So most of you by now, know my story....I am a 49 year old wife and mother of 3 who was diagnosed with her2/neu positive, an aggressive form of breast cancer in December of 2007--after 5 surgeries and a year and a half of chemotherapy  I rode in my first Pan  Mass Challenge. To say it was a surreal and incredible experience would be a serious understatement.  That I could physically take on this challenge was gift enough but coupled with the knowledge that for every dollar I raised and for every mile I rode, others like me were getting treatment for a disease that only 10 years ago was an immediate death sentence, was surely overwhelming to me.

The First year, which was supposed to be the only year Susan and I rode in the PMC, we rode from Wellesley to Bourne and back the next day.  Last year we upped the miles and the monetary commitment and rode from Wellesley to Bourne and onto Provincetown the next day.  SInce both Susan and I like to keep things interesting we've decided to challenge ourselves even more this year and ride all the way from Sturbridge to Bourne and on again to Provincetown.  This adds about 40 extra miles to our ride and considerable hills. We are both a little nervous about this but I feel we are both strong.  Not only have I overcome cancer but Susan has had two hip replacements due to a degenerative deficiency and she has come back stronger than ever.  To train for the last Pan Mass, Susan and I logged about 1700 bike miles in order to get prepared.  This year we may have to be concentrating on more hills--but I am confident we will get there.



I run many races and do lots of organized triathlons--nothing compares to the organization that goes into this event.  The volunteers that showed up in vast numbers was seriously humbling.  Everyone involved --every rider, volunteer, and staff member was there for one sole purpose  --to find a cure for the disease that has effected every single person on this planet in one way or another.  You who are reading this have either had cancer or are close to someone who has died or is battling it right now.

 
The drug I was on, Herceptin is relatively new and extremely expensive. Without the dollars raised by Pan Mass and other events, new drugs like Herceptin would not be funded for studies. I see improvements in cancer treatment every day but we need so much more. Dana-Farber is an amazing place to be and those who work there are true angels.  I do not want my cancer to re-surface.  One hundred percent of he money raised by us for  the Pan Mass goes directly to funding out-of-the box treatments and research that will hopefully ensure my cancer stays away and that possibly will guarantee that others will not have to get it at all.

 Please sponsor me and my biking partner Susan Coccoluto as we ride in our fourth Pan Mass Challenge for myself as well as my Mom who died last year of Colon Cancer and my Dad who died of complications due to Esophageal cancer and my Brother-in-Law Bob who was struck down far too young from Kidney cancer as well as the countless others in all our lives who battle this disease every day. 
Team "Kicked By an Angel" Thanks you!

Total Raised

$0

Goal

$4,200

Progress