Hi All,
I'll give you as much as the story as I can. The reason I've gone public with this story is Colon cancer is now the #1 killer for people under 50 and the number two killer of all cancers. My story is unique and hopefully it will be a call to action for many of you. In October of 2021 I ran my first Boston marathon and also had my annual physical where my good friend and primary Dr. let me know that the Colonoscopy standard had changed from 50 to 45 and now at 46 I was eligible. So for once in my life I listened and scheduled it for January. I went about my daily life and was doing some speed work with my coach before trying to make a big improvement on my 1st Boston time in April. Come January 1st I was in a great place family, work, and was in the best running shape of my life. If you saw a picture of me I would have been the last person in my friend group anyone would have expected to be sick. So I went to my 1st routine Colonoscopy on January 5th and lo and behold it didn't go well. lol When they send in the care counselor from Oncology and start asking you a bunch of questions about symptoms in recovery well there's something up. I had no symptoms whatsoever and on Jan 6th it was confirmed and after MRI's, CT', and Pet scans it was determined I had Stage 4 Colon cancer with 7 Liver spots.

I'll fast forward a little bit. I go to Mayo get a plan and come back to Cedar Rapids, IA. to start my chemo on Feb 1st. I felt pretty good and told my Mayo Dr's I qualified for Boston and I'm gonna be there in April. While they didn't say no we had a few skeptics in the room The first day of chemo I received an I Know Jack Backpack about a tremendous young man who was diagnosed at 5 with brain cancer and him and his family went through hell. He's still with us and is 23 now. THAT backpack changed my life and is the reason I'm writing this post. At that moment when I heard this family's story and how they made Lemonade out of rotten Lemons. I felt a tap on the shoulder that it was my time to do something! So we figured you can't get a better platform then running the Boston marathon while doing chemo!

So we did 2 things we started a soon to be Foundation called Tell5friends.org Everyone asks you what can they do?? So we came up with you can tell your 5 best friends to get a Colonoscopy at 45 or if having symptoms. We've done this since February and one of my best friends wife was diagnosed Stage 3 possibly 4 just recently and 10 other friends have had cancerous polyps removed during Colonoscopy. Our goal was simply to save 1 life and as many more as we could after that! We feel like that goal has already been accomplished and hopefully you will join us in this mission to get out the word about Colonoscopies! The 2nd thing we did was start a fundraiser so we can get as many backpacks in cancer patients who are going through radiation or chemo. If you need one for yourself or a friend please email me at [email protected] and I'll get one sent out. We also raise money for a kids cancer camp that they attend with medical personnel on staff and free of charge. If you feel inclined to help us out great, but our main mission is to raise awareness about Colonoscopies! I've been on this board since almost the beginning and met many of you at games. I consider you my Ramily and hope this post can make a difference in you and your friends lives! As for me I had major surgery, recovered, my scans are now clear, and I'm hopefully finishing up my last chemo in October. Here's the link to our fundraising story.

Thank you for reading!! Sorry long post!



[Post edited by Good SHEPHERD at 08/16/2022 10:38PM]