Pedal the Cause

Why do I ride?That is a good question. Back in 2007, my husband, Dan Whelan, was diagnosed with a form a testicular cancer, a Leydig Cell tumor. It is rare but not uncommon for men to have this form of testicular cancer, about 7 on 1000 men will have a Leydig Cell tumor. We were told at that time that is was benign, God Bless, go about your life! And we did. We had some bumps  along the way. We ended up with a new kind of doctor, an endocrinologist, Dr. Skor, who helped keep Dan working right  as his body stopped producing testosterone. Dan picked up his life where he left off, he ran marathons - one or two each year from 2007-2010 including the Goofy in 2009 (look it up, it is a crazy one) and in 2010 on 10/10/10 Dan ran his 10th marathon. He continued to fly for Southwest Airlines, he coached soccer for his kids and was busy with many other family things. As he was starting his training for a marathon in the Spring of 2011, something wasn't right but, true to his nature, Dan pushed on. Finally, he couldn't ignore the signs and on May 10th, 2011 Dr. Skor told Dan he wasn't[t leaving the his office until we figured this out. A few hours later the answer presented itself - his benign tumor wasn't benign anymore, it was back. Dan was diagnosed with Metastatic Leydig Cell Tumor. This was so very rare. throughout his time with this cancer, Dan was the ONLY person alive with it. It is good to be unique but not when you have cancer. This diagnoses began an odyssey of treatments to include 5 major surgeries, removing a large part of his liver, gall bladder, part of a lung as well as 5 tumors. He had a tumor frozen and ablated.  He carried a biliary tube for a year to regrow his bile duct internally (so cool).  Dan had a defibrillator placed in his chest for heart related issues. He had 4 rounds of chemo, 5 rounds of radiation, and 36 rounds of immunotherapy. We had many many great doctors who entered our sphere, almost too many to mention. We had so many great nurses and aides who helped us along the way during this odyssey. We could not have gotten as far as we did without all of those people. Our family was a huge support as well. 

Throughout all this, Dan kept up his desire to run a marathon again and to return to flying. He continued to coach his kids in soccer and then become a sideline dad when they went to high school. When part of his lung was removed, breathing while running became a challenge so Dan took up endurance bike riding and started to ride and raise money for Pedal the Cause. Dan knew his cancer was not going to be researched like some of the other cancers are researched. But he also knew his story was unique and would help raise money. Dan always believed, as I do too, that if we can get the right doctor the right amount of money at the right time, the doctor will be able to solve the cancer question and help cure this disease. Sadly, Dan lost his battle against cancer in October 2017. My kids and I picked up his torch to raise money for cancer research and we ride because he cannot any longer.  While Dan did not have Pancreatic Cancer, many of his doctors worked on and with this type of cancer. That is why we ride on this team - to support this team of researchers and specialist who want to cure cancer. 

I hope to help raise money so that right doctor will find cure so no family has to go through what we have been through. The Cancer fight is hard and long. The loss of a dad, husband, brother, son, uncle, mom, sister, daughter, aunt, wife, friend is longer and harder. Let's fight so no one has to endure this kind of event in their life.