Marty has been a member of Michael's Body Scenes since we first opened All three of her children went to our Kid Center in the old location and are now 16, 17 and 18 years old. Kealy in college and Meghan and Ryan are members. Over the years Marty has been involved in everything thing MBS had to offer and she attacked it all with enthusiasm, as she does most everything in her life.

When you look at Marty you see a beautiful, healthy and fit woman. About 7 months ago she and her husband Owen were faced with their greatest challenge. Marty was diagnosed with cancer and the outlook wasn't good.

As always Marty has been an avid exerciser and Michael's has been part of her busy schedule. Faced with this horrible news, Marty continued to come in as long as she was feeling able. She wasn't sure what exactly she had ahead, but would like to feel "normal" when she did come in. As part of her treatment Michael's was to become a "healing place" for her.

With dignity and grace, on her best and worst days, she made her way to the gym. Well, she has never skipped a beat and for seven months she has fought like crazy to keep her mind body and spirit healthy.

We recently got another letter from Marty explaining that she is in remission. We thank her for her trust in us, and allowing us to be a part of her life. We look forward to many more years of friendship and support.

The following is a letter from our long time member and good friend, Marty Lowe. Marty was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer— without much hope for survival. This past 7 months has been a battle for Marty, but with support from her family and friends, a positive outlook, and using Michael’s Body Scenes as a “healing place” through her participation in the yoga classes, Marty is in remission. With her permission we have included this tremendously inspiring letter.

I am back in my life in a huge way. I am wired and full of energy all day. Then by the end of the day, I imagine my internal battery as running down and it's time to shut down and plug myself into the charger to be ready for the next day.

For all outward appearances, besides my hair, It's like I never had cancer. But I did. I feel like a snail coming out of it's shell. I am very unsure of myself and insecure and emotional So very fragile. It was hard to leave the security of my home and familiarity of my healing places.

It is hard to go about a normal day without thinking of the big C. Every day, cancer survivors must worry about themselves, their bodies, and their immune systems. The possibility that whatever went wrong once could go wrong again is very real and impossible to escape for long. I try to appreciate this almost daily baggage-toting of worry as being part of what survivors put up with. It's like an itchy rash: irritating, needs to be scratched from time to time, but never completely goes away. I try to remind myself that at any given time, something bad might happen. However, by exactly the same token good things can happen, with the same degree of certainty as the bad. It's a 50 50 world.

I've watched the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong. What he has done for cancer people cannot be explained adequately. Granted, he is a super human but he makes the rest of us survivors say, Why not me, too? He said today, "if he had not faced cancer, he could have never won the Tour de France". Cancer is the toughest opponent.

Once we started treatment, I put every fiber of my being into healing and my entire focus was about recovery and beating cancer. I feel like I have been dormant for the past 7 months. I guess I didn't really allow any outside influences to interfere with my focus. Now it's like sensory overload every minute of the day.

Owen calls me an idiot sevante. I can't talk but I can write. I'm playing the piano again (sometimes at 11:00 at nite) As I write this I have many projects started all around me. I just took on a big yacht project that completes in 2006. Who would have thought? . I'm happy beyond happy. Everyday I am overwhelmed by the goodness I see in people. It's become comical. Incredibly beautiful things happen to me from total strangers. I'm always wondering if they know I have cancer, did they see my port, does my hair give it away.??? I don't think they know. I think it was all there before and I just didn't see it?

I am enjoying everything, food, music, perfume, etc. etc. With each new day, I feel like I can make plans for the future. I am healed physically and now I need to heal emotionally. Surgeries and radiation and chemotherapy are difficult. However, my illness has also slowed me down so I can fully appreciate life.

Standing on the edge of an abyss is frightening beyond words, but you sure can't beat the view. Life is good!