The Jimmy Fund Clinic

Why I PMC - Lisa Scherber by Meredith Beaton Starr

In March 2005, Loie Williams of Newton, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a disease in which less than 20 percent of patients survive. As a wife and mother, her first thoughts were to remain strong for her friends and her family. She didn’t know the future path that her illness would take, but she told her husband and then thirteen-year-old son that she wasn’t going anywhere.  

Last year, Teresa Weyler, 44, of Worcester, Mass., participated for the first time in the Pan-Mass Challenge. She rode alongside her father, Anthony Palumbo, 66, of Worcester, who was also new to the annual bike-a-thon. 

Thank you for making the 34^th annual Pan-Mass Challenge the most successful PMC yet. In 2013, more than 5,500 cyclists representing 38 states and five countries rode one of 11 routes over one or two days through 46 towns and cities in Massachusetts.

The countdown to registration for the 35^th annual Pan-Mass Challenge has begun 

As the New Year approaches, it’s time to start spinning your wheels into PMC gear. Registration for the 35^th annual Pan-Mass Challenge, set for August 2 and 3, 2014, will open in January. For a list of specific dates that apply, please see below: 

Two-year PMC cyclist Diane Legg is a devoted wife, mother of three boys, and a seasoned half marathon runner and cyclist. She is also a medical miracle living with stage IV lung cancer for nine years - four years longer than nearly all people who have the same disease. As a result, she is a champion for others; she serves as a national advocate for lung cancer awareness and research and is an athlete for charity. 

What’s known as Mardi Gras for most, with a parade of floats, beads, masquerades and bright colors, has a completely different meaning, and spelling, in the PMC world.  

Before the turkey and winter holiday season begins, comes another anticipated get-together that is special for members of the PMC family, the PMC Check Presentation Party.  

This Saturday, the Boston Bruin’s Foundation presented the Pan-Mass Challenge with a check for $178,000 to support adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund during PMC Night at the Bruins.  

Sarah Couture, 14, is a 2013 PMC Pedal Partner and a cancer survivor who has grown-up living, breathing and playing soccer. When she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 2012 and began treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic, it was no surprise that a black and white soccer ball helped to pull her through her cancer experience.