In April 2022, I ran my first marathon and raised an unbelievable $20,253 to support cancer research at Dana-Farber. During that training season, and throughout the tough patches of the marathon when everything hurt, I reminded myself how fortunate I was to be healthy enough to train for and run a marathon. I thought of those whose lives were cut short by cancer - my grandfather, several family friends, and too many of my patients. I especially thought of the patients I lost who were my age or even younger, and wondered what big goal they would have chased if they had been given the time and the health.
I also ran with so much gratitude to cancer researchers whose life work allowed my Aunt Ann to be cheering for me from mile 15. She was thriving on a clinical trial for ovarian cancer at that time. But after receiving nine different lines of therapy, including several Phase I clinical trials at DFCI, she passed away on May 13, 2023 at the age of 58. As many know, Aunt Ann was not "just an aunt" to me. I lived with her for nearly three years during PA school (rent-free!), she shared her high-end clothes, shoes, bags, and life advice with me, and introduced me to so many of my favorite places in Boston. She was the cool, young aunt, who sometimes felt more like a big sister.
Aunt Ann loved life so much. She traveled, entertained, spent days on the beach, housed several nieces and nephews, and worked incredibly hard to be able to do all of those things. I'm so thankful that she was my aunt and I am grateful for the quality time she gained from her care at Dana-Farber. But still, my family and I are also so pained by her absence - we miss her quick wit, sense of humor, and advice to buy whatever overpriced thing you are thinking of buying.
So this year, I will run again in her memory, because I'm so lucky that my health allows me to train for a marathon. Not only do I hope to beat my marathon time, but I hope to beat my fundraising goal so that someone else's 'Aunt Ann' will live beyond 58.
I promise to work hard this training season to beat my time, will you donate to help beat my fundraising goal?
Thank you for your support! Together, we're headed toward the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer.
