Late one night, in August 2017, I found myself in the emergency room at Brigham and Women's Hospital. My lovely wife, Jessica, was experiencing severe pain and discomfort in her stomach; a subsequent CT scan revealed a large, obstructing mass in her colon. Jess underwent emergency surgery to remove the mass, and hours later our worst fears were realized when Jess was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Additional testing revealed that the cancer had spread to Jess's liver, and another surgery was necessary as soon as possible. Just four months after celebrating the greatest day of our lives, when we welcomed our beautiful daughter Eleanor into the world, we found ourselves living our worst day. Shocked, saddened, and terrified, we searched for hope as we faced an uncertain future.
Once Jess recovered from that initial surgery, she was placed in the care of a brilliant, dedicated and compassionate team of doctors, nurses, and caregivers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, all of whom were committed to saving Jess's life. We soon met with Jess's oncologist who shared the treatment plan that would begin immediately. Though the fight was only beginning, we had hope.
What followed was months of aggressive chemotherapy, surgery to remove the infected half of her liver, unexpectedly spending Christmas in the hospital, and more chemotherapy. That treatment plan, coupled with Jess's fierce resolve to fight, and refusal to quit even on the darkest days, ultimately led to her being declared cancer free in 2018.
On April 18, 2022, I was honored to participate in the 126th Boston Marathon as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. With the love and support of family, friends, friends of family, family of friends, and complete strangers, my donation page received more than $50,000 dollars. For that, I am most truly grateful.
Nearly one year later, just after a "clean" slate of scans and tests, we were surprised but not unprepared as Jess unexpectedly spent her birthday at Brigham and Women's hospital, preparing to undergo surgery on her colon to correct a not uncommon occurrence stemming from her 2017 surgery. Despite being clear of cancer, Jess was taken into the care of her team at Dana-Farber and her surgery and subsequent recovery were a success.
Jess's cancer journey, which is our family's cancer journey, will continue in the form of regular scans, tests, monitoring, and check-ins, and we are forever grateful to the incredible people at Dana-Farber for leading us through it.
This Summer, I am honored to join the Dana-Farber Team for the Falmouth Road Race. On August 18, 2024, I will join thousands of participants to run 7 miles along the beautiful Cape Cod coastline. In addition to running, I have committed to raising thousands of dollars to support some of today's most promising cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber.
Dana-Farber gave us hope. I am running to raise funds so that others currently on a cancer journey continue to find hope, and those whose journey has yet to begin may find hope should the unthinkable happen.
Thank you for your support!
Chris, Jess and Eleanor
