Ben and I are very proud to ride our first Pan-Mass Challenge for Team Charlotte from Wellesley to Patriot Place on Sunday, August 6. Charlotte is our Super Hero and she is absolutely thrilled about this and can't wait to cheer us on! This is very important to us because there is and has historically been a huge need for pediatric brain tumor research.
When we first met with Charlotte's neuro oncologist at the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and went over her pathology report, we learned that Charlotte's specific type of tumor has a high rate of recurrence until around age 23, which is why right now she is doing a sedated MRI every 3 months to monitor the site. (There is a 60 perent recurrence rate with an average of 3 years for recurrence, according to her neuro oncologist.) Charlotte's tumor was classified as benign (however, any tumor in the brain can cause serious problems, and hers certainly did), if she has a recurrence, she may need treatment. That could be IV chemotherapy for one year or there is a clinical trial of a pill-based chemotherapy, according to her neuro oncologist, which is why research is absolutely KEY.
Thank you very much for reading this and we hope you will consider making a donation to Team Charlotte. Our donations will go into the Samantha T. Janower Low-Grade Astrocytoma Fund, which in turn goes to Dana-Farber's Pediatric Low-Grade Astrocytoma (PLGA) Program. According to DFCI, it is the only dedicated pediatric low-grade glioma research program in America, and since has grown into a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional program, with collaborations initiated internally at Dana-Farber, nationally with other institutions in America, and internationally in Europe.
We love the PMC because every year, 100% of rider-raised revenue goes directly to support the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's tireless commitment to finding a cure.
Love,
Mary, Ben and Charlotte
