Jim Galvanek races and raises money for cancer research.
(see original article here: http://www.fhcrc.org/patient/patient_stories/jim.html)
For the past several months, Jim Galvanek has been swimming, running and bicycling several times each week.
The training is exhausting and eats away dozens of hours, but it has a purpose. On July 20, Jim plans to cross the finish line at the Lake Placid Ironman, one of the most grueling sporting events in the world. It features a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. He hopes the ordeal will take him less than 17 hours.
Jim has subjected his body to the rigors of training for the Ironman not simply for his own benefit. With the Ironman and his fund-raising efforts for cancer research, he’s marking the 10th anniversary of a life-changing medical diagnosis and cure.
Jim remembers the date of his diagnosis well: May 5, 1998. He was a “happy, carefree, 27-year-old architect.” He had just bought his first home and his “world was going full speed ahead and I felt invincible.”
After being diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, his world changed forever. On his Web page, he wrote, “I have to say my diagnosis was something hard to accept. Cancer? Not me … that stuff happens to other people-people I read about in the newspaper or see on the news.”
Several months later, in November, Jim traveled to Seattle from Washington, D.C., to receive a bone-marrow transplant at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
“On the seventh day in the hospital, my ‘Zero Day,’ I received the bone-marrow transplant,” Jim said. He spent several months in Seattle. When he finally went home, it took him several years to feel he had returned to a normal life. He credits his family and friends for helping him, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for giving him a renewed purpose in life.
“I played soccer in high school, always ran and skied. I was concerned about leaving the hospital and not being able to do these things,” he said.
In time, he met other people who had battled cancer. He also made new friends who were raising money for cancer research. Shortly after that, he started entering events and raising money as well. Last year, he scored a personal record for the half marathon in Las Vegas, with a time of 1 hour, 44 minutes. His personal best for the marathon is 4:02, and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks four hours, he said.
“The Ironman is not about getting a really good time. It’s about finishing it,” he said. The real battle is to stay healthy. and raise money for cancer research. To read more about Jim’s story, visit his Web site at www.dayzerotoironman.org.
