THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY PROFILE AND YOUR SUPPORT:
August 2024 will be my 17th Pan Mass Challenge. This will be the the One and Only ride where the entire family will ride, Kim's 12th year for Kim (who has been with me for 38 of those 41 years since surviving Cancer), Leah's 8th and Jessica & Amanda's 3rd and Rache's 1st. We will be one of the largest single family household riding in the PMC. Each rider is contractually committed to raise $6,000. For Team Chev, that's $36,000, we’ve Commitment to raise for Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, through the Pan Mass Challenge. It’s our largest commitment in 17yrs. We have a saying within the PMC community, “Commit, you’ll figure it out”. Below is the reason this family is passionate for cancer research.
WHY I RIDE:
October of 1982 I turned 17 years old. I thought I had everything going for me. I just received my license two weeks prior, it's my senior year, I trained for the past 6 months with the goal of being one of the top wrestlers in the states and top candidate for captain of the wrestling team. All I needed to do at that time was to pass a routine physical so I could wrestle. That physical changed my life forever.
During my physical my doctor noticed suspicious lumps in my lower abdomen. I told him that they have been there for about 6 months and I dismissed it as a hernia. Although deep inside I knew it was more than that. (dumb teenager) Within 24 hours of that appointment I had laid on an operating table to remove a mass. A couple of days later, our long-time family physician/close family friend came into my hospital room. He was obviously upset. He looked up at me and said, The news is not good, you have cancer. Not knowing what to say, I looked up and said: Can I ask you a couple of questions? ..... Does that mean I'm going to lose my hair?..... Will I be able to graduate with my friends? He reached over hugged me and said something I will never forget: Tommy, you have no idea how serious this is do you. Yes you will probably lose your hair. And started hugging me & crying. As he was, I thought to myself that he never did answer that second question.
I had stage II cancer and was aggressively progressing to stage III. There were multiple nests of cancerous tumors that already spread into my lymph nodes. The prognosis was hopeful. I underwent another major operation which they cut an 18 midline incision for a lymph node dissection. During the operation they noticed a masses on my kidney, liver, aorta and vena cava. Following the operations they immediately started cycles of chemotherapy. I spent most of the next 5 months in the hospital. The aggressive chemo was taking a toll on my body. When I got sick from my chemo treatments the burn in my lower abdomen was so painful, so unbearable from the operations, that I made a decision to stop eating than to go through that pain. I started this battle weighing in around 180 lbs. The time I was through I weighed less than 95lbs. It got to a point, were I made a request to my parents that I wish to receive no more visitors. I felt that if I passed, I didn't want them to remember me as they saw me at that time. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that there were nights that I hoped I wouldn't wake up the following day. Sometimes it was more for the pain in my parents eyes, than my own wellbeing. But each morning I woke up and found a way to make it through that day. This battle lasted until spring of 1983. The physical and emotional scars I carry with me from this experience is something that I cannot describe.
I graduated with my classmates in 1983. I was very fortunate to have an incredible medical team & great support from family and friends.
The Spring of 2024 marks my 41st anniversary as a cancer survivor.. 41 years since my last round of Chemo! I am more grateful than words could ever express. I was given a second chance in life. I have a loving/caring wife and 4 beautiful daughters that I was told I probably would never have . However; this was all made possible by the many years of life-saving cancer research and treatments.
Unfortunately the outcome is not the same for all, which is why research must continue. My mother died of cancer two days after my twins were born..... She never did get to see them... I've also lost my brother-in-law, aunts, cousins, grandmother and friends to cancer. I'm sure I could speak for all when I say that we all know someone who has been affected directly by cancer.
On August 3rd & 4th, 2024, I will be riding in my 17th Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for the research and treatments that go towards cancer. Team Chev will bike ride for two days, 192 miles from Sturbridge to Provincetown. The training and ride is always both physically and emotionally challenging for me. I will be riding to honor the loved ones that have I have lost, and to show that I am Living Proof! However; I have one more challenge. In order to participate in the PMC, we need to secure $36,000 in donations by the end of September. So I need your support. Please donate to show your support that I'm Living Proof that with good research and treatments, that cancer is curable. .
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* Special THANK YOU for the Medical Team that made me the survivor I am today and that gave me the physical ability to ride this challenge:
Ronald Backer, MD
Richard Babayan, MD
Donna Barnard, MD
Harvey Finkel, MD
John Krikorian, MD
Robert Oates, MD
Nursing staff of:
New England Memorial Hospital
Boston University Hospital
