Feature Story: Running With Gratitude

MASCO Senior Accountant Adam Chamberlain won a coveted spot on the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s 2014 Marathon Team by sheer determination, and keeping a promise to his dad.

“My father has been my biggest fan and my best friend for as long as I can remember. So, when he suffered a heart attack four years ago, we were prepared to do whatever it took to support his recovery,” said Adam.  

What Adam and his family weren’t quite ready for was the kidney cancer stage TIIIA diagnosis his dad, Scott, now 60, received as he recovered from his heart attack. The cancer diagnosis came with a high probability of recurrence and a low five-year survival rate.

The next three years were spent fighting the cancer using all the traditional methods. There were dozens of scans, participation in a drug trial to prevent recurrence and multiple surgeries to remove it when it returned. After a scan In January of 2013 showed yet another recurrence, the doctors suggested moving on to an alternative form of therapy. He was given two options, begin a regimen of drugs known to slow the growth which comes with moderate side effects, or find a hospital that offered HD-IL2.

For Adam’s family, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was that hospital. They immediately met with Dr. David McDermott, Director, Biologic Therapy and Cutaneous Oncology Programs at BIDMC to review the benefits and risks of the HD-IL2 treatment.

High Dosage Interleukin 2 (HD-IL2) is a very intense treatment with severe side effects, and low probability of success. The upside is that if treatment is successful there would be no need for an additional drug regimen and five year survival rates are extremely favorable. There are only a few hospitals in the country that offer HD-IL2, and BIDMC is one of them.  Dr. McDermott explained that many hospitals do not offer the treatment due to its high costs to operate the program, when compared to the low success rate. However, BIDMC’s philosophy is that if there is a treatment available that can give patients a chance at recovery, they want to be able to offer that treatment.

“Dr. McDermott and his team at BIDMC had our backs every step of the way,” said Adam.

Due to the extreme nature of HD-IL2 patients must pass a series of tests to ensure they are healthy enough to survive the treatment. Scott was well prepared for these tests because he had completed his fourth half marathon one month earlier. Along with all the negative things happening to his body, he also started running. Running became a therapeutic distraction that allowed him to keep his body healthy, his mind clear and his outlook focused on his next goal.

“Running brought us together as a family. In November 2010, five months after his kidney surgery, my dad, my sister and I ran the Wine & Dine Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. We started running to support my father during his heart rehabilitation program, and we were determined not to let a little kidney surgery get in the way of reaching our goal of finishing our first half marathon together. A year later, a few weeks before his first lung surgery we were in Walt Disney World again, running the Wine & Dine Half, this time with my mother. In March of 2012, a mere three months after that surgery, while doctors are pleased if patients are just walking comfortably around their home, my dad and I were on the start line of the New Bedford Half Marathon,” said Adam.

Because of Scott’s dedication to his training and the support of his family, he passed his lung capacity test with levels higher than average for his age group. He passed all the tests necessary to start HD-IL2, and got the green light to schedule treatment.

Adam has been running ever since, completing marathons and half marathons with his sister all around the country. In May, Scott finished his treatment at BIDMC, is slowly getting back into training and is looking forward to his next race which will be the “26.2 with Donna” breast cancer marathon in February. Then, Adam’s off to Hopkinton in April.

“My dad took on the Granddaddy of cancer treatments, so the least I can do is take on the Granddaddy of marathons, and support the amazing people and hospital that gave me my dad back,” he said. 

Adam has committed to raise at lest $7500.00 as part of his participation with the BIDMC Marathon team. 

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