I am participating in the 2020 Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk: Your Way with friends and family, taking steps toward the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer!
As many of you know, my daughter Alicia was first diagnosed in March of 2018 with DCIS which then became invasive. After a lumpectomy, it was staged 1B (ER+ , PR-, HER2+), and after two surgeries and lymph node removal she completed chemotherapy, radiation, she began hormone therapy and a year of adjuvant chemo (herceptin). She completed her last infusion in July of 2019. Five months later, she was overcome with pain in her ribs. I attributed this to a pulled muscle, but after weeks of discomfort, she went to urgent care. The doctors there saw masses on the ultrasounds in her liver and lungs, and sent her to the ER for a catscan. My daughter Robin and I raced into boston, and after talking to her oncologist (after midnight) they decided to admit Alicia for a biopsy. The biopsy showed that cancer had metastasized in her liver and lungs, and she has been undergoing chemo ever since. She is currently on her second line of treatment, TDM-1, which recently came off trials. I am grateful for the research that has allowed these treatments to be developed, and that keep Alicia alive, and continue to give her hope.
When you make a gift to my walk, you’re directly supporting my daughter Alicia and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s unique 50-50 balance between cutting-edge science and highly compassionate cancer care. Your support allows Dana-Farber leaders to enhance programs and initiatives that serve pediatric and adult patients and their families.
Dana Farber has been amazing to Alicia since she first walked in the doors in 2018. Almost three years later, her care team is indefatigable, and the care she receives is unparalleled. We don’t know where she’d be without her nurse Christine and her team of amazing doctors.
Please consider a donation to my Jimmy Fund walk so others fighting cancer can continue to have strength and hope and the resources to fight.
