By her own admission, Roseann Grandy was exercising “before it was fashionable. When I lived in New York, we’d run around the track…I hated running,” the 66-year-old fitness instructor says, laughing. Eventually she found what she describes as the “precursor to Jazzercise,” and liked it so much that she began teaching. Since the 1980s, Ms. Grandy has been in the gym, teaching cardio, Powerflex, and other fitness classes. She considers one of these, a class for seniors she calls “Building Better Bones”, the perfect class for older people starting a fitness program, and for people recovering from illness such as hers.
But in June of this year, Ms.
Grandy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s currently in chemotherapy—yet the news that would have floored many women has not stopped her. And she attributes her attitude and level of energy to the fitness she’s maintained for so many years.
Of course her chemotherapy regime tires her, and during the week after each treatment, she is too fatigued to teach. But the following week, she’s back teaching several 55-minute classes at Sportsbarn North in Hixson. “The first time you have chemo, all you hear about is all the medicines you’re going to be taking and all their potential side effects,” Ms. Grandy says. “Here’s the thing as I see it: If you’re already diabetic, have high blood pressure and cholesterol, or are obese, chemo will knock your socks off. I started off in a better place.”
Her message to all women is twofold: Be proactive with your breast exams and get your overall level of fitness up. Her prognosis for dealing with her ordeal is very good—and she’d like to help the many women facing this situation say the same.
Said Sportsbarn Managing Partner David Brock, “People here, both members and staff, love Roseann. She has continued to teach, laugh, and inspire the rest of us as she has gone through this. She is an amazing person.”