Most people love Christmas and New Year’s, but my favorite holiday rolls around every February, when my friends and family don orange clothing and cycling shoes to join Cycle for Survival’s annual New York City ride.
Cycle for Survival is a nonprofit organization that partners with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to fund for groundbreaking rare cancer research and clinical trials. Participants form teams, and the fundraising culminates in electrifying stationary-biking events held in 16 cities nationwide. Picture a SoulCycle class on steroids, interspersed with inspiring stories from current and former cancer patients, their family members, and the doctors that work to save lives with the money raised.
“There’s laughter, tears, and grunts of exertion in equal measure.”
But, this event is more than just a workout—it’s a way to give back to the community that saved my mom’s life.
Thirteen years ago, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was only seven years old, but I knew the risks: cancer is a deadly disease, and with this diagnosis, our lives would never be the same. My mom endured five grueling rounds of chemotherapy at MSK, while working a full-time job and raising two young children. She is undoubtedly the strongest woman I know, and will celebrate twelve years in remission this fall. I am unbelievably proud of her, but I know she couldn’t have reached this milestone alone.
Thanks to the donors who funded rare cancer research, doctors found a cure for Hodgkin’s lymphoma—one that did not exist fifty years ago. I feel so lucky that my mom was diagnosed with a kind of cancer that now has a cure, knowing that if she was diagnosed years earlier, the outcome could have been very different. My family has supported Cycle for Survival and its mission since my mom’s diagnosis because rare cancer research is significantly underfunded and over half of all people diagnosed with cancer have a rare cancer. In fact, well-known cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid, ovarian, brain, pancreatic, and all pediatric cancers qualify as rare cancers. Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which my mom had, is one of the few rare cancers with a cure. Thanks to the important cancer research that developed this cure, Mom watched me graduate high school and dropped me off at college, when I once feared that she wouldn’t live long enough to watch me finish second grade.
If cancer has affected you or someone you care about, I strongly urge you to support Cycle’s campaign, however you can. Every dollar donated goes directly to MSK rare cancer labs, where researchers develop new treatments for over 400 types of cancer. Together, we can turn more rare cancers into curable ones, and ensure that no families have to face the fears that mine did.