KENNEBUNK, Maine — According to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, its cancer hospital was ranked #4 globally—the only hospital in New England to be ranked for oncology.
Every summer, thousands of people participate in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon that raises money for the hospital's cancer research and treatment.
One Mainer, Abraham Landau, is preparing to ride in his sixth Pan-Mass Challenge after his life was forever changed in 2015, making him a Dana-Farber patient ever since. He went for a routine physical and his doctor called afterward, saying his blood work looked off and he needed more testing.
"It was Friday and ER's are crazy. They were telling people a 4-5 hour wait. I went to the front desk and they said, 'Your room is right over here.' I was like, 'Oh no, something is off,'" Landau said.
Twenty-four hours of testing later, he received news that changed his life.
"It turned out I had testicular cancer and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)," Landau said. "You know, statistically, people don't get two types of cancer at once."
There wasn't much he could do but begin taking a chemo drug. The CML medication had two side effects: nausea and weight gain.
"I slowly gained 75 pounds. It got to the point where I was like, 'Okay, I need to figure out how to work harder than this drug or that'll be what hurts me,'" he explained.
Ultimately, this experience inspired him to participate in his first Pan-Mass Challenge. This August will be his sixth time participating in the event.
"Everyone that rides in the PMC has that common goal of what they are riding for, but for living proof riders, it's a little bit more," Landau said.
One hundred percent of donations raised from the challenge go to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
If you'd like to donate to Abraham's team, more information is available here.