WHY I RIDE

Year 4 - to be honest, I can't believe it's only been that long...some days it feels like I've been a part of Pedal the Cause for much longer and others it seems like just yesterday this all happened. I'm honored to once again be co-captaining our Gynecological Oncology Team - Gyn Onc Teal on Wheels - with my lead oncologist and friend, Dr. Andrea Hagemann.

This year I will be not only riding in both the gravel and road portions of Pedal the Cause, BUT I'll be completing a 29029 Everesting event in Utah at the end of August. Why, because I can and because cancer research is important for all of us.

January 19th, 2017 - At 36 years of age, a part-time, single mom of two young children, I took on the fight for my life - I never saw cancer survivor being added to my title, let alone with the word ovarian in front of it.

Prior to being diagnosed, what did I know about ovarian cancer - nothing, except that in more cases than not, the prognosis is grave. No one ever told me about the symptoms or that it could happen to someone my age. I had no clue that the weight loss, exhaustion, lower back pain, indigestion, uti-like symptoms, and labor-like abdominal/pelvic pain I had that landed me in the hospital, were all tell-tale signs. No one ever told me I wasn't screened for this during my annual exam - the number of young women who don't know this, is staggering. The question I was asked most often by my friends and some acquaintances was I mean, when was the last time you had your annual exam??? The look you get when you respond with there isn't a screening test in place for ovarian cancer, it's not part of your annual exam? is one you won't forget. I'm sure I had the same look on my face as I was scouring the internet trying to figure out how in the world this happened to me. To this day, we still don't know how I ended up with ovarian cancer, or why they would find endometrial cancer during the de-bulking process.

I was diagnosed at Stage 1C, something that rarely happens in the ovca world. After two surgeries, 6 rounds of chemotherapy, I heard the words N.E.D on July 3rd of 2017 - and haven't had a recurrence to date.

Two weeks after tackling the Century Ride in 2018 I underwent a prophylactic bi-lateral mastectomy due to family history. Four weeks after that I'd have my gallbladder removed and biopsied due to a change in size on a polyp. And the first week in February I completed my breast reconstruction process.

It takes world-class research to create a world without cancer. Please help me in this journey by donating to my ride, and give with confidence knowing that 100% of your donation will go directly to accelerating cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Thank you to those of you who have donated in the past and will donate this year - we couldn't do this without you!