Indianapolis Spoke

Tuesday, ‎September ‎07, ‎2010


The Indy Spoke (photos to come later... we are on the road right now)

The sun was shining bright and a West wind was blowing stiffly as riders began arriving at the Cancer Support Community in NW Indianapolis on a Tuesday evening. The Young Survival Coalition was there with bright smiles welcoming the riders with big bags of goodies from Whole Foods.

Jay Bodkin and Ken Hart put all the Spokes of Hope display in place and cheerleaders from Pike High School gathered to celebrate the riders at every turn.

Spokes of Hope Indianapolis had arrived.

Riders from IndySpeed Sports club were some of the first to arrive. It was so great to have Family there! Cyclists Combating Cancer members John Thomas, his son Ian and John Armour were there as well. John came in from Chicago to see what it would take to put on a Spoke next year on the Lake shore. Long time friend and fellow lover of the track, John Singleton rode at least 15 miles into the headwind to get there (He was later referred to as "the really strong guy in the red shorts") and Regenstrief Institute was represented by Anne Belsito and Mike Edwards.

Now it was simply "Lights, camera, action".... no, I mean literally! Spokes of Hope has a documentary film crew following it this year. Everyone was very cooperative and willing to participate in the film crews directions. What a wonderful feeling of community support!

The ride started in parade style lead out by my friend, fellow survivor and breast cancer surgeon Bob Goulet. He has a smile and laugh that could brighten any gloomy situation, but there was definitely no gloom on this ride! The rolling hills and beautiful country side were just the beginnings of a joy filled ride. Jay Bodkin captured some of this joy on his helmet cam descending one of the hills at 32 mph. Let me tell you, this was one wonderful "Wahoo" moment, flying down the hill with new rider and promising speed skater Caroline Wachtel.

Cheerleaders, friends of my daughter Madison, traveled with the sag wagon (driven by Ken) to snack stops and various points along the route. Noise makers and pom poms would pop up when you least expected it, along with support and encouragement when you most needed it.

Riders from the 30 mile ride and the 20 mile ride converged around 7:30 and rolled into the Cancer Support community together... once again united and showing support in the battle against cancer. And then John Singleton, the fast guy in red shorts, said his farewells and rode another 15 miles home.

As the rest of the riders returned, the film crew took more shots, did a few interviews, and Noodles & Company served a wonderful pasta meal in the friendly atmosphere of the Cancer Support Community. What could have been a better conclusion to a beautiful ride, than spending it with friends and family and eating pasta and cookies?

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Indianapolis, Indiana IU Simon Cancer Center

Up bright and early on Wednesday morning and the Spokes of Hope mission of the day was to make a difference in lives at the cancer center. The Spokes of Hope team was assembled, (Cindi Hart, John Armour and John Thomas) with the film crew in tow. Somehow in planning this portion of the event, we did not take into consideration that this was the first day of class on the IUPUI campus! Traffic was incredibly thick and slow and we were late arriving at the IU Simon Cancer Center.

The IU Simon Staff met us with great enthusiasm, and Dr. Goulet graciously granted us an on camera interview. The nurses spoke to some of the patients in Infusion and they were happy to have us come and speak to them.

One of the first patients we met, we decided must have just returned from touring with Larry the Cable Guy. He had us laughing so hard, we almost forgot that he was sitting there fighting pancreatic cancer.

The next patient was a triple negative breast cancer survivor, and she was in for her 3rd recurrence with mets to the brain. She was delightful, but very weak. We discovered things we had in common besides breast cancer; she was also a nurse like me. Her voice may have been weak, but her spirit was still very strong.

We met with many patients, like bees moving from flower to flower in the infusion unit. They all seemed so very happy to see us and talk with us, and it was a very fulfilling and enriching experience.

It s so very interesting watching the magic unfold before your eyes. The hundreds of people stopping to sign our banners, thanks to the wonderful receptionist who delighted in introducing visitors to our banner and mission, was affirmation that we were doing the right thing.

But the one comment that will forever stick in my mind is the couple that came up to John Armour after he was finished with his interview and congratulated him in his victory over cancer. John is just an 18 month survivor yet, so it is all still very fresh. The man congratulated him and told him that he appreciated seeing that people were able to beat cancer, because they had just taken his brother off life support. He thanked us for being there and spreading the hope, and then he and his wife walked away hand in hand.