Dear friends, colleagues, and family,
This year I am cycling the 182 mile Pan Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research and I would love for you to join with me. Every dollar raised goes 100% to cancer research and treatement and funds donated through my profile page will go to pediatric brain tumor research. This is not an easy challenge either physically or from a fundraising standpoint, but with your help I know we can do it.
When I first started riding the PMC, I did it because a patient of mine invited me to, but by the next year, cancer was already a part of my life. Three years ago, my best cycling budy - my father - died of leukemia. He had the best treatment available, but he never made it out of the hospital. I ride in his memory and on his bike in the hope that with further research, other fathers will survive.
I am also riding in honor of my father-in-law who two years agor had a large, rare tumor successfully treated and removed at Dana Farber. He was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma and he flew across the country to live with us and undergo treatment at Dana Farber. Thankfully, it has gone incredibly well, and though he will forever bear scars from his treatment, he is living a normal life today and is still cancer free.
My father's and my father in laws' stories tell the current state of cancer treatment and how it needs advancing: we have come so far, but we still have so much left to do.
The reality is cancer will touch us all. Fully 1 in 2 people in the US is expected to develop cancer in their lifetimes. Fortunately, there are excelent treatments for many of these cancers and there are more survivors every day. But that is only thanks to research like what is being funded through PMC.
As a very specific example of this, the team I am riding for is Team Nathanisms. A friend of mine's son, Nathan has a rare brain tumor. He was diagnosed a few years ago, underwent typical treatment, and did well, but his tumor returned and began to grow. Fortunately, directly through funds raised by this team, a research study was funded and he received this new drug. It has been 6 years since he started treatment and he is doing well. His cancer is still with him, but it is dormant and he is growing up into a young man. And a huge update now on year six. That drug which was initially funded through donations like yours is FDA approved for treatment of this particular cancer. If you donate through this page, your money will go directly to pediatric cancer research - one of the most underfunded areas and one of the most impactful areas of cancer research.
Even if you can't join with me this time, I would appreciate any support. It's going to be a long ride!
Thank you so much!
-Adam
