I’m honored once again to raise funds and ride in this great event – as well as serve as co-captain for Team Bumble Bee. This year is very different personally. Here’s why:
On September 11, 2001, the day of the terror attacks on our country, I was a Supervisory Special Agent assigned to the FBI’s Pittsburgh Division. That day, I responded to the United Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It was a hypertoxic scene. At the site, I had no personal protective equipment (hazmat suit or mask). I was there in a two-piece business suit and tie.
Several years after the attacks, first responders at all three crash sites (New York, Washington, DC, and Shanksville) were becoming ill and some were dying. I lost two of my FBI Agent friends in my division to cancers that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) ruled were caused by exposure to the Flight 93 site. Other FBI Agents were dying too – including one from melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. For all crash sites, the number of first responders who developed skin cancer was very high. So far, 22 FBI first responder personnel have died because of crash site exposure. Many more are ill with many afflictions from cancer to lung disease.
Years after the attacks, I had several non-serious basal cell carcinoma skin cancers and one squamous cell skin cancer removed.
Then, in 2018, I saw a new mole on my left arm. At a routine dermatology appointment, my doctor biopsied the area and determined that it was a melanoma. It was surgically removed.
In January 2022, my dermatologist removed a second melanoma.
In February 2022, my dermatologist removed a third melanoma.
In August 2022, my dermatologist removed a fourth melanoma. Even if a melanoma is removed, there is a chance that cells from it may have migrated to other locations in the body – often to lymph nodes and from there other parts of the body – which may be deadly.
In September 2022, I began seeing my oncologist for monitoring. The CDC sponsors the World Trade Center Health Program. I became a member of that program. After an examination from the World Trade Center Health Program, the CDC ruled that my skin cancers are related to my exposure as a first responder to the Flight 93 crash site.
On January 20, 2024, I found a small lump at the top of my leg. I immediately suspected that the melanoma had spread.
Two days later, I saw my primary physician who ordered an ultrasound which showed a swollen lymph node. Several days later, my doctor removed the lymph node, and found a second swollen lymph node nearby which he removed also. Pathology showed that the melanoma had indeed spread to both lymph nodes.
My oncologist ordered immediate scans. After these exams, my oncologist said that – fortunately – they showed no visible spread of any disease and that no further surgery would be necessary for now. But to ensure that all microscopic melanoma tissue is removed, he ordered immunotherapy every three weeks for the next year. I will have constant blood work done, as well as frequent PET Scans, physical exams, and dermatology exams – forever.
The time after discovery was very dark and dreadful. Every cancer patient relates to that terrible time. Fortunately, barring unforeseen circumstances, I plan to participate in this year’s event. All of my treatments have come through research. Like so many others, I owe the researchers so much. The best way I can repay them is by paying it forward – by continuing donations to, and fundraising for, Padres Pedal the Cause.
Link to the event: https://www.curebound.org/padrespedal
Join me.
