Cancer didn't touch my family for the first 35 years of my life.
But I always imagined how it might go if it did. A family member hears they have cancer from their doctor, we have a family meeting, we gird ourselves for the prognosis, the family member bravely goes through treatment and then the cancer goes into remission.
That's not how things went on July 31, 2020.
At the height of the pandemic, I got a phone call from my dad, who could barely get the words out as he cried and stammered, "mom's in the hospital. it's breast cancer."
Without notice, my mom was now facing stage IV cancer. She battled her way out of the hospital, a rehabilitation center, and back home over the next few months. I always knew my mom was brave, but her strength and resolve in those few months felt superhuman.
Once home, it was time to begin cancer treatment. With Dr. Freedman at Dana Farber, a plan was put in place to keep the cancer at bay for as long as possible.
Miraculously, through my mom's strength and Dana Farber's team, that same treatment plan is still in place over four years later.
My mom has always put her family first. I am on the team with Dana Farber for a second time because I want to give to my mom even a fraction of what she has always given to me. I'm back after the 2023 Boston Marathon didn't go my way -- an ankle injury at the beginning of training turned into tendinitis. I still lined up to run the first half of Boston, just to get a taste of its magic, and we still raised nearly $10,000 for Dana Farber and cancer research.
I have unfinished business this time around. And together I believe we can raise over $12,500 between now and May 2025.
Please consider donating. It would mean the world to my family and me.
With gratitude,Ben
