#WhyIPMC guest blog by Joseph Quinn, 1st year Team Ridin' Irish rider
In my lifetime I have known so many people who have fought cancer. I am doing this ride for the many family and friends I have known that have fought cancer. Although I am doing it for all of those people, there are 2 people that have motivated me to do the ride this year. I am riding in honor of one of those individuals and in memory of the other.
I have felt the pain of losing loved ones and friends to cancer since I was very young. I have lived with this pain my whole life and have never written about it or spoke about it until now. One of the first people I lost to cancer was my dad, James Quinn. He battled brain cancer when I was a senior in high school. He was the most influential person in my life. He was a great person and father. He was a hardworking, dedicated and caring man, who always put family first. He was active in the community, church and coached his kids in youth sports. I have strived to be as good a person and father as he was. I do not feel as though I have even come close. He succumbed to brain cancer the day before the start of my freshman year in college. I lost my mom, Eunice Quinn, to lung cancer when I was in my 30s. She was also a great person and mother. She had been active in AA for 30 years and was a sponsor to many recovering alcoholics. She helped so many people in their efforts to overcome alcoholism. Years later I lost my mother in law to the same type of cancer. I have also lost many other aunts, uncles, friends and students of mine to the disease.
In April of 2018 my son, Brady Quinn, was in his 5th year of a 6-year college program. He was majoring in pharmacy.
He had not been feeling well for quite some time. I received a call from him at his school in Rhode Island. He informed me that he was being taken to Rhode Island Hospital in an ambulance. He had awoken that morning and was coughing up blood. He went to the campus medical Center. They took an x-ray and believed that there was a concerning mass in or near his heart. My wife and I hastily left work to be with him. I can remember being in a hospital emergency room crowded with doctors and nurses when the results of his CAT scan came back. There was no problem with his heart, but they informed us that he had some form of Lymphoma. They told us that the mass near his heart was a swollen lymphoid. I had no idea what to say to him as he sat in a crowded emergency room totally alone. He was the only one in the room who had just been diagnosed with cancer. I struggled to find the right words to say to him. I searched for the courage to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to say that because I didn’t know if I believed everything would be okay. When I was finally able to speak I put my arm around him and told him that the only thing that I knew for sure was that we were going to fight this and I was going to be with him every step of the way.
After much thought and consideration, we came to the only conclusion that made sense. Dana-Farber was the only place we wanted to go for treatment. I could not have asked for more from the doctors and nurses at Dana-Farber. They were great. Brady had many different appointments and 12 chemotherapy treatments. Everyone at Dana-Farber was so supportive and helpful. My son was not alone. He had friends, relatives and his family’s support through the whole process in addition to the staff at Dana-Farber. I kept my promise of being there every step of the way. He finished his treatment in the late summer of 2018. In November Doctor Philpipe Armand congratulated him on being cancer free.
In November of this year, 2023, Brady will reach a milestone of being cancer free for 5 years. My son and I had talked a lot about wanting to give back to Dana-Farber, but we also talked about celebrating the 5-year mark. I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate reaching this milestone. I was expecting him to say a vacation on a warm sandy beach or maybe a cruise, but instead he told me he wanted to do the Pan-Mass Challenge to help raise funds for cancer research. Going on a 190-mile bike ride in 2 days is a little different than a warm beach or a cold drink on the deck of a boat, but I remembered my promise of being there every step of the way. That is why I will be joining Brady this August in the Pan-Mass Challenge. Hopefully this will be the final step on his journey to being cured of this disease.
I also want to dedicate this ride to a dear friend who recently lost her battle with cancer. Marie Carbone was an amazing woman who accomplished so much in her life. She was a loving mother, wife, friend and educator, whose life was cut too short by this disease. I feel this phrase is overused, but Marie truly was a person who lit up the room as soon as she entered. She always had a kind word and a smile, even during her 8-year battle with cancer. She had the ability to make friends with everyone she met including the doctors and nurses who treated her. She fought with courage, tenacity and grace. Marie passed away in January of 2023. I ride for all the people in my life who have fought and lost, fought and won and those that are still fighting cancer, but I would like to dedicate the ride in honor of my son, Brady Quinn and in memory of my friend Marie Carbone
