A Mission to help Breast Cancer Survivors live beyond survival

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (October 30, 2025) – October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and filled with lots of special events raising awareness. One particular group of breast cancer survivors went outdoors and even outside their comfort zones to move beyond surviving breast cancer to living life.

Move Beyond Surviving (MBS) is the brainchild of surgical oncologist Dr. Kelly McLean who specializes in breast and skin cancers. During this Breast Cancer Awareness month, 22 members of the MBS group came out to Loveland on Monday, October 20th for a three-mile hike together on the Little Miami Scenic River Trail – aka: Loveland Bike Trail –  followed by a pizza dinner at The Works Pizza Restaurant.

“I always wanted to do something like this,” said Dr. McLean. “I think there is a lot to be gained by being in nature and I think “Outward Bound” has done a lot with experiential learning.”

She says Outward Bound has created programs to help grieving teens and to help veterans with PTSD. Those programs inspired her to partner with them – “instead of reinventing the wheel” – she reached out to join with them to try it with breast cancer survivors. 

“We did a 5-day/4-night backpacking, whitewater rafting trip, rock-climbing in North Carolina in the Pisgah National Forest,” McLean said. “They facilitated it and provided the equipment and technical knowledge. It was a huge success.”

 There was no objective measuring stick. The first time Dr. McLean organized the trip was in 2017. She did it again in 2018 covering the participant expenses out of her own pocket as a sort of seed money to establish the Move Beyond Surviving group. Before the trips, the breast cancer survivors lived with uncertainty, a sort of fear, just subsisting; not really living and not knowing what they could do. She heard great feedback from the seven participants.

“We just had such great feedback from everyone about how wonderful it was – Kim started a running group afterward – just how much it jump-started them back to living,” said McLean. “They didn’t know what they could physically do after all the changes.”

Kim is Kim Kuwatch, a breast cancer survivor who met Dr. McLean (They call her Dr. Kelly) in 2017 and participated in that first North Carolina Outward Bound experience. Carrying a 50-lb backpack and several other activities on that trip were all new to her.

“We did some whitewater rafting, some hiking in the mountains and camping,” said Kuwatch. “Dr. Kelly just wanted survivors to get out there and experience outdoor challenges, not to limit our challenges, to try new things to see what we could do; to put the cancer behind us, put our body limitations behind and move forward. It was really an eye-opening experience. I had not done anything like that before.”

There have been more “firsts” for her since then taking part in several MBS and Miami University Outward Bound activities.  Along with other survivors, she’s been kayaking, snow-skiing, rock-wall climbing, paddle-boarding and sailing at Hueston Woods. Not every MBS gathering is a big adventure, once a month survivors get together for a walk like the one they took in Loveland Monday, October 20th.

Erin Spangler is a two-time breast cancer survivor who credits a mammogram with saving her life the first time she was diagnosed. She now works as a director with the Mercy Health Mobile Mammography unit. As if one round wasn’t enough, a suspicious lump she found during a self-exam turned into round two with breast cancer for Erin.  She’s always been active, but MBS provided her an outlet and motivation to get up, get out and live; not just survive. Now with No Evidence of Disease (NED) Erin was out leading the group of 22 survivors on the three-mile hike along the bike trail. Getting together with a group of women who have been through the diagnosis, treatment, emotions, challenges, and fears makes a huge difference in living again for her.

Angie, Eileen, Liz, and Marjorie also shared some of their story during the walk on Monday, October 20th. Each has their own personal story of receiving the diagnosis of breast cancer, going through the treatments (some still going through treatments and all forever being checked regularly). Liz likes the ease of planning and picking the events to join in. She says it’s like going out with friends without having to talk about breast cancer or explain what’s happening with her treatments.

Eileen really appreciates the opportunity to get out and do things – some things she never did before her breast cancer diagnosis. She talked about horseback riding, kayaking, sailing, rock wall climbing and other outdoor adventures she’s experienced with MBS. It helped move her beyond surviving and back to living.

 Marjorie was a very active competitive athlete through high school, college and into her adult married life before being diagnosed with breast cancer. Being part of the MBS group helped get her back to running and living an active life – not just surviving. She says surviving is part of the process of living beyond survival. Dr. Kelly McLean says it’s different for each person and Move Beyond Surviving offers a variety of activities for any individual to choose to move at their own pace back into life beyond surviving.

“It’s all about taking that first step,” said McLean. “I was elated that people would give it a try.”

 From the first trip to Pisgah National Forest to the monthly walks and dinner, Dr. Kelly McLean has seen her idea for Move Beyond Surviving (MBS) grow into a 501c3 with Tom Tressler helping her lead the way. Tom started out volunteering, but now with great donor supporters helping, he actually receives some pay to help organize the events and take care of the business end of MBS. From the start, he embraced the opportunity to help breast cancer survivors move back to living. He’s seen the difference it makes when they come out to events like the walk in Loveland.

“Every walk, every adventure is different it’s exactly what we want,” said Tressler. “We want to see new people, who may not have been on an adventure, come in because it’s kind of easy and they integrate into the group. At the end of the walk, you couldn’t look at the group and say who didn’t know each other before. There’s nervous energy at the beginning; at the end there’s this party atmosphere; it was so happy.”

Dr. Kelly McLean planted the seed with her idea to make a positive difference in the lives of breast cancer survivors, showing it worked to benefit the people. All along, she’s nurtured the idea and let it grow into something all the survivors in the group would say is very special. In fact, they say it is eye-opening and life-giving. It was evident on Monday, October 20th on the trail and at The Works in Loveland, Ohio.

“It was a gorgeous night out,” McLean said. “We try to pick popular places – everyone knows the Loveland trail. We had four new people which is success. I just saw a need, but it would never have happened without Tom Tressler.”  

Visit the Move Beyond Surviving website to learn more, volunteer to help, donate or joion in to Move Beyond Surviving

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MOVE BEYOND SURVIVING