Luanne’s Story, Fundraising
I started dragon boat racing while working at Merrill Lynch. Just out of curiosity about Chinese culture, I attended the “Lunch and Learn” session organized by the Pacific Asian American employee group to gauge employee interest in forming a corporate sponsored dragon boat team. About 300 people were there, most a lot younger than me. Even though I was 55 years and had never participated in any organized sport, I was intrigued. This looked like fun! Only about 80 people showed up for the next meeting. I was definitely the oldest woman in the room. I recall how anxious I was at the first practice. Would I even get a chance to paddle? What a team we were! Young, old, every nationality, size, and shape! The Merrill Dragons were “diversity in action” and I loved it! We practiced at Mercer Lake with Ellen Law, the same woman who coaches the Machestic Dragons and we shared the Machestics’ equipment. Sometimes we would even race again each other. As the oldest woman and the second oldest team member, I was determined to build my strength so that I could “hold my own” in the boat. I was working out every day during lunch at the ML Fitness Center and going to Jazzercise three nights a week, in addition to attending dragon boat practices. I even entered the Wall St. Run for Heart Disease in May. I was stronger, had lost weight, was eating right, and was in the best shape I had ever been in my life! The Merrill Dragons had a very respectable first season culminating in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races in Flushing, NY on August 4-5. We won our very first heat by more than 2 boat lengths. It was the longest distance we had ever raced in competition! The adrenaline rush was intense and I had never felt so alive. Even though we didn’t come home with any medals, we were all very proud of our overall performance.
A week later I was in the ER complaining of sharp pains deep in my neck whenever I exerted myself aerobically. An EKG, echocardiogram, and a regular stress test didn’t show any problems. My blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol numbers were all well within the “desirable” range, I had never smoked and there was no family history of heart disease. I didn’t fit the heart disease risk profile so I was dismissed by my cardiologists. It took several weeks for me to convince these doctors that this was angina and not heartburn, gall bladder, etc. They finally agreed to order a nuclear stress test that showed there was some kind of problem. A cardiac catherization revealed I had several very significant blockages in my LAD and Left Circumflex coronary arteries. The doctors were speechless. They didn’t know how I was even walking around much less paddling in a dragon boat! I had 4 stents put in my heart. Dragon Boat racing had not prevented me from developing heart disease but I am convinced that it prevented me from dying from it. Still, I was very angry and felt betrayed by my body.
When I was laid off from Merrill Lynch I lost my place on the team. I was devastated. Ellen Law suggested I join the Machestic Dragons. I had not realized that the MDs accepted “supporters” (i.e. non-BC survivors) on their team. What a wonderful group of women these were. They welcomed me warmly and I was no longer the oldest female in the boat to be sure! What struck me the most was the different sense of purpose on the Machestic boat versus the Merrill boat. In the Machestic boat we are there to race, but also to heal, both physically and spiritually. We are all there to become strong, both physically and psychologically. I am constantly in awe of my teammates when I learn of their personal battles with breast cancer. There is no self-pity. They are passed the anger. They have learned to accept and love their bodies and move on. Although I am not a breast cancer survivor, I am very committed to my teammates and mission of the Machestic Dragons and their partner, the Princeton Breast Cancer Resource Center, and am very honored to be the first non-survivor named to the Machestic Dragon’s Board of Directors, responsible for Fundraising. I continue to battle heart disease and feel that belonging to the Machestic Dragons is a huge part of my defense against this chronic disease. Becoming a Machestic Dragon has made a tremendous difference in my life. – Luanne Arico
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