WHY I PMC guest blog by Kaye Ceille
Everyone has a personal connection to cancer and certainly, my story is no different. In 2010, I received a call from my Mom and learned that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. My mom, the nucleus of our family, loved life and worked hard to make all of us had great life, so I knew she would fight this disease with all her might. And she did. During the course of two years of radiation & chemotherapy the disease was put in remission. Unfortunately, that did not last. The cancer returned and despite her tenacious fight, cancer took her from us in Oct. of 2013.
Despite her personal challenges, my mom’s optimism about the future never wavered. To accelerate the discovery of a cure, my mom allowed all her data to be accessed by scientists in order to help further advancements to end cancer.
My personal connection to cancer became even more personal in October of 2014, when I experienced my own scare. I had been at Zipcar and in Boston for only 8 months when a routine annual physical turned up a very unexpected diagnosis of cancer. All I could think of was my mom and her brave journey.
After dealing with the initial shock, I shared this with members of my direct team. The care, the empathy and all the offers to help find the best facilities and doctors was touching and incredibly appreciated. I was referred to Dana Farber, and one of the best doctors for my diagnosis. I was attended to with urgency and the cancer was removed.
In my case, the early detection was key; for others it’s new treatments, new processes, new types of care. Fundraising organizations and events such as PMC (and Susan G Komen – content for another story) are critical for funding continued research so we can move one step closer to ending cancer.
Why do I PMC? I imagine a world where future generations don’t even know what cancer means.
(Kaye Ceille is president of Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network. She is a cancer survivor and 2016 will be her second year as a PMC rider.)