#WhyIPMC guest blog by Jim Donohue, 7-year, Team WillPower (Captain), rider
Because Miracles Happen
I began my PMC career following the death of a family friend who died from melanoma. What began as a tribute to him and an effort to assist all families dealing with the devastation of cancer transformed itself into a lifesaving crusade for my wife, Kyle, who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, glioblastoma. I never realized how
personal the PMC’s mission would become to our family nor how we would benefit so directly from the financial support that the PMC provides to Dana-Farber. My wife’s story is truly remarkable and borders on miraculous. She suddenly became ill after a vacation with our family. She was in excellent health and never had a serious illness in her life. We rushed her to the local hospital where she was immediately life-flighted to a Boston hospital and underwent emergency and life-saving surgery to alleviate severe brain swelling. The days that followed were a whirlwind of evaluations, tests and more surgery to try to determine the cause of the brain swelling. Ultimately a diagnosis of glioblastoma was made and we were advised that it was inoperable and incurable. The only treatment option was palliative and included radiation and chemotherapy which might extend her life by a few months. We were devastated. At this point, she was barely able to get out of her hospital bed, had no short term or long term memory, and did not know the seriousness of her illness. We sought a second opinion at Dana-Farber and this is where the miracle truly happens. Dr. David Reardon, her oncologist (and a fellow PMC rider), and Dr. Antonio Chiocca, her neurosurgeon, both funded largely by the PMC, felt they could successfully perform a craniotomy to remove as much of the cancer as possible. The surgery was phenomenally successful and over the course of a few weeks resulted in a return to baseline functioning. She underwent standard radiation and chemotherapy over the ensuing 6 months and went several months without treatment and with no evidence of recurrence. But. The cancer came back. As it always does with glioblastoma. Fortunately, Dr. Chiocca was in the middle of a novel viral immunotherapy clinical trial and had one spot remaining in the study. The trial involved a re-engineered virus surgically inserted directly to the brain. The goal of the treatment is for the virus to attack and destroy the cancer cells and, more importantly, to awaken the immune system to fight the cancer cells in the future. It has been 16 months since the clinical trial treatment and 28 months since her diagnosis and Kyle is enjoying every moment of her life. We are proud to have our two college aged sons join our PMC team and ride in the event for the first time. They have been at every finish line for the past 8 years cheering on every rider and every family. It is their way of saying THANK YOU to Dana-Farber, Dr. Reardon, Dr. Chiocca and, most importantly, THANK YOU to the PMC for making all of this possible. THANK YOU for saving their mom’s life!
