(Photo submitted) Spencer native Wendy Rahn has just released "Celebrate Strength: A Fitness DVD Made For and By Breast Cancer Survivors." The DVD features members of Survivors' Studio, the fitness studio Rahn opened for female cancer survivors Feb. 7 in White Bear Lake, Minn.

A 1980 Spencer High School graduate is not only ready to shout that regular exercise after a breast cancer diagnosis reduces a person's risk of dying, she's chosen to exercise to the research-based message on a DVD.

Wendy Rahn, the daughter of John and Mary Rahn of Spencer, found a lump in her breast while putting a swimsuit on at her parent's home during the summer of 2006. After undergoing a mammogram and ultrasound and being "cleared" by a radiologist, Rahn said the lump was still present three months later.

Following a Nov. 1, 2006 breast cancer diagnosis, Rahn underwent a bilateral mastectomy on Nov. 24, 2006.

"I decided I didn't want to spend my life getting mammograms every three months or MRIs, or waiting for the other shoe to drop. My surgeon was definitely supportive of my decision to have both breasts removed," she said Tuesday morning.

While recovering from surgery and beginning the process of reconstruction, Rahn spent a lot of time reading medical journals. Her research guided her back to exercise -- something she'd given up a decade earlier.

"I had this idea to make the DVD from the get go," Rahn recalled. "I had been working with a trainer, and was feeling so good and really wanted to get the message out to other women. So, I sent her an e-mail in April of '06. It said, 'Sandra, I think we should make a DVD.' That's how everything got started."

Wendy Rahn

Sandra Swami, the personal trainer she'd sent the e-mail to, is one of two trainers featured in Survivors' Training DVD, "Celebrate Strength: A Fitness DVD Made For and By Breast Cancer Survivors." The other is Cathy Skinner, a trainer for Survivors' Studio, the fitness studio Rahn opened for female cancer survivors Feb. 7 in White Bear Lake, Minn. The studio focuses on exercises such as yoga, pilates and Nia.

Things, meanwhile, continued to fall in place for Rahn to craft a DVD.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure local affiliate sent out a request for proposals last fall. Realizing this would be her most promising source of funding, Rahn formed Survivors' Training, a non-profit organization created to "raise awareness of the importance of exercise for cancer survivorship and to promote regular physical activity as an essential therapy for those diagnosed with cancer." The Minnesota-based Survivors' Training was legally chartered on July 5, 2007.

Rahn also aligned herself with the Melpomene Institute, another women's health organization in the Twin Cities. Today, the institute is assisting her with distribution of the DVD to various places.

In the meantime, Rahn met a woman in her neighborhood who runs Seraphim Communications, a small media production company.

"I approached them about being the studio to produce the DVD, and in July we filmed a great bulk of the DVD," Rahn said.

Survivors' Training's "Celebrate Strength: A Fitness DVD Made For and By Breast Cancer Survivors" guides people through a beginning, intermediate and advanced workout. In addition to its three stages of exercise, the DVD also includes a few extras, such as a segment on tai chi, endorsements by oncologists, clips from a cast party at Rahn's home, and a conversation with Rahn and the two other trainers featured in it.

"It's not something they're going to just watch once. It has some shelf life," Rahn said of the DVD and its potential viewers. "Hopefully they'll keep at it and get stronger and then move onto the next segment."

As Rahn is currently distributing free copies to cancer centers in Minnesota, as well as to Abben Cancer Center in Spencer, she's hoping interest in the Survivors' Training DVD as a resource will grow nationwide.

"The grant allows us to distribute these free copies, but they're going very fast," she said. "We're hoping that other cancer centers around the country will be interested in purchasing copies and giving one to every patient -- because it contains a lot of valuable information about the research on cancer and exercise, and how important it is for breast cancer survivors. Not only for their immediate quality of life, but there's also lots of strong research in the medical journals that cancer survivors who exercise regularly after their cancer diagnosis have much, much better survival chances than cancer survivors who don't exercise."

* Rahn, who will mark her 47th birthday on Oct. 21, is happy to report "there's no obvious evidence of the disease" today. Her DVD will be sold via her non-profit organization's Web site -- http://survivorstraining.org -- beginning in November.

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More about the DVD creator

Wendy Rahn is an associate professor in the department of political science and an adjunct associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota. Before joining Minnesota's faculty in 1995, she held faculty positions at Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin and Duke University.

Rahn's research interests include the role of emotions in political thinking and behavior, citizen participation in politics, the origins and consequences of political and social trust, and national identity. Her articles have appeared in places such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Communication.

This social scientist, a breast cancer survivor, also serves as president of Survivors' Training, which she started in an effort to close the gap between the research findings and everyday reality for women living with a cancer diagnosis. For more on the non-profit organization Rahn created to help fellow survivors improve their well-being, physical function and odds of surviving cancer, visit: http://survivorstraining.org.