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LOWVELO26

November 7, 2026
Brittlebank Park & Isle of Palms
Isle of Palms, SC 29451 US
Fundraiser

Kathy McKee

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$10,463

Raised of $100,000

I will ride - "living" with cancer

Jamie and I have been supporting this ride since its inception.  We have raised thousands of dollars for MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, in support of those we know fighting cancer. 

And this year I am the one that we ride for, that we fundraise for, that we have empathy for…

I am now - the one with cancer ..It’s still difficult to believe.   

A visit to my primary care physician for what I assumed was a mild respiratory infection - resulted in a CT-scan at a local small hospital to rule out a pulmonary embolism.  Instead, the test indicated a mass in my right lung.  

As I walked to my car in a stupor, I thought… “this isn’t happening. I am only 61 years old.  Kyle just got married 2 months ago.  I am just having a nightmare”. I literally blinked to try and wake up.

But it was real.

Jamie and I are lucky to have a good friend in our neighbor, Dr Tim Whelan - who is a lung transplant specialists at MUSC, and works with Dr Gerard Silvestri (Lung Cancer, Pulmonologist).  Tim arranged an immediate appointment - for which we are so grateful. 

What to say about Dr. Silvestri? (besides that he has always kicked our butts fundraising for LowVelo?)… He immediately put me at ease, and was the first of so many at Hollings to say, “We’ve got this”…

He scheduled a biopsy for a few days later to determine if the mass definitely was cancer or simply a pulmonary nodule.  I never made the appointment, because the next day I had a facial seizure while biking - and was admitted to MUSC Medical Center complements of an ambulance ride..

After many scans, blood tests, that biopsy - and then a full-body MRI - on July 30th I learned   —-  I had Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

The tumor in my right lung had metastasized to the surrounding lymph nodes.  There are also multiple tumors in my lumbar and thoracic spine, a tumor in my adrenal gland, and 11 tumors in my brain.

I had no symptoms.  I had gone to my doctor simply because I seemed to have too much saliva in my mouth and sometimes when biking I would have to breath really deeply - almost like a yawn - to completely fill my lungs.

That was all…

It is mind boggling to go from thinking “I am the healthiest person I know” to “I am on steroids and anti-seizure medication - and I have cancer all over my body - and - I  am going to die”— in literally - one day.

But enter a stellar team of doctors, physician’s assistants, nurses, lab technicians, and support staff… so many people  — who are committed to not only keeping me from dying. … but keeping me - living - and living the life that I was living before I learned that I had cancer…

I have the ALK mutation of lung cancer.  There are several available generations of therapies for ALK, and a few more in clinical trial.

So for as long as I live - I take a once daily chemotherapy pill - a year’s supply costs as much as a 4 bedroom house I bought in 1999..  This pill is a “3rd generation” therapy, and designed to specifically “attack” the ALK cancer mutation.

In 2010..only 16 years ago- with my prognosis -  I would have only 9 months - oh  6 now - to live.

But today there is hope.  Many ALK lung cancer patients are living 5 - even 10 years - and with the development of new therapies.. perhaps even longer.

Why?.. Because of the past, present and future investment in cancer research in the US and around the world.

Because of facilities like MUSC Hollings Cancer Center

Because of you.

Thank you for (donating) and keeping me alive.

Kathy

 

 

 

To learn more about how your dollars are helping the fight against cancer, visit the LOWVELO Impact page.

Recognitions

Top Donors

$10,463 Raised By 90 Donors

$2,500 on behalf of Mary Lou McKee
$500 on behalf of Barbara Gilstrap
$500 on behalf of Holly Gunn
$250 on behalf of Kathy McKee
$250 on behalf of Kendra Casey
$200 on behalf of Kristina Barnhardt
$180 on behalf of Karen and Gary Myers
$150 on behalf of Heidi Moskovitz
$125 On Behalf Of David and Shari Verbance July Match
$125 on behalf of Ismet Adnan
$108 on behalf of William Schneider
$100 on behalf of Catherine O’Rourke
$100 on behalf of Christine Mitchell
$100 on behalf of Doreen STUTZMAN
$100 on behalf of Garrett Dolan
$100 on behalf of Ginny Cowie Martello
$100 on behalf of Gregory Morley
$100 on behalf of Hank Chapman
$100 on behalf of Jane Morris
$100 on behalf of Jane Wolfe
$100 on behalf of Janis DeVore
$100 on behalf of Jennifer Coulson
$100 on behalf of Jennifer Goellner
$100 on behalf of Jennilyn McCaffrey
$100 on behalf of John Riso
$100 on behalf of Julia Soyars
$100 on behalf of Karen McDonagh
$100 on behalf of Kathy McKee
$100 on behalf of Kelly DeCurtis
$100 on behalf of kim savon
$100 on behalf of Larry & Carol Armstrong
$100 on behalf of Laura Norris
$100 on behalf of laura sy
$100 on behalf of Linda Morris
$100 on behalf of Lori Dunn
$100 on behalf of Lynn Work
$100 on behalf of Madhavi Saifee
$100 on behalf of Marcia Tudor
$100 on behalf of Nancy Ugrin Bond
$100 on behalf of Nancy Lafargue
$100 on behalf of Paula Campbell
$100 on behalf of Pete Scowcroft
$100 on behalf of Rebecca Den Ouden
$100 on behalf of Robyn H Paul
$100 on behalf of Sara McDonald
$100 on behalf of Tami Dennis
$100 on behalf of Tracy L Smith
$100 on behalf of Tricia Mower
$100 on behalf of Wayne McGrew
$100 on behalf of Yvonne Giallella Linkowski
$50 on behalf of ALEXIS IGRAS
$50 on behalf of Alicia Felder
$50 on behalf of Andrea and Bryan Smith
$50 on behalf of Beth Bucy
$50 on behalf of Bruce Kidd
$50 on behalf of Carolyn Aubrey
$50 on behalf of Cheryl Keller
$50 on behalf of Dana Seymour
$50 on behalf of Douglas Skinner
$50 on behalf of eleanor kaldon
$50 on behalf of Elizabeth Jackson
$50 on behalf of Karen Gagnon McMahon
$50 on behalf of Karen Monahan
$50 on behalf of Kathryn Behuniak
$50 on behalf of Kathy Hughes
$50 on behalf of Kathy Jahn
$50 on behalf of Kathy McKee
$50 on behalf of Kelly ponticello
$50 on behalf of Marianne Unknown
$50 on behalf of Marie Mallott
$50 on behalf of Melissa & Mike Wilson
$50 on behalf of Nikki Gorman
$50 on behalf of Paul Hummel
$50 on behalf of Shea Rhodes
$50 on behalf of Stefanie Chernyakov
$50 on behalf of Susan & Bud Daley
$50 on behalf of Susan DiChiara
$50 on behalf of Susan Verbeck
$50 on behalf of Tom Callahan
$25 on behalf of Catherine Riccio
$25 on behalf of eleanor kaldon
$25 on behalf of Joyce Valenti
$25 on behalf of Julia Markway
$25 on behalf of LEIGH Berndsen
$25 on behalf of Margaret Martonosi
$25 on behalf of Patricia Quintas
$25 from Anonymous
$25 on behalf of Rosanne McCarthy
$0 On Behalf Of David and Shari Verbance July Match
$0 On Behalf Of David and Shari Verbance July Match

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