About Staying Abreast Staying Abreast, Rehabilitation Exercises for Breast Cancer Surgery, written by Annie Toglia, Medical Exercise Specialist and breast cancer advocate, is scientifically designed to facilitate recovery from surgery and treatments and to improve one's quality of life while fighting or living with breast cancer. The program addresses physical conditions and side effects resulting from the following: mastectomy, lumpectomy, lymph node biopsy, tram flap, lat flap, breast implant reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy. Staying Abreast.com provides an overview of the 111-page book, which is chronologically formatted to assist in the healing process of patients who are recently post surgery or undergoing treatments, and for individuals who are well past physical healing. Its methodology is based on the combined concepts of form, posture and body alignment in dance, the guidelines and theories of sports medicine and fitness rehabilitation, and the principle of periodization (chronologically formatted program design for athletes). In addition to focusing on the upper body, it contains workouts for the lower extremities, abdominal strengthening and spinal stability, weight control, increased bone density, and gentle exercises modified for the side effects of adjuvant treatments. The program introduces originally formulated guidelines as well as 10 pages of practical lifestyle suggestions and fitness information in Exercise Tips...and More. For individuals who cannot access the book or for hospitals and facilities who wish to purchase exercise booklets to distribute to their patients, Staying Abreast has produced 2 fold-out color posters to which hospital logos may be added. The posters - Beginner and Intermediate Level Fitness Guides - contain samplings of exercises and excerpts from Staying Abreast® Guidelines. All other Staying Abreast® printed materials, logos, exercises, and illustrations are protected under international copyright and trademark agreements and therefore cannot be reproduced without fees and legal permissions. Please contact us with your requests.  Contact Staying Abreast® is currently being implemented by hospitals, physical therapy, lymphedema, and cancer centers, and by individuals who are independently managing their own fitness programs. At present, Annie Toglia is consulting with hospitals and organizations to help establish programs based on Staying Abreast at their facilities and will also be presenting her methodology at medical and fitness conferences nationally. (See Events or Audio/Video)  She limits her endorsement of breast cancer fitness programs to therapy provided exclusively by the following practitioners, who have been formally trained in the care of breast cancer patients: physical therapists; nurses; occupational therapists; exercise physiologists; lymphedema therapists certified with a minimum of 120 hours in (CDT) Complex Decongestive Therapy; Medical Exercise Specialists (MES) certified by the American Academy of Health, Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals (AAHFRP); (ACSM) American College of Sports Medicine-certified Personal Trainers and Health - Fitness Instructors; Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS) certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Annie Toglia had been in private practice in the New York area since 1983, specializing in sports medicine personal training. Just prior to her diagnosis in April 1996, she began to fulfill her dream of utilizing her C.S.C.S. certification to train elite athletes and to work with competitive skaters and equestrians. Her volunteer work at the time also included exercise physiology consulting to the U.S. Tennis Association/Junior Division and lecturing on strength and flexibility training for Little League baseball, junior hockey, and rollerblading teams. Since that diagnosis and her initial surgery in 1996 (mastectomy with simultaneous TRAM flap reconstruction) Annie underwent an extensive course of adjuvant treatments, a prophylactic mastectomy with implant reconstruction, multiple recontouring surgeries, CDT lymphedema therapy, and years of intermittent physical therapy. After a year of intensive treatments, Annie knew that she would have to abandon her fitness practice. During her recovery from stem cell transplants in 1997, she became a Medical Exercise Specialist. As a result of her successful recoveries, her plastic and reconstructive surgeon C. Andrew Salzberg, M.D., and her breast surgeon Anthony C. Cahan, M.D., F.A.C.S., encouraged her to combine her academic knowledge with her personal experiences and to share that information with patients and with the medical community. With their inspiration and with the talent and generosity of friends, family, clients, and people whom she had never met, she developed the Staying Abreast website and published the book independently. Annie holds the following fitness certifications: Medical Exercise Specialist, 1997, American Academy of Health, Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals, Sacramento, California; Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, 1996, National Strength and Conditioning Association; Flexibility Technician, 1995, Maximum Performance International, N.Y.C; Health and Fitness Instructor, 1986, American College of Sports Medicine; Marymount Manhattan Fitness Specialist, 1986, Marymount Manhattan College, N.Y.C; Anatomy and Kinesiology for the Dancer and Prevention/Treatment of Dance Injuries, 1985, Dance Kinetic Education Institute, N.Y.C. In addition to a Liberal Arts background in Dance Education, Lehman College CUNY, Annie received her B.A. from Purchase College SUNY. Anthony C. Cahan, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a breast cancer surgeon in N.Y.C. and Westchester County. He currently holds positions at: Beth Israel Medical Center - Petrie Division, N.Y.C; Lenox Hill Hospital, N.Y.C; Northern Westchester Medical Center, Mount Kisco, NY; and N.Y. Medical College, Valhalla, N.Y. where he is Assistant Professor of Surgery. Dr. Cahan graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1982 and completed his medical training at New York Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York City. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Alpha Omega Medical Honor Society. Dr. Cahan has co-authored a textbook on early stage breast cancer, and has also published papers on the disease and its treatment. Along with his other accomplishments Dr. Cahan held a position on the Avon Breast Health Access Fund Advisory Board for three years. C. Andrew Salzberg, M.D. is board certified in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He has been an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology at New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY since 1987, and was Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Castle Point V.A. Medical Center from 1987-1997. Dr. Salzberg, whose practice is located at New York Group for Plastic Surgery in Westchester County, specializes in cosmetic surgery, breast reconstruction, laser surgery, and general reconstructive surgery. He is clinically active at Westchester Medical Center, Dobbs Ferry Hospital, and Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Dr. Salzberg graduated from Ithaca College in New York and from the University of Florida, School of Medicine. He completed his residency in General Surgery at Beth Israel Hospital, NYC (1981-84) and in Plastic Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center (1984-87). Dr. Salzberg has been named one of the top doctors for women from coast to coast by the consumer guide America's Top Doctors, published by Ladies' Home Journal. He was also named one of the top doctors in the New York Metro Area in 2002. Annie Toglia trusts that Staying Abreast will raise the awareness of the medical community to emphasize the importance of prescribed rehabilitative therapy for every person undergoing breast cancer surgery and treatments. She hopes that she will inspire those fighting cancer to commit to a moderate exercise schedule that will allow them to feel more a part of the fitness world, less like cancer patients, and stronger in heart, soul, body, and mind. Staying Abreast: logo and book cover photo by Steven Klein Book cover produced by Pascal Dangin - box ltd. nyc Exercise illustrations by Loren E. Mack for Staying Abreast e-mail Web site by Arturan Next Page: Browse the Book Go to the top of this page. Back to the previous page.

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