Why am I riding?
This year I'm riding to celebrate Shelly's One Year anniversary of being cancer free!
Last year in my inaugural ride, we raised over $10,000 with your support, towards the $72 million that was raised by PMC overall in 2023. This year will be one in a billion as the PMC effort surpasses $1 billion raised over its history.
I'm riding the Pan Mass Challenge to :
1) Honor Shelly's fight to become cancer free!
2) Thank Dr Sarah Slater, Dr Ronald Bleday and their entire medical teams for the excellent care that they have provided to Shelly!
3) Raise funds to support the Dana Farber Cancer Insititute in their ongoing research and treatment to fight cancer for everyone!
I'm a proud supporter of the PMC because it is leading a charge to beat cancer. In fact, last year 100% of rider-raised revenue went directly to support the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's tireless commitment to finding a cure.
I would like to thank you for supporting my 186 mile weekend ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown in 2024!
More about Shelly's story:
There's no sugar coating the news - Shelly was diagnosed with colon cancer in May, 2022. Fast forward to January 2023 - after 9 months of treatments and surgery with great doctors from Dana Farber, there are NO SIGNS OF DISEASE! We're asking for help (mostly your money) to support Steve's ride with the 2024 Pan Mass Challenge. 100% of all donations go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).
Why is he riding? Why is it important? Why are we asking you for money? Here's why. Shelly was diagnosed with a less common type of colon cancer (only about 10% of cases). DFCI customized her treatment for her. Traditional chemotherapy had a low (5%) chance of working against her type of cancer so her doctors treated her with newer therapies, immunotherapy. It's only starting to be used in treatment but there is still a lot unknown with not a lot of data to rely on yet. Initial results were good which led to surgery. Post surgery, Shelly received 2 more rounds of immunotherapy and is getting regular CT-DNA blood tests - also another new advance. A probe from her cancer tumor was created and searches her blood for any traces of the cancer DNA. So far - we have 5 negative tests back - no cancer detected.
Research is so important. We didn't really understand how important it was until it impacted us. New treatments, new clinical trials will save lives. Shelly's results will help other patients. Rates are rising for younger people, like Shelly, like you, who are getting cancer with no family history, no high risk categories, no genetic markers. It's not an old person's disease anymore. Almost all of us have been touched by cancer with someone you know, someone you love, or some of you are also living proof as well. So celebrate the good things in life with us and make a donation so we can keep the treatments and research going!
