I am proud to join Pedal the Cause in the fight against cancer. Pedal the Cause is more than the region's top cycling event. It's a way of life, a celebration, and a movement fueled by the courage to end cancer.
My first doctor's appointment was on Dec. 14, 2016, and by Dec. 28, 2016, I was in surgery. Chemotherapy followed in February 2017. I spent the balance of that year working on getting my strength back and trying to understand what had happened to me. Cancer is a terrible disease - what it does to you and those you love. My dad was deep in his cancer fight when I was diagnosed, and I found out about my dear friend Eli's cancer diagnosis in September of 2017. All of a sudden, cancer had literally invaded every corner of my life, almost overnight. Ultimately, I lost my father to cancer in February 2018, followed by Eli in September 2018. As the end neared for my dad, and eventually my friend, all I could do was watch, knowing there was nothing in the world that I, the doctors or anyone else could do to stop it - such a terrible feeling of despair and hopelessness.
Don't give up... don't ever give up - original quote from Coach Jim Valvano's acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the first ESPYS in 1993 and the motto of the V Foundation. Jim Valvano died of cancer less than two months after giving this historic speech.
I read Stuart Scott's book shortly after his death from cancer in 2015. At the time I didn't know I had cancer, I grew up watching him on ESPN and was just a fan. But, his acceptance speech for the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the 2014 ESPYS is the stuff of legend, and certainly provided additional motivation to read the book. When I was diagnosed, a quote from that book really came back to me - I'm not losing. I'm still here, I'm fighting. I'm not losing. When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live. So, live. Live. Fight like hell. And when you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you. I didn't lose to cancer, my dad didn't lose to cancer, my friend Eli didn't lose to cancer; they lived and they fought like hell... Pedal the Cause; keep fighting, help others fight for you...
February 2022 marked my 5-year anniversary of being cancer-free. Cancer took a piece of me, but it didn't get all of me. I am Living Proof that the dollars raised for cancer research really do work. I didn't lose to cancer, my dad didn't lose to cancer, and my friend Eli didn't lose to cancer; they lived and they fought like hell. Pedal the Cause, keep fighting, help others fight!
