Since its founding in 1980, The Pan-Mass Challenge has raised money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike-a-thon that crosses the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is committed to providing adults and children with cancer with the best treatment available today while developing tomorrow's cures through cutting-edge research.
One of those patients that DFCI cared for was my sister-in-law Elizabeth. She was diagnosed in 2006 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and started treatments near her home in NY. After a few years, her disease became more complicated and as a result, she transitioned her care to the skilled experts at DFCI. During that time, Liz spent many hours driving back and forth from NY to Boston for treatments, appointments, scans. Our house became her second home and I became more familiar with cancer than I ever thought I would... I saw the good and bad days, the ups and downs.
Last February, Liz spent 3 wonderful weeks in Hawaii with my in-laws while taking a break from treatment for her Graft-versus-Host disease (GVHD is a side effect of the stem cell transplant). She was able to swim in the ocean, snorkel, and soak up the sun. Unfortunately, not long after returning home to NY, she developed an infection that her body was not able to fight. Too weak from 9 years of cancer, chemotherapy, radiation, blood pheresis, medications, stem cell transplants, and more, Elizabeth passed away on March 3, 2015.
Liz died 6 days before our twins turned one. If there was something that Liz loved most, it was her niece and nine nephews. It is hard to imagine that Harrison and Isaac will grow up not knowing Aunt Liz, but it is even harder to imagine one of them going through the same battle that she did. The Pan-Mass Challenge is my opportunity to push myself physically but, more importantly, to make an impact in the fight against cancer. I plan to raise $8000 (or hopefully more) to be donated to DFCI so they can continue their work. On August 6 and 7, I will be biking 192 miles across Massachusetts, from Sturbridge to Provincetown. I will have over 5000 people riding with me and each of them has a story of their own. I’m sure many of you reading this know someone close that has had to battle cancer. Please help in whatever capacity you can so that future generations can benefit.
Thank you!
-Drew
