astanley
En-Route
Hello fellow POA'ers,
Some of you may have noticed my signature on my posts - appealing for donations for my Pan-Mass Challenge fundraiser. As the event approaches, I've decided to appeal to the wider community of Pilots of America. The POA Management Council has graciously allowed me to post this appeal here in Hangar Talk, and I'd like to personally thank the entire council for their support.
This year, I decided to ride the Pan-Mass Challenge, the nation's largest non-profit athletic fundraising event. The Pan-Mass challenge directly benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, two organizations supporting doctors, researchers, patients and their families who are fighting cancer. 99% of the funds raised by riders, like me, go directly to the Jimmy Fund and DFCI.
My decision to ride was made this past December, the 27th in fact.
I was out for a mid-winter bike ride, a road ride that takes me past my sister's house. My sister, Meghan, lives with her boyfriend, Brett. Brett and I became good friends while he was in high school, but became best friends after Meghan started dating him. They live one town over from my fiancee and I, and I frequently ride past their house.
This particular day, I had ridden by their house and decided to stop in - and instead of just Brett being home, my sister was there as well. They had found a mass in Brett's knee a few weeks prior - two weeks for Christmas, in fact - and he was going into Boston for a follow-up on the 28th. When I walked in the living room, my sister and Brett were sharing Brett's recliner, my sister extremely upset.
Brett's oncologist had called an hour before, and apologized to Brett for discussing this over the phone, but he needed to prepare Brett for a much longer follow-up visit than he was originally planning. Brett's biopsy was back, and indeed the mass they had found behind his knee was cancer. Brett had an extremely virulent form of osteosarcoma, and his oncologist wanted to begin an aggressive treatment plan as soon as possible.
My sister was crushed, but was doing her best to keep her emotions down. I asked Brett how he felt, and he said "I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't sad. I'm depressed, but I'm going to beat this". I was amazed, as was my sister, to hear someone who had just been dealt some pretty difficult news was so optimistic. I don't know if I'd be the same way.
Fast forward to the end of March: Brett has gone through 2 full 5 week cycles of chemotherapy, a mix of methotrexate and doxorubin (given in separate doses), which has stopped the growth of the tumor. Brett has also just gone through surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding bone - the top 2" of his right tibia - successfully. In fact, post op testing of the remaining tumor found less than 10% live cancer cells, which given the nature of his cancer, was a remarkable achievement.
Brett's surgery was groundbreaking - the amount of bone, his age, and the nature of the cancer all made the allograft he received unique - with the supporting research for this operation funded by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Today, Brett is going through rehab and post-op chemo. He'll be at my wedding this fall, and hopefully, his rehab will have progressed to the point where he can ride a few miles of the PMC with me this summer. His prognosis is great and he is winning his battle against cancer every single day.
My goal is to raise $4,000 for the Pan Mass Challenge this year. The PMC requires a minimum commitment of $3,300 in funds raised; and I hope to surpass this goal in my first year.
You can contribute to our fundraiser by clicking the following link: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?EgiftID=AS0156
I'd like to thank you all for reading so far, and I hope you'll be able to support the Pan-Mass Challenge, and my fundraiser, for cancer research.
Thanks all,
-Andrew
Brett, smiling post op:
Some of you may have noticed my signature on my posts - appealing for donations for my Pan-Mass Challenge fundraiser. As the event approaches, I've decided to appeal to the wider community of Pilots of America. The POA Management Council has graciously allowed me to post this appeal here in Hangar Talk, and I'd like to personally thank the entire council for their support.
This year, I decided to ride the Pan-Mass Challenge, the nation's largest non-profit athletic fundraising event. The Pan-Mass challenge directly benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, two organizations supporting doctors, researchers, patients and their families who are fighting cancer. 99% of the funds raised by riders, like me, go directly to the Jimmy Fund and DFCI.
My decision to ride was made this past December, the 27th in fact.
I was out for a mid-winter bike ride, a road ride that takes me past my sister's house. My sister, Meghan, lives with her boyfriend, Brett. Brett and I became good friends while he was in high school, but became best friends after Meghan started dating him. They live one town over from my fiancee and I, and I frequently ride past their house.
This particular day, I had ridden by their house and decided to stop in - and instead of just Brett being home, my sister was there as well. They had found a mass in Brett's knee a few weeks prior - two weeks for Christmas, in fact - and he was going into Boston for a follow-up on the 28th. When I walked in the living room, my sister and Brett were sharing Brett's recliner, my sister extremely upset.
Brett's oncologist had called an hour before, and apologized to Brett for discussing this over the phone, but he needed to prepare Brett for a much longer follow-up visit than he was originally planning. Brett's biopsy was back, and indeed the mass they had found behind his knee was cancer. Brett had an extremely virulent form of osteosarcoma, and his oncologist wanted to begin an aggressive treatment plan as soon as possible.
My sister was crushed, but was doing her best to keep her emotions down. I asked Brett how he felt, and he said "I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't sad. I'm depressed, but I'm going to beat this". I was amazed, as was my sister, to hear someone who had just been dealt some pretty difficult news was so optimistic. I don't know if I'd be the same way.
Fast forward to the end of March: Brett has gone through 2 full 5 week cycles of chemotherapy, a mix of methotrexate and doxorubin (given in separate doses), which has stopped the growth of the tumor. Brett has also just gone through surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding bone - the top 2" of his right tibia - successfully. In fact, post op testing of the remaining tumor found less than 10% live cancer cells, which given the nature of his cancer, was a remarkable achievement.
Brett's surgery was groundbreaking - the amount of bone, his age, and the nature of the cancer all made the allograft he received unique - with the supporting research for this operation funded by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Today, Brett is going through rehab and post-op chemo. He'll be at my wedding this fall, and hopefully, his rehab will have progressed to the point where he can ride a few miles of the PMC with me this summer. His prognosis is great and he is winning his battle against cancer every single day.
My goal is to raise $4,000 for the Pan Mass Challenge this year. The PMC requires a minimum commitment of $3,300 in funds raised; and I hope to surpass this goal in my first year.
You can contribute to our fundraiser by clicking the following link: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?EgiftID=AS0156
I'd like to thank you all for reading so far, and I hope you'll be able to support the Pan-Mass Challenge, and my fundraiser, for cancer research.
Thanks all,
-Andrew
Brett, smiling post op:
