell stories of their breast cancer diagnoses, personal lives, and how they began dragon boating. A similar approach had been used in Parry’s (2007) work on breast cancer survivors’ and their lives after breast cancer in dragon boating. Parry’s findings included stories on the women’s diagnosis with breast cancer and how they became involved in breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams. My work extended beyond Tocher’s (2005) and Parry’s (2007) since it was the first research project to date that had used camaraderie narratives (e.g., collective narrative) in breast cancer survivor and

dragon boating. The camaraderie experiences were written collectively to represent all of the women’s voices. I wrote the findings of Study 2 with the intention to draw readers into team stories that demonstrated what camaraderie consisted of for the women and what camaraderie look liked when they were at practices and dragon boat festivals.

Specifically, I wrote five team stories that provided depth into the five themes: attention please, paddles up, take it away, hold the boat, and reach that represented the

camaraderie experiences for the women. Furthermore, the team stories were unique to Tocher and Parry’s since I provided more detail and depth into reasons why the women were attracted to dragon boat racing, common bond, friendship, social support, and personal strength, where as Tocher and Parry focused on breast cancer diagnoses and how the women began dragon boating. Thus, my work illustrated the importance of the five themes in the women’s camaraderie experiences and their participation in dragon boating. It was important to choose an approach that worked best for the women and their voices to adequately represent the depth of the five themes found in their

camaraderie experiences. In addition, Study 1 and Study 2 extended beyond Tocher’s (2005) book, since I explored the body image experiences of breast cancer survivors in CIBC Run for the Cure 5k and their camaraderie experiences in a season of dragon boating. Taken together, both studies demonstrated that body image and camaraderie are important aspects to breast cancer survivors’ participation in endurance sports.