Update on Tom's Fight (March 2024)
Meet Tom, fighter & two-time Ewing Sarcoma Cancer survivor. He is my husband, the father of our 2 boys, a son, brother and good friend to so many. Tom spent most of 2023 battling a Ewing Sarcoma recurrence on his lumbar spine. Ewing Sarcoma is an extremely rare bone cancer; less than 1,000 cases are diagnosed annually in the United States. A Ewing Sarcoma local recurrence is the rarest of rare; his doctors have never treated any patient in his situation. Despite another challenging year, Tom's determination to fight and will to survive pushed him across the finish line of treatment. In early 2024, we received the miraculous news that Tom's scans show no evidence of active tumor. Currently, he is doing very well and will be monitored with quarterly scans. Tom's success story is truly remarkable.
Our Cancer Journey
In October 2019, after weeks of experiencing excruciating back and hip pain, an MRI revealed a tumor on his lumbar spine. Ten months later, after being treated with aggressive chemotherapy and radiation he was officially in remission, just in time to welcome our first-born, Ty. In May 2022, we welcomed another sweet baby boy, Jack. At the beginning of 2023, scans unfortunately revealed a tumor in the same exact location. Fast forward to the end of 2023, Tom completed 8 months of intensive chemotherapy (35 total infusions) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Local Ewing Sarcoma is most effectively treated systemically with chemotherapy and locally, with either surgery and/or radiation. Although, it becomes more difficult to treat it the same way the second time around. We considered all of our options and elected to undergo a cutting-edge treatment option from Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC called hypofractionated radiation therapy.
My Why
Running the Boston Marathon has been a personal dream of mine for decades. I chose to run this year for so many reasons: to express gratitude towards the doctors and nurses at DFCI who have contributed to saving Tom's life, to stand by my husband, to support the cutting-edge research being conducted at DFCI and to help save lives of future patients. We are fortunate, and it breaks my heart knowing that this rare disease has unfairly taken the lives of so many others, including children. The 128th Boston Marathon is so special to our family and I feel incredibly honored to lace up my running shoes to support this mission.
Endless gratitude goes out to all of my donors for your support.
