Adios to August as we showcase another Reel Healing blog. Each month, CfR will highlight a health and wellness volunteer that serves one of our many programs including, psychosocial facilitators, medical facilitators, nutritionists and more. Meet Pam Sasser, a Registered Nurse and Breast Cancer Nurse Navigator, who has served many CfR retreats in Montana. Read more below about her role at a CfR retreat and how it provides “reel” healing for breast cancer survivors and thrivers.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you became involved with Casting for Recovery.

Hi, I’m Pam Sasser, Registered Nurse with St Peter’s Health in Helena, Montana. I’ve been in the medical field for thirty years- ranging from a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy, to my current role as a Breast Cancer Nurse Navigator. I have been working as a Nurse Navigator for the past ten years, and I am a certified Oncology Nurse Navigator. 

I heard about Casting for Recovery (CfR) through my job, but I truly did not understand, nor appreciate, the full benefit of CfR until I was asked to be a Medical Facilitator for the Southwestern Montana retreat. Now it has become one of my highlights that I look forward to every year. *On a side note, I have become an avid fisherwoman because of CfR. 

As an Oncology Nurse Navigator who volunteers at CfR retreats, why do you believe the mental health component at the retreat is so beneficial and/or necessary?

Casting for Recovery has so many components intertwined in the retreats; they all serve an important role in healing, and adapting to life after breast cancer. The mental health component is extremely vital. Some women have never talked about their diagnosis to anyone outside of their medical team, or maybe they’ve never had an opportunity to just focus on themselves. A lot of women have never attended a support group, or really shared much about their experience living with breast cancer. 

The retreat promotes a safe and relaxing atmosphere. This allows women the freedom and vulnerability to share their experiences, ask questions and sometimes just cry without any judgment or fear of what others will think. It also allows these women to help each other and provide a sense of belonging that they might not experience back home.

What sort of mental health topics do you find participants ask most often about during the retreat?  

Most conversations seem to focus around the fear of recurrence, and body image issues. Sexual health, survivorship and relationship struggles also come up a lot. 

What are some of the most transformative things based around mental health that you have witnessed with retreat participants – as a group and/or individually?

The sense of relief that so many women express is monumental. They are relieved to have a weekend to themselves. Many women live in rural Montana and don’t have support groups or friends/neighbors that have gone through a breast cancer diagnosis. Other’s have kept their diagnosis to themselves and the CfR retreat might be the first time they’ve talked about having breast cancer.  

I’ve witnessed some of my own patients shed layers of stress once they enter the retreat and open up and share things that sometimes they didn’t even know they were holding onto. Some participants literally transform before our eyes as they discover a new strength and a new sense of empowerment. Some women expressed they were afraid to talk to their doctor or ask certain questions, but have gained the confidence to take control of their own health after attending a retreat.  

On the whole, why do you refer some of your patients/clients to CfR retreats? Why do you think the retreats are beneficial to women who have experienced breast cancer?

I find the retreats to be truly life changing for so many women. In fact, I give a CfR flyer to all of my patients and encourage them to apply.

For some, it’s a complete reset after finishing treatment. For others, it’s learning a new lifestyle/skill. Some participants are no longer able to go on big hikes like they once did and felt as if their options were limited, but learning about fly fishing and its benefits has given them another option to get outside with a newfound love for nature, the outdoors and the calmness of the healing waters.  It’s amazing to see women come to the retreat as complete strangers, and leave as friends. Some women blossom right before our eyes, and the way they support and lift one another up is profoundly magical.