10 years ago, I had surgery in New York City to remove suspected endometriosis on my abdominal organs. The surgery was a success, resulting in the removal of multiple lesions and my appendix. Five days after surgery, I was brought into my surgeon/OBGYN's office to go over my lab results, which showed Stage 1 Carcinoid Cancer (a neuroendocrine tumor - NET ) on my appendix. She had never heard of that cancer but had an oncologist friend who specialized in it, and he sent over literature that we went through together.
Over the next several months, I moved back to Buffalo to undergo a rather aggressive kitchen sink screening regimen to locate more of the cancer. I was told it was incredibly rare for it to appear in someone my age, and even more rare that it was caught so early. My team at Roswell, both at the main hospital and what is now the Scott Biehler Amherst Center, never found more, and at the end of July 2014 I was declared in remission with no evidence of disease.
Since then, I have ridden the roller coaster of emotions that come with a cancer diagnosis for any young adult. Incredible gratitude, intense grief, heavy survivors' guilt - you name it. Navigating this has been a whole lot of things, weighed down heavily by the lack of research on this type of cancer and long-term survival of its patients.
I am incredibly proud to now work at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where an NET Biobank is being housed to collect information related to NETs that will be used for research to achieve advancements in diagnosis, treatment, counseling and overall awareness of patients and their families affected by neuroendocrine tumors. This will make a MAJOR difference in eventually being able to offer easier, cheaper and less invasive screening options for NETs, and, after I give birth in September, I am looking forward to giving my samples to help further this research.
That is why I am riding (or in my case, committing to walk and exercise within the limits of my body currently) in the 2024 Ride for Roswell on June 22.
I am hoping to raise $1,000 in donations this year - $100 for every year I have been fortunate enough to be in remission. I do this in hopes that this great research can continue to make a difference if not for us, but for the generations that come after us.
I also raise this money in honor of those who've lost their lives to cancer, especially Kevin, Patrick, Cait, Casey, Chris, Vinnie, Jim, and countless others, as well as my fellow survivors and patients as they navigate their cancer journeys.