Pedal the Cause

Friends, I am a little delayed in fundraising for Pedal the Cause this year.  Maybe that is a reflection on the time I have spent in remission.  I won’t complain about that.  It has almost been three years since I was diagnosed with stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma.  Sometimes that seems like yesterday and other times it feels like many years ago.

Mantel Cell Lymphoma is a rare cancer accounting for only 6% of lymphoma cases.  When I received my diagnosis, I instructed my friends not to google the internet.  At the time, everything you read provided a life expectancy of 3-5 years.  Not good when you consider you were already stage 4!  Through all the research and new treatments, the current life expectancy has improved to 10-12 years!

With my fantastic oncology team at Siteman Cancer Center, I was placed in a trial to assist in finding better treatments for this rare cancer.   These trials are so important to find better treatments and cures for cancer.  Through these trials they have found more treatments to allow cancer patients like me to live long healthy lives.

The Pedal the Cause fundraiser is critical to the local research and treatments for patients like me.  The money raised goes directly to Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.  

People often ask me how I am doing, and I am very happy to report that I am doing great.  I still have bi-monthly treatments till November.   After that, my team will run tests every 3 months to keep an eye out for those onery cancer cells.  We know it will come back as it isn’t curable.  It is reassuring to know that while I have been in remission, trials continue to find new treatments to fight the cancer when it comes back.

Thank you to everyone who takes part in this fundraiser that is so personal to me.  Every donation counts and I am forever grateful for your support!

Karen

Pedal the Cause is hope, community and the region’s most impactful movement to end cancer. I am proud to participate and to play a part in funding groundbreaking research at our local, top-ranked institutions that is changing the way we treat and cure cancers.

Every penny of every dollar donated funds innovative cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children's Hospital, driving new treatments, clinical trials and discoveries that are improving patient outcomes. CLICK HERE to learn more about the impact of the over $51 million donated by Pedal the Cause since 2010.

Please support my efforts to create a world without cancer with a donation of any size to my fundraiser by clicking the DONATE button on my profile page.

Thank you very much!

Thank you! 

Karen

PS.  I am riding this year too!