Dear Friends,

This fall, after my husband completed 6 cycles of intensive in-hospital chemotherapy at Hartford Hospital, we learned that he needed further treatment to address remaining lymphoma cells. We turned to Dana Farber Cancer Institute for a second opinion on the next steps. Bob entered a clinical study at Dana Farber for Mediostinal Large B Cell Lymphoma involving the combination of two approved therapies - Pembrolizimab and Car-T Cell Therapy. Bob spent about 18 days in Boston in December, 2023 to complete the CAR-T cell treatment.

While he is still recovering from this recent treatment, we returned on January 11 to Dana Farber to have a PET scan and meeting to discuss progress. We were delighted and relieved to see a complete response to the treatment--a clear PET scan! The before and after scans were dramatic.

Bob is treating with the head of the CAR-T cell therapy group at Dana Farber, Caron Jacobsen, and her awesome team of doctors, physican's assistants and nurses. These are amazing people who are saving lives.

The PMC is Dana-Farber’s largest single contributor, accounting for more than 60 percent of its Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue. This year, the PMC is on the cusp of raising over one billion dollars since 1980, donating 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar to support the lifesaving mission of Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund. A majority of the dollars raised by riders are unrestricted, which allows Dana-Farber to utilize it at their team’s discretion to support vital research and treatment trials that may have otherwise gone unfunded. In recent years, PMC funding has supported Dana-Farber researchers in leading clinical trials that resulted in the first CAR T-cell therapies approved by the FDA for indolent follicular lymphoma and multiple myeloma, a major milestone for patients with these cancers.

This very therapy has made all the difference for Bob--allowing us to receive this good news, and to be able to call our children on our way home to tell them that Bob's PET scan was clear and he is going to get better.

2024 will be my tenth year riding in the Pan Mass Challenge. I'll ride it this year with immense gratitude to all who contribute to cancer research, and to all of the health care providers that are making a difference.

I am asking for your support of my fundraising again this year. Please also allow me to carry the names of any friends or loved ones of yours who have been affected by cancer.