News & Events

Amy Howe is going to stand out no matter what she does, and that is why she submitted her letter to be considered for this years RAC For Life Scholarship.

A Fort Collins native, Amy has been an off and on member of the RAC for a number of years. It was actually her mother, a current member, that heard about the scholarship and encouraged Amy to apply.

On the surface, Amy is a beautiful 32 year old mother with a heart of gold but when you peel back the layers, more and more of her remarkable story is revealed. Amy is a single mom who, on December 8 of 2014, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. A full year of membership, as well as personal training would certainly help her in finding health and wellness during a difficult cancer treatment schedule. “I look forward to that,” she said, speaking of working with Personal Trainer Tracy Ibarra, “As opposed to just walking on the treadmill.”

Amy grew up an athlete, playing soccer for well over 20 years. “I am an athlete at heart,” she said. “Not being able to do all of those physical activities is hard and I just want to be able to get back into a wellness mindset. My mom does yoga and I plan on going with her when I can. I want to be able to give the mind and body peace, the whole holistic part of that. But I just want my body back in a healthy state – not being tired all the time. Cancer wears your body out and they say that exercise, ironically, will help you get through it, but somedays it is tough to simply get out of bed.”

Amy is currently undergoing rounds of chemotherapy that include bone marrow procedures (shots of the drug nulesta). If all goes well, when the chemo sessions are nearly done, she hopes to be “full strength” by August. In the meantime, Amy plans to utilize the RAC membership by attending yoga classes, swimming in the pool, using the steam room and/or sauna. “Hopefully this will help as I try to sweat out the chemo, the sauna and the steam room will be helpful with that too when I can’t really walk or run.”

With an amazing support system that includes her parents, boyfriend and son, Amy is in good hands. “I’ve got plenty of friends here to help support me,” she said. “And the outpouring of support has been amazing.”