Help Katherine raise money

I am so excited to join Team IMPACT Melanoma once again on August 20th, 2023- this time for the Falmouth Road Race!

Raising money for the Boston Marathon with Team IMPACT in 2022 felt rewarding for a lot of reasons. Losing a cousin to melanoma, my own melanoma diagnosis, multiple surgeries, immunotherapy, PA school and a pandemic all gave me plenty of motivation for those long winter training runs! 

   ^{My two biggest cheerleaders!}

^{Hugs from Finley and Keegan mid marathon!}

I started my job as a radiation oncology PA at Brigham and Women’s/ Dana Farber Cancer Institute in July of 2022. I’m so grateful to have taken this position, as I work with the best providers and most inspirational patients. That being said, it can be difficult to watch patients endure so much pain while they undergo treatment. Other than prescribing pain medications, I often feel very helpless and wish there was more I could do. 

Running for Team IMPACT means so much more to me since starting my job at BWH/DFCI. I’m constantly amazed at the resilience these patients demonstrate while undergoing radiation for a variety of cancers, including melanoma. There have been so many advancements in melanoma treatment (shoutout to Russ Jenkins and all his research!!)  over the last few years, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. In the meantime, I’m continuing to fundraise for IMPACT melanoma to help increase skin cancer education, prevention, and support for families fighting melanoma. 

At the very least, I hope this post is the reminder you needed to wear your sunscreen, schedule your skin check (shameless plug for Alexis Perkins) and invest in excellent sun-protective clothing this summer!

Thank you so much for your time and generosity. See you at the finish line! 

With gratitude,

Katherine

   ^#hypesquad