Dear Friends, Family, and Team PMC,

Well, it is that time of year again! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer. This has been a particularly exciting summer for the Valhouli family as this June, Buggy and Mattias tied the knot in Greece! Not a moment went by that I did not feel so grateful to have survived Stage Four Hodgkins and heart failure. I was able to witness one of the momentous occasions of life we often take for granted, something I was unsure I would ever experience again. While dealing with severe neuropathy, permanent hair loss, and questionable balance, I am happy to report I was back dancing on tables, just like my old self!!!

We are very excited to announce that Team Opa! Opa!!! is BACK and gearing up to ride in the 2025 Pan-Mass Challenge on Sunday, August 3rd for our fourth year in a row. We couldn’t be more excited to once again saddle up and ride 50 miles to raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and all of the work they do in helping drive life saving cancer research. I’m here. I’m cleared. And we are riding.

As a result of your support of Team Opa! Opa!!!, our team's boundless energy, AND Team Opa! Opa!!!’s notorious speakers blasting Greek party music as we ride, I am honored that PMC has asked me to speak to all Living Proof Riders before we set off from Wellesley. Living Proof Riders are past and current cancer patients riding the PMC. We gather together before the ride to honor our community of patients, survivors, and those that we have lost in what is the most emotional part of the day for many of us. There is a quiet understanding and strong sense of community with Living Proof Riders that we collectively understand the struggle. Taking the Dana Farber elevator to Floor 2 for blood work in order to clear you for chemo and then riding the elevator to whichever floor your cancer specialists reside is a road we have all traveled and a road that unites us, much like the PMC.

Why We Ride

In our fourth year we are riding harder than ever! Research funding across the country is being dramatically cut. Dana-Farber needs our help to continue the groundbreaking work that is helping cure a disease that has directly impacted each and every one of us. The recent cuts to research have hit particularly close to home, as one of my two primary doctors at Dana Farber working on the frontier of lymphoma research was not able to secure funding for his lab and has left Dana-Farber. Let’s make sure this never happens again.

Much of the treatment that saved my life was directly funded by PMC donations, including yours. That support transformed my care from a clinical trial to a new standard of treatment for advanced lymphoma in record time. That is the power of the PMC.

With your support, Team Opa! Opa!!! has kicked butt, but there is a lot more to do:

-Nearly $200,000 raised in 3 years

-One of the top fundraising teams in the PMC community

-Most individual donors ever to a single PMC rider

-Top 10 PMC fundraiser out of 6,000+ riders

-And most importantly, your support and the PMC Community gave me the strength to keep pedaling

Here Is How You Can Help Again This Year:

1. Donate to Team Opa! Opa!!!

We are aiming to raise $40,000 this year. Every cent you donate goes to Dana-Farber to support innovative, lower-toxicity treatments for blood cancers that will benefit millions.

2. Ride With Us!
If you would like to ride the PMC with us on Sunday, August 3rd please let Peter know and we can get you registered and set up with a bike. If you can’t make it, grab a bike, snap a photo, and send it to us! From Tokyo to Toronto, last year’s riders gave us wings during the PMC weekend and helped spread the word in beautiful ways.

The PMC is more than a fundraiser. It’s a lifeline. To every patient, every survivor, every grieving family, and to our own family. The PMC community, Dana-Farber, and each of you have helped carry us through some of the hardest days of our lives. And now we ride in celebration, in gratitude, and with renewed urgency.

So. What do you say? Are you in???

Let’s do this. LFG Team Opa! Opa!!!

With so much love,

Xoxoxo,

Stacy