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You are here: Home / Archives for admin

May 11, 2014 by admin

“I’m cancer-free.”

The late Tim Haley

“I’m cancer-free.”

Those were the words yours truly wrote when composing a press release for a client, Tim Haley, owner of Haley’s Tire up in Maine. Tim had been diagnosed with colon cancer a few years earlier. Having gone through numerous surgeries and treatment, he had an NED reading on his last blood test. That means No Evidence of Disease.

While that’s a great story unto itself, it was even more impressive when you considered that Tim, as part of his therapy trained and participated in the Pan Mass Challenge. Not only did Tim complete the 200+ miles from Sturbridge to P-town, but his team, Team Headstrong, raised $75,000 for Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund.

As the PR firm charged with enhancing the visibility of Tim’s chain of tire stores in Maine, Haley’s Tire, we thought it was a great opportunity to raise the visibility of stores and the cause. Particularly in light of Tim’s most recent NED test.

I’m the one who wrote the release and it was my idea to use the words “cancer-free”. And it worked. The Portland Press Herald wrote an article. That was in June.

Closer to the ride, Tim began to feel some discomfort. His training had aggravated scar tissue from previous surgeries. He was in the hospital on Friday, the day before the ride. It didn’t look like he was going to be able to participate. Lance Armstrong even sent a video message the morning of the ride.

Tim didn’t participate in the ride, but checked out of the hospital and drove down from Maine to root on Team Headstrong.

The rest of the story you can probably guess. The cancer returned. Within a year, Tim was gone, leaving behind a wife and four-year-old daughter. He was 44, just a few years younger than me with a daughter around my daughter’s age.

The death of someone I barely knew hit surprisingly hard.

Logically, I know writing a press release didn’t cause Tim’s relapse. The medical reasons were there. Yet as someone who subscribes to the idea of karma and Murphy’s Law, it bothered me that I pushed for him to put that into the release. It has haunted me ever since.

Every year since, I receive e-mails from Tim’s widow. Team Headstrong rides on and there are several fundraisers in Tim’s memory each year.  I’ve wanted to participate in one for the longest time, but the distance, time, etc. always seem to get in the way. At least that’s what I told myself. This year is different.

I recently turned 50. While I pray to God there’s a lot more life left, this milestone birthday has made me aware of my own mortality. I have always wanted to ride in the Pan Mass Challenge. The fundraising intimidated me. The idea of training for a two-day ride didn’t thrill me either. Yet I wanted my entry into my last half century to mean something. So I signed up for the Pan Mass Challenge and began the task of raising a minimum of $3200.

Many will raise a lot more than that. I hope to be one of those. But what’s really important to me is to set my karma straight.

Tim Haley will be one of many people with me on my ride in spirit. On approaching every hill, I’ll be asking for his help to power through. I’m not sure I’ll feel a tailwind or anything. But I will remember the words that Tim had engraved on a paperweight on his desk:

“When you are going through hell, keep going.” –Winston Churchill

My life is so far from hell, it’s not funny. Tim’s wasn’t, but you would never know it by the way he conducted himself in his last years. And that’s what will push me through to not only finish the ride, but hit my goal of $3800.

If you would like to help, please go tohttp://www2.pmc.org/profile/JD0448.

Filed Under: Blog

November 29, 2013 by admin

One last Movember ‘thank you’

It’s Thanksgiving morning and my heart is full. I have a beautiful wife, wonderful kids, great extended family. Everybody is, for the most part, happy and healthy. I’m truly blessed.

I am also extremely grateful to have been part of a Movember fundraising effort that’s raised well over $1,000 for the My Pinnacle Network Movember team. The response has been overwhelming. It’s quite true what they say that when you give you get.

The Movember fundraiser ends on Saturday, November 30. I have been informed that I’m but a few hundred dollars away from achieving their Platinum Club status for raising more than $1,000 as an individual. It would be quite an honor to achieve that status. If you can help with a small donation, that would certainly be appreciated by the men who are fighting the good fight against prostate cancer.

I remember when my father had his surgery for his prostate cancer. I had booked a vacation to Club Med Moorea in Tahiti before he set the date. So, I was literally on the other side of the world when he had the surgery. I was in a paradise thousands of miles away, but my mind and heart were with him.

Dad made it through the surgery with flying colors. But I never felt so helpless in my life. That’s part of why I’ve been so passionate about this fundraiser (some might say annoying). If we can prevent future sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, husbands and wives from feeling this way, then all the effort will have been worth it.

I’ll close by wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. Here’s my link if you want to donate http://us.movember.com/mospace/1515062. You can also send a check made out to ‘Movember’, referencing my registration ID: 1515062 and mailing it to: Movember US, P.O. Box 1595, Culver City, CA 90232.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody and God bless.

Joe

Filed Under: Blog

November 24, 2013 by admin

The pact

On a mission to raise Mo money for Movember

When our daughter was born seven years ago, I made a pact. She would have me as long as I have had my father. Thankfully, the number of years that I have to keep on living rises by the day as my father is going strong at age 78.

There are a number of factors contributing my father’s longevity. Heredity certainly was not one of them. His mother died at 38 and his father at 53 to cancer. So when at 50 it was discovered he had a tumor in his jaw, we prayed for the best but prepared ourselves for the worst. Thank God, the tumor was benign and my father recovered fully.

This brush with death set him on a path most men don’t travel. He actually paid close attention to his health. He was never one to not see a doctor like so many men (“nothing wrong with me”). But this made him stick to a regular schedule of checkups and alerting his doctor if anything seemed awry. That’s why his prostate cancer was detected early.

Doctors will tell you if you contract prostate cancer past a certain age you will most likely die from some other cause. With all the nerve endings in that part of the body, there’s a certain risk that removal can create a number of other side effects, like incontinence. Dad weighed all those things. In the end, his doctor’s words probably made the decision for him:

“You will probably die from something else, but I would feel much better with that tumor in a jar in my office than in your body.”

Decision made, he went through with the surgery. It was a fairly short recovery time. The procedure took place just after Thanksgiving. At Christmas, he enjoyed the holidays with his family, meeting my girlfriend and her two children for the first time.

I’ve made him aware of the pact over the last few years. It’s something that goes into each birthday card. Besides wishing him a happy birthday, I encourage him to keep raising the bar. He has and I vow to do the same for my children.

Prostate cancer robs too many grandfathers, fathers, brothers, sons, uncles and friends of their time on this earth. Movember is about making prostate cancer a blip on the screen rather than a life-ending result.

Please help by donating to my Movember campaign. The last day is on Saturday, Movember 30. Thank you, in advance, for your help and support.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Movember, Movember fundraiser

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