The FitRev Games: Get Fit, Do Good.

Posted February 14, 2016

Join us on Sunday March 6th from 8:30 – 10:00 AM for The FitRev Games, a combination of three of your favorite classes (Fit Ride, Tabata & Fit Cross) in one super-challenging workout ALL FOR A GREAT CAUSE! This time around 100{92744473441628ad373e5594fb1f7300da9eccde7b9b005da5899a2b1d424281} of the funds we raise will go toward brain cancer research.

This cause is dear to Fit Revolution as our good friend and fellow FitRev member, Kate Tiberio and her husband, Mike, continue to brave his brain cancer diagnosis with an undeniable amount of perseverance and grace. Chances are you know Kate and/or have seen her at FitRev, and you probably have no idea of the challenges she and Mike continue to face. Many people say they won’t let a diagnosis define them; Kate & Mike surely don’t. They remain positive and take each day as it comes. FitRev couldn’t be more excited to help this rock-star couple in finding a cure for brain cancer.

Read Kate’s story below.

Six years ago our lives suddenly changed when I got a call from Mike saying he was being taken to a hospital in Las Vegas, because he had a seizure awaiting takeoff for the return leg of his business trip. The doctors quickly discovered a large mass in the right frontal lobe of Mike’s brain. The initial prognosis was, as usual, vague and frightening. I spent days working through the shock and fear and seemingly endless hours on the phone tracking down doctors. Luckily, some of the best neurosurgeons in the world are here in Boston.  So twelve days later, after extensive consultations, tests, and scans, the best surgical team we could find spent 10 hours, instead of the planned 6, to remove 90{92744473441628ad373e5594fb1f7300da9eccde7b9b005da5899a2b1d424281} of what the neurosurgeon described as “…a giant tumor that collapsed the center of the brain.”

The apparent victory was short lived. Just 3 days later, Mike was diagnosed with a rare and extremely dangerous form of meningitis, which required immediate brain surgery. The infection and invasive second surgery resulted in more physical and mental deficits than were predicted, but we were able to find some relief in the report that the tumor was classified as ‘”benign and very slow growing.” We could expect 5-20 years of monitoring for it to change.

Initial recovery was a difficult six months with one more surgery, but during this time our second son, Zach, was born. Mike and I were enjoying our boys and hoping to focus on family.  After another six months of recovery, Mike was mostly back to normal, except for daily seizures affecting his left arm and leg.

When the tumor started growing just two years later, it was a terrible blow.  This was the first time we heard the words “brain cancer.” Those shocking words motivated us to find a precise fit in neuro oncologists. Fortunes finally turned, and we were connected with one of the best in the country – Dr. David Reardon, who had recently arrived in Boston to head up research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Not only is he an amazing doctor and researcher, but Dr. Reardon is a compassionate and caring person.   

Over the last 4+ years Dr. Reardon has helped us navigate standard and experimental approaches to treat Mike’s brain cancer. Unfortunately, the results have been disappointing and options have been severely limited, due to a lack of funding for research and the mortality rates of study participants.

Mike has tried all the “standard of care” treatments, including four surgeries, two extended rounds of chemotherapy, and over 40 sessions of radiation, none of which have stopped the tumor from growing. Given the failure of all treatments to date, Mike’s only hope is for a new treatment to become available.

We are very fortunate to be working with Dr. Reardon, who is the Director of Clinical Research at Dana-Farber, where they are exploring some promising alternatives, including leveraging the body’s own immune system. Although brain cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers, research funding is extremely difficult to come by.  Institutes like Dana-Farber have the talent and technology to advance the fight against brain cancer, but they are lacking one of the most important resources – money.

We humbly ask for your help in supporting the important research Dr. Reardon’s team is doing every day to help Mike and many others who are fighting similar brain cancers.

We are thankful to our friends at Fit Revolution who have designed a fun and healthy way to support Dr. Reardon’s work. FitRev is generously donating all proceeds to Dr. Reardon’s research efforts at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

We look forward to seeing you at The FitRev Games on Sunday March 6th @ 8:30AM.

Register for The FitRev Games now!

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