Help Cole raise money

In 2019, at 18 years old, I went through some genetic testing and found that I have a rare genetic condition called PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome. PTEN predisposes me to a few different cancers, thyroid cancer being one of them.  A few months after the genetic testing, my doctors found a cancerous tumor on the right side of my thyroid gland. Fortunately, the tumor was detected early and was surgically removed before it could spread to other parts of my body. 

The whole process of testing and surgery was very straining mentally and physically and I hope to never deal with anything like that again.  I was very out of sorts throughout the whole process, as well as a few months afterward.  I still deal with a sense of anxiety every time a checkup comes up on my calendar, but it is not nearly as bad as it once was.

That is why I am running the 2023 Pittsburgh Marathon for Young Adult Survivors United, a health & wellness community that provides social, financial, and emotional support to young adult cancer survivors, to help people who are going through some of the same things I dealt with.