Hi, for those who don't know me, my name is FaithAnn, and in 2025, I lost two of the most important men in my life to cancer.
In December 2023/January 2024, my father was doagnosed with Tcell Lyphoma. I watched the strongest person I knew, took on one of the scariest battle someone should have to face. But as my dad did with everything in life, he told us all it was going to all work out. So he fought and began chemotherapy.
In April 2024, my husband was diagnosed with a rare cancer called DSRCT, which took our newly engaged which was filled with wedding planning and life planning and threw us for a world of obstacles we both didn't know we were in for. My husband even though he was scared and didn't know what to expect, started fighting as well.
After months of aggressive chemotherapy, some very long stays at the hospital, my husbands cancer began to more aggressive than his treatment. In November 2024, my husband ended up in the emergency room while on vacation to visit me at my police academy in Savannah, Georgia and needed emergency surgery because he had a hole in his colon from his tumor growing through his body. They told us he was unlikely to survive this surgery but my husband was sure the miracle man. He came out of surgery and we were able to have months longer than they expected us to have. After three months in the hospital in Georgia, my husband was medically transport home to New York where he continued to find ways to fight.
During the time my husband sick, my dad was still going through treatments. After almost a year of treatments, my dad was cleared to start radiation to be sure the cancer was completely gone. But due to his "son" needing him, my dad did not leave my husband side in Georgia. In Janauary 2025, my father was hospitalized because his cancer began to to grow back fast and attack more of his body. My father spent a month in the hospital continuing to fight for us all before the cancer won. On February 20,2025, I lost my first love and my hero.
My husband continued fighting with to change doctors to see a specialist for his rare cancer. But between insurance coverage and available appointment dates this took months. On May 1, 2025, my husband was hospitalized because his cancer yet again was taking over his body in the most aggressive and silent way. After 5 days in the ICU and fighting because as he said " I'm not tired yet", husband passed away on May 6, 2025. I now lost my second love and my best friend.
Throughout both my father and husband fighting their battles, they both supported me in following my dreams and completely a lifetime goal of mine which was to become a woman in law enforcement. My dad would come and time all of my runs as I practiced. My husband would ask me for push ups because they "helped his pain". Without the support of these two men, I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today. So I run for them!
I am running with Dragon Master Initiative's Team Fired Up because Dragon Master Initiative has a data-driven approach to cancer and other disase research. They promote information sharing and seek to make research more effective by empowering collaboration. By assembling data from previous and current patients and making research data more accessible, we will find cancer cures in our lifetime.