“It’s huge,” said Becky Cochran, 73, of Oakwood. “And there were plenty of doctors and nurses who told me that, too. ‘You’re not overweight and you work out.’”
Cochran, a retired professor from the University of Dayton School of Law, found herself surrounded by medical professionals in Spring 2022 after the avid walker was hit by a car in a neighborhood intersection.
“My left leg didn’t look right. But I just kept thinking … I wasn’t thrown any distance. There’s no bleeding or scratches. This can be fixed, right?”
X-rays showed her left femur, the body’s largest bone, was split. Doctors recommended surgery and a titanium rod to knit the bone pieces together. After surgery, she would need a walker then a cane for many months.
“No,” thought Cochran.
In three months, she was scheduled to officiate at her son’s wedding.
“I have to be able to stand without a cane,” she said.
Jackie Rusek Zofkie had plenty of time to recover but a tougher prognosis. In 2014, just before Christmas, the Centerville resident was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive lobular breast cancer that began deep in the milk-producing glands. Mammograms had initially missed it.
By the end of February 2015, she had undergone bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction surgery that included the removal of 49 lymph nodes.
After two days in the hospital, Zofkie was home. But the fitness buff, who for decades had worked out religiously and ate healthy meals, was in pain “comparable to childbirth” and her left arm looked disfigured and swollen. Pain pills made her nauseous. Since nine lymph nodes showed cancer cells, doctors recommended 35 radiation treatments and six rounds of chemotherapy.
“I know what it feels like to be overwhelmed,” Zofkie said.
But now, 10 years later, Zofkie is 60 and still cancer-free.
Three years after her accident, Cochran regularly travels to Columbus to help with her two “very active” grandchildren. Both women said that moderate, regular exercise — and the community it provided — was vital to their recovery.
Cochran began her return to fitness in rehab a few days after surgery. She leaned on her walker and hobbled up and down the halls of the rehab facility. After two weeks in rehab, she made laps around her kitchen at home even though her leg muscles ached.
Her son and his fiancé included her in the wedding planning, but Cochran said she often felt isolated. For more than eight years, she had worked with local trainer Chase Meade. Her husband, Jim Guthrie, also worked out with Meade, who now owns Coreplex Fitness Center at 1228 E. Stroop Road in Kettering.
She missed it.
“When you go to a place like a studio, there are high school kids, college kids and older couples,” she said. “Everyone is very supportive of each other. They share stories about how they recovered.”
Meade sent dumbbells home with Guthrie, and Cochran started arm exercises while sitting. Her physical therapist gave her a list of home exercises, and Meade complimented the list with added exercises to improve her recovery.
Two months after her accident, Cochran was back to the studio on a cane, working with Meade to stretch her hip flexor muscles.
“Chase knew I was set on attending that wedding,” she said.
Zofkie was sure she didn’t need additional fitness help. She had always attended local classes — from aerobics to Zumba — before her surgery. After one round of chemo, she decided to forego additional rounds and radiation for a more naturalistic approach. She worked with a team of holistic practitioners, including specialists in reflexology, homeopathy, nutrition and psychotherapy.
The cancer stayed away. But Zofkie said that after several years and regular exercise classes, she still hadn’t regained upper body strength. Her son, Nick, an established trainer in California, urged her to seek one-on-one help. “Mom, you need to do that.”
“I was intimidated. Is he going to hurt me?” Zofkie said about when Nick suggested she contact Meade. “I always had women instructors. But I trusted God, and I trusted my son. He knows me.”
Meade told Zofkie he would research her condition so he could personalize a program just for her recovery. “And we started very slowly, just one day a week,” Zofkie said. “We started on range of motion with very low weight, like two pounds. We allowed my body to set the pace.”
Progress didn’t come overnight, Zofkie admits, but soon Meade was adding strength bands or additional weight and increasing the repetitions — attainable goals to motivate her.
“Chase made me want to push my body. I felt very empowered,” said Zofkie.
Other clients at the fitness center noticed her determination.
“You learn everyone’s name. After a while, someone I didn’t know well was cheering me on. ‘C’mon, Jackie. You got this.’”
Today, wedding pictures show Cochran standing tall next to her son — no cane, just a smile. She is back to working out 30 minutes, five days a week at Coreplex Fitness. Zofkie’s holistic and fitness journey has evolved into her chapter two career. She is now a holistic cancer coach and integrative nutrition health coach at best4uhealth.com She helps others balance good body and mind practices to better fight illness.
Zofkie has expanded her time at Coreplex Fitness to three, 30-minute sessions a week. Like Cochran, she believes the one-on-one attention to her specific fitness requirements—plus the social interaction—is motivating, so motivating she is now training to be a certified cancer exercise specialist.
“We’re building a community here,” said Meade. His team of trainers and the onsite physical therapist incorporate fun social aspects into Coreplex so regular clients can get to know each other. Do you know the “word of the day?” Clients also answer the regular whiteboard questions such as “What’s your favorite movie?”
“You don’t have to have athletic ability to get more fit,” Zofkie noted. Her 95-year-old mother has also joined Coreplex. “You can still find ways to help your body move. You don’t have to be a body builder to build up your body.”
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