Team Survivor Northwest leads hiking adventures for women battling cancer

For Jennifer Dovey of Federal Way, she learned about Team Survivor Northwest (TSNW) from her surgeon about 20 years ago. She had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and had a bilateral mastectomy, but it would be another 10 years before she actually joined up with Team Survivor.

TSNW is a local nonprofit organization that has been offering fitness opportunities for female cancer survivors for nearly 30 years. Co-founded by Seattle-based oncologist Dr. Julie Gralow after she served as a team physician for a group of female cancer survivors training for a triathlon, the organization has grown and is still expanding.

“I was pretty busy with life when I had my initial diagnosis and surgery and long recovery time,” Dovey said, adding that many of the TSNW activities at the time were centered on North King County and the Puget Sound area.

While TSNW offers indoor classes in partnership with local fitness centers and virtual classes, the organization also offers outdoor programs, like its regular mountain climbing adventures, year-round Dragon Boating excursions and seasonal programs like hiking, cycling and walking groups, which begin in the spring.

“It was just untenable to travel up there, you know, and go through traffic, and then I looked at hiking and there was hiking in the south,” Dovey said. “So, you know, I go up to I-90 hiking anyway, so I’m like, ‘This is perfect.’”

Dovey became more involved with TSNW’s hiking excursions, eventually becoming part of the organization’s leadership team and using her hiking and backpacking experience to lead hikes throughout the area. Dovey also said that she gets involved with the organization’s annual retreat.

“It’s so wonderful connecting with all these women,” she said. “There are lots of classes, not only cutting edge treatments and keynote speakers within classes. Walking, hiking, exercise, yoga, sword fighting, dance church, there’s everything. It’s a wonderful experience.”

According to TSNW communications manager Anisa Ishida, the research shows what co-founder Dr. Gralow had observed in the mid-1990s — that even the most mild exercise during and after cancer treatment can reduce side effects, fatigue, depression and recurrence. Since becoming involved with TSNW, Dovey said the local hikes have helped her tremendously.

“Cancer is somewhat of an isolating disease, because you don’t know who’s had it or who hasn’t and not everybody wants to talk about it,” she said. “But you know, when you’re in a group of safe women and you have questions or concerns, or someone else is going through treatment, you can help them. It’s been wonderful.”

The organization’s hiking season lasts from April to September, where hikers get their sea legs (or trail legs, to be literal) by starting off with easier trails with little to no elevation and then moving on up.

“We increase mileage and elevation as we go through the season, with our final hike being the longest and having the most elevation,” Dovey said. “We just finished, did Kendall Katwalk [near Snoqualmie Pass] … 17 miles, or something like that.”

Hikes are also divided into groups, with Wednesday hikes being the standard and Thursday hikes offering less strenuous hikes.

While Dovey’s vast experience with hiking and backpacking has undoubtedly helped the women joining her on the trails, she said that they help her more.

“Just having a listening ear and having walked the path before — I’m quite a few years, you know, post surgery and some women in the hiking group are still in treatment,” she said. “So it has encouraged me when I’m able to talk to somebody who’s been through it and seen a survivor and that it’s not a death sentence.”

For more information on TSNW, call 206-732-8350 or visit teamsurvivornw.org.

Olallie Lake hike with Team Survivor Northwest near Snoqualmie Pass.