Hi! I'm glad you're here! If you are one of my friends or a member of my family, you might be wondering, what in the world would possess someone to take up boxing at 38 years old? And it would be a good question. Well, some of you may have heard me talk about my dearest friend, Liz Caudill. Others of you may know and love her as I do. In 2018, Liz came to Colorado support me when I released my first novel. While she was here, she mentioned she felt a lump in her neck, and it was large enough that I could see it. When she returned home to Florida, she was able to see an ENT, but struggled to find a doctor who would take her seriously. She was finally able to get in for a thyroid biopsy several months later, which ultimately led to her diagnosis with papillary thyroid cancer.

While a cancer diagnosis is never something that you want to hear, we all felt grateful that it was "just thyroid cancer". We thought her treatment would be simple. Remove the thyroid, do radiation, and done. But things would prove to be much more complicated. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, and after pathology came back, she learned that the cancer was poorly differentiated and contained a KRAS gene mutation that made it particularly difficult to treat. Fortunately, Liz has had a team of wonderful doctors on her side and the love and prayers of her family and friends. Over the past 6 years, she has had multiple surgeries, and even completed 6 weeks of daily beam radiation. She was in remission for about a year and a half, during which time she had her baby boy, and married her best friend. Unfortunately, the cancer is back and her best hope for treatment is a clinical trial. She is my why. Why I am stepping in the ring to earn money in support of cancer research.

In my day-to-day I am a Clinical Research Instructor at the University of Colorado, specializing in type 1 diabetes clinical trials. I know and see the value of clinical research every day and know that fundraising can significantly impact scientists’ ability to conduct novel trials. I hope you will join me in supporting Haymakers for Hope, to someday find a cure for amazing people like Liz!