#WhyIPMC guest blog by Kathy Scanlon, 9-year, Team Courage Coneheads rider
My name is Kathy Scanlon. I completed my first PMC in 2012, and since then, I have completed 8 additional rides. Like a lot of riders, I carry (attached to my helmet) the names of people to support in their cancer treatment, and names to remember those lost due to cancer. Each year, when I fasten the names to my helmet, the gravity of the endeavor hits me.
I often say I ride so that no family has to experience cancer or the loss of a loved one to cancer. 2022 marked the ten year anniversary of my father in law Ed’s death due to bladder cancer, and that seemed surreal to us.
Apart from this ten year milestone of loss, 2022 again shows us that cancer can affect everyone, and no one is guaranteed a pass, unfortunately.
Prior to Thanksgiving 2022, my husband Bob noticed lumps on his chest, which, as we learned in the coming weeks, was the manifestation of non-hodgkins lymphoma. Bob is a runner, and is rarely even sick.
From the end December, 2022 to mid-April 2023, Bob completed 6 cycles of 4 day, in-hospital chemotherapy. When Bob commenced his treatment, we were relieved to hear Bob’s oncologist tell us that the chemotherapy approach she recommended was a “proven successful protocol” and that she was hopeful that Bob will not need further treatment after he completes chemotherapy. These are the treatment protocols and advancements that we ride for—the tools that we hope will be available.
I continue to support the PMC’s mission to support open-source cancer research and treatment so that families can access successful protocols for cancer treatments like Bob was able to access. Advancements in treatment are something we all must continue to support. I am so grateful for smart researchers, nurses and doctors who make that happen.
I am also thankful for the the support of my PMC team, Team Courage Coneheads, PMC teammate, Dr. Steve Wexler, and Billy and Meredith Beaton-Starr, who were responsive and ready to support Bob’s care. I am thankful to family and friends for supporting Bob’s care during these past several months. Finally, I am thankful for the superb care Bob has received from his oncologist Dr. Yelena Pristyazhnyuk and her team at the Helen and Harry Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital.
I am looking forward to another successful Pan-Mass Challenge, and another year of fundraising for cancer research.
