Dear PMCers,

With the permission of the family, I am sharing the story of one rider’s commitment in the face of a dire diagnosis. Her story moved all of us at the PMC office and I believe it will move you as well. The story is part of the fabric of our culture and the reveals the bittersweet nature of our work.

Three years ago, at the age of 37, Traci Blais Thomassen, of Pawtucket, RI was the picture of health. She ate right, exercised regularly and even placed in her age bracket in a few road races. So, when she went to the emergency room for pain and swelling in her abdomen she fully expected to walk out with a clean bill of health. Instead, Thomassen was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer which had spread to her intestine and lungs. An emergency hysterectomy followed and Thomassen spent the next three weeks in the hospital.

Before she was diagnosed with cancer, Thomassen had registered to ride the 2009 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. But after the diagnosis and surgery, riding the 50-mile Wellesley to Wellesley route seemed impossible. “Someone had already donated to my ride,” said Thomassen. “To earn their donation I had to at least get on my bike.”

Thomassen said that if she could make it out of the parking lot she would feel like she had participated but she first needed to be assured she could at least do that. She cautiously mounted the bike. “It was a miracle,” she said. “I could ride, I could move, it was amazing.”

The freedom she felt while riding was so liberating Thomassen rode every day that week for a total of 75 miles. By the time of the event she was ready. With her brother Mark beside her and her brother Kevin’s van in front of her, fully equipped with food, drinks and a port-a-potty because “people on chemo shouldn’t be using public rest rooms,” she pedaled the entire 50-mile route.

The experience was so rewarding that Thomassen signed up for the 89 mile route in January, 2010 believing it would be easy because her treatment would be over. As summer began, however, the cancer resurfaced and she found herself in her third round of chemo on PMC weekend. Once again she rode and once again she completed her goal.

Thomassen was signed up to ride in PMC 2011 and agreed to be one of the riders highlighted through our media efforts.  Just 10 days before PMC 2011, I received an email from Traci that was stunning and chilling, in its clarity, grace and tone of finality. She wrote:

Hi! I have news to report, although it’s not my happiest ever. I have developed a blood borne infection we believe at the site of my PICC line.  And I have made the decision not to be treated for the infection.  We believe the sepsis will take over within the next few days and that I will not live to participate in this year’s PMC ride.  Thankfully, my fundraising is well on its way, and my team (Team Bike Heroes) will still put together a fantastic effort.  I know this isn’t what we were originally thinking, but I would suggest that it would still be possible to do a story on our team, which we anticipate will be riding in my memory this year.. Thanks so much for all of your work with this.  I’m sorry it isn’t working out so that I can participate in the campaign directly.  I still feel strongly that it’s such a good cause, and I hope it works out that a team story would still be of interest.

Be well.
Traci

Was a PMCer, about to lose her life to cancer, passing the baton and wishing us well? Sadly, she was. This week, Don Thomassen said a final good-bye to his wife, Traci.

People like Traci Blais Thomassen, whose composure and clarity are rare, motivate us all.  In memory of Traci and so many others lost to cancer, feel free to share this story.

Sincerely,

Billy Starr
PMC Founder and Executive Director

It’s not too late to make a contribution to the 2011 PMC: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?EgiftID=BE0034

Here’s my link to my fund raising page. Please give what you can: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/gift​ info.asp?EgiftID=BE0034

Thumbs up for donating!

This plaza is dedicated to the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC): to its cyclists, volunteers, and donors whose life-affirming efforts through the decades have provided critical support for cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. *Tandem is a tribute to the indelible bond between the PMC and Dana-Farber and reflects the extraordinary impact when two vital organizations work in tandem.

(*Tandem is the name of the sculpture commisioned for the PMC Plaza)

The Yawkey Center was designed to help improve the patient experience – through warm, comfortable spaces, streamlined processes, and by facilitating the rapid translation of clinical research to clinical care.

Get your name on a building:
If you are one of those folks who does have the resources to have your name on a building, follow these next two steps:

1. Make a donation to my PMC fund raising goal: Click here

2. Contact the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about naming opportunities: Click here

Watch these videos about the new Yawkey Center:

- “An Ideal Place of Healing”

- “Improving the Patient Experience”

- “The Healing Power of Nature and Art”

My daughter crossing the "start/finish" line

While my kids know I ride in the PMC, they only know it as some  bike ride I do. Sadly, that changed when our neighbor J died this past April from a brain tumor.  To my kids, cancer is now real. They might not know what it was exactly, but they know what it did to their friends’ dad. Now they have a way to help too. Thanks to all the volunteers for running and organizing it along with all the sponsors. You are making a huge difference.

My son is focused as he kept riding and riding

Training/Fund Raising:
On the training front, I’m not getting in as many training rides as I would like. The weather and life are getting in the way as they sometimes do. However, I’m getting in a couple rides a week right now and soccer has also helped. I’m just glad the ride isn’t until August!!!

The better news is that the fund raising is moving a long at a better pace, which is more important anyway.  As of today, I’m about a third of the way to my $4,200 minimum. However, I’m hoping to reach (even surpass) my $5,000 goal. This is where I ask for your help in defeating cancer. Every dollar really makes a difference as 100% of the money raised goes to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.

Here’s the link to my fundraising page: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?EgiftID=BE0034

While the majority of the folks involved were from the neighborhood, not everyone knew J or his family. However, that didn’t matter; we just wanted to do something nice for them.

When we were finished, we accomplished what we had set out to do; we completed those projects that J never had the chance to. This little act also brought everyone closer. I really believe that it helped prepare us for the next steps in supporting the family.

On a personal level, this whole experience is nothing that I’ve experienced before and to see people pulling together like this was very special. I was honored to be a part of it.

Training Rides:
I’ve been able to get in two more rides as I prepare myself for the 2011 Pan-Mass Challenge. I was able to get out last Saturday morning and it was a difficult ride. The route and the time was the same. However, my legs were quite spent and for whatever reason I was yawning constantly and it is very hard to ride like that. My Tuesday early AM ride was much better. I’m looking to ride a little longer this upcoming weekend.

“He had a lot of love, he is here with us, we just can’t see him.” J’s 5-year old daughter

I posted last week about the death of our friend and neighbor. Today we said good-bye.

The church was packed with friends from every phase of his life who shared many meaningful and personal rememberences. And for as sad as this day was, hearing those stories and anecdotes brought smiles and laughs between the tears.

While I never knew J without cancer, one thing I didn’t notice (because he didn’t do it) was any complaining or talk about how un-lucky he was to have terminal cancer.  What made me realize this fact was that almost every person who spoke said as much. They were right, even in his last days it wasn’t something he spoke about.

While J never said it; I am going to. This is not fair. There is no way a 40-year old man with a wife and three young children should be taken down by this disease. However, if there is one thing that makes me smile about this experience, in addition to J’s fight, courage and love of his family, is the way the community and the neighborhood have rallied around his family. I know this type of thing happens and there are a lot of great people out there, but to be a part of it gives me an entirely new appreciation for what people can do for each other.

We miss and love you, J, and we are here for your family!

Training rides:
If you’ve read this blog before, you know I also use it to update my friends and family on my training and fund raising on behalf of the Pan-Mass. Challenge. Despite the sadness that we’ve all been going through this past week, I want to report that I’ve gone on my first two training rides of the year; they were needed! My fist ride was an early morning ride that was dark an very cold (ice forming on the valve of my water bottle). My second ride I was over-dressed and warm.

In general, my legs felt ok for the most part (thank you indoor soccer), but I still have a long way to go. I will continue to work hard on the fund raising and the bike and do my part to help eradicate cancer for good.

I know I’ve written about my neighbor before, but I can’t remember when. Anyway, he was in his early 40s, married and the father of three children ages 3,5 and 8.  Except for the 8 year-old and of course the brain cancer, we shared the same profile. Selfishly his death is and was very scary to me, and I do feel bad thinking this way. Yet I feel it is a natural reaction to immediately think about ourselves when faced with this type of trauma. It makes sense, there were a lot of similarities. However, all I have to do is look out my window at his house and my focus is right back where it should be; thinking about his family and being there for them.

He had this disease before we met him, but from what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen, he was a fighter. Nothing exemplifies that trait more than the fact that he died on  April 5, 2011 at 12:01 am and not on April 4, his oldest daughter’s eigth birthday.

While it was not a question of if, but rather a question of when for my neighbor, the news that my college friend’s 2 year-old daughter was just diagnosed with neuroblastoma felt like a punch to the gut. No one deserves cancer, but a toddler.  How is that fair?

Of course I had a similar reaction, “what would I do? I have a daughter not much older than that.” Honestly, I can’t imagine it and don’t want to. I just wanted to will that image and thought out of my head. I know I can’t and shouldn’t do that. I want to support my friend and his family’s fight on this. Even when this disease doesn’t touch your immediate family, it still touches you. That’s just one more reason why this disease is so terrible. And it is just one more reason why I ride in the PMC.

And again this isn’t about me, but that was my first reaction. Now, I don’t know the daughter, but if she is anything like her dad, she is also going to be a fighter.

View: ‘Pan Mass Riders Ready For Challenge’   (sorry I can’t embed the video)

Let me state right off that comparing a former Olympic champion like Shannon Miller and an actor like “Sharlie Cheen” isn’t quite a fair comparison. Miller reached the height of her celebrity at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta 15 years ago as part of the “Magnificent 7″ – the only US Women’s gymnastics team to win the team gold medal (not to mention Miller is the most decorated gymnast in US history).  Sheen is everywhere right now (and has been rich and famous for many years) and has the world record for being the fastest to reach 1 million followers on Twitter  because of this foolishness.

So why, on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, do I want to talk about Miller?  I want to talk about her because she is what “winning” is truly all about – sorry Charlie! 

Miller was recently diagnosed with a rare, but treatable form of cancer on one of her ovaries called germ cell malignancy.  She was lucky and caught it early and is now cancer free, but will still need to go through more treatment.  However, instead of just dealing with this out of the public eye, she is taking this opportunity to use her name and her story to educate women about cancer.   (Read the story from Universal Sports: Shannon Miller )

Just imagine (we might have to close our eyes) what it would be like if Sheen used some of this notoriety on something bigger than himself? Now that would be the definition of winning, right?

As I sit here typing, I don’t know quite how to react.  I only know how I feel and I feel sad. I feel sad for our friend. I feel sad for his wife and his three kids. And I feel sad for everyone who knows and loves him.

This seems so surreal to me. We’ve all been touched by cancer (a phrase that I’m quite honestly tired of hearing, reading and repeating) and even in cases when those who’ve had this disease were part of my family, they were always from an older generation.  This friend is my age and has a wife and young children just like I do. How unfair. 

I do feel heartened by the strength our friend has had in his fight and the strength and courage displayed by his wife; it is truly amazing to witness. Maybe the outcome is determined, but they are not giving an inch. And that goes for the friends and family who continue to be there supporting them.

For my friend (and me) I’m going to fight the sadness for as long as possible. I am going to react by fighting for him and everyone else who is battling this disease as long as I can.