Ride to Conquer Cancer - Perth 2018

[paulofaus]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to share with you news about my weekend. I participated in the 2018, Ride to Conquer Cancer (Perth event) which was a terrific success.

In summary, the ride is an event in which about 1,000 cyclists ride from Perth to Mandurah (and back again) over two days.I put together a team of cyclists called TEAM ABBOTTS, which was made up of me, as captain and 12 friends and family. Our team raised (Australian) $47,000 and the whole event raised $4.1M which goes to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, which has as it's main aim to change cancer from being a killer to being a manageable disease.

I did 3 days of chemo (Cisplatin + Etoposide) just before the event, but I managed to ride 42km on day1 (out of 100km) and just the last 1km on day2 (the weather was terribly cold and wet and I didn't want to risk getting a chest infection).

On the Saturday evening 'camp-out' I was asked to get on stage and tell my story and after I was done, the 1,000+ people in the audience all stood up. It blew me away and brought a tear to my eye and a put a lump in my throat.

If anyone would like to see my summary of the event in pictures, click on the link below:

bit.ly/TeamAbbottsFinal2018

Cheers

Paul

[Nicnatno]

This is awesome Paul and very inspirational.

Nick

[paulofaus in reply to Nicnatno]

Thanks Nick.

[joancarles]

Congratulations! You are a champion and a great inspiration

[paulofaus in reply to joancarles]

Thanks Joan.

[Hazard]

Congratulations on the fund raising, great effort.

It is also great to see you on a bike while going through chemo. Keep fighting!

[paulofaus in reply to Hazard]

Cheers, I surprised myself!

[Psa73]

Congratulations on the ride, and what a wonderful story. Sounds like a great adventure and what fun.

[paulofaus in reply to Psa73]

Cheers, it was actually gruelling, but the best weekend I've had all year.

[paulofaus]

Cheers Bill, I think it's good for us to share good news stories and not just medical stuff.

[Lee70]

Congratulations Paul, well done!

Wonderful to hear so much raised towards cancer research. 👏

[paulofaus in reply to Lee70]

Thanks Lee. They are doing some excellent work at The Perkins Institute.

[dvcarola]

Great job Paul on the successful fundraising event while having fun at the same time! You are indeed an inspiration! My husband and I were also bikers/triathletes before cancer diagnosis a few months ago and slowly but surely we are trying to go back to training! All the best and keep on riding!

[paulofaus in reply to dvcarola]

Thanks, you should definitely get back into cycling, it's good for the sole and very meditative.

[Hazard]

Hi Paul, I don't want to divert attention from your brilliant fund-raising activities but I would like to ask - why did your medical team prescrfibe Cisplatin + Etoposide, and what specifically are they targetting? Do you have a specific genetic defect that is responsive to these agents or neuroendicrine PCa? I am getting results from my somatic gene tests on Monday at Peter Mac and we will agree on next treatments (one of a number of clinical trials as both ADT and docetaxal have failed) but these chemo drugs have never been mentioned as potential treatment. I have asked about carboplatin and was told that the side effects were so severe that they wouldn't provide it to patients.

Thanks, Hazard (another Paul from Oz)

[paulofaus in reply to Hazard]

Hey Paul, you can look up my post from a month or two back. I had a TURP in July and the tissue sample was sent to pathology and they identified 'small cell' cancer, which I believe is the nueroendichrine type. There have been a few posts here by Patrick O'Shea that PCa can morph into small cell in in around 17% of men and I'm one of the 'lucky' ones. I had a somatic test from my prostate cancer tissue just before I had a second TURP and radiation, I'm still waiting on the results. The combination of radiation, cisplatin and etoposide is the recommended combo, for small cell which doesn't respond to ADT. Cheers Paul.

[Hazard in reply to paulofaus]

Thanks Paul, hope this treatment does something for you.

[paulofaus in reply to Hazard]

Cheers, I hope so. I actually thing in responding as I've gone from using catheters to being incontinent, so I feel my prostate has shrunk.

[JaybeeAndGG]

Fantastic effort. And great post!

[paulofaus in reply to JaybeeAndGG]

Thanks.

[j-o-h-n]

Inspiring. "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop" (copied from the internet). You deserve a medal (maybe two). Great photos. As my wife used to say as she applauded me after we had sex "WELL DONE". Keep Peddling.

Good Luck and Good Health.

j-o-h-n Friday 10/19/2018 5:38 PM EDT

[paulofaus in reply to j-o-h-n]

Thanks John, you're a card!

[erjlg3]

Awwwwww that's so great Paul!!! You ROCK!!! That's amazing!!!

🌼Jackie

[erjlg3]

p.s. Paul

LOVED the photos and descriptions and thank you credits!! Thank you so much for sharing with us.

[paulofaus in reply to erjlg3]

Thanks Jackie. It was an awesome weekend and I was chuffed to bits at all the people who signed up to support me .

[erjlg3 in reply to paulofaus]

💖

[Apollo123]

Brilliant post. Your inspirational, I’m on my bike now feeling a lot better physically and mentally. 👍

[paulofaus in reply to Apollo123]

Awesome, great stuff, I love it!