Six years ago, my father called me at work. Instead of his normal jovial greeting and the usual teasing, he quietly said, "I have a brain tumor." My Dad had been diagnosed with a fast-growing brain tumor, a Glioblastoma Multiforme Grade 4. Simply stated, it meant that I would lose my Dad within two years. It didn’t matter that he was strong and healthy — there is a 100% fatality rate for that type of brain tumor.

       • Each year more than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor. Primary brain tumors comprise approximately 40,000 of these diagnoses.
       • Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in males ages 20-39
       • Brain tumors are the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women ages 20-39
       • Five year survival rates are a mere 27.9% in males and 30.1% in females
       • The #1 killer of children between the ages of 1 to 14 is childhood cancer – the most lethal form of this is pediatric brain tumors – killing approximately 25% of these young souls.

I can't imagine watching a child go through all that my Dad endured. The charity my Dad wanted to support while here on earth was the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. He couldn’t wait to hear how much my friend Ed & I could raise each year with our Ride 4 Kids donations.

If you would like to learn more about the charity, participate in next year's Ride4Kids, or make a personal donation, please click the banner below.

Without the sites below – not to mention the incredible communities on each of them, I have no idea how my family would have made it through this horrendous ordeal:

Ride For Kids - http://ride4kids.org/

Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation – www.pbtfus.org

Brain Tumor Society - http://www.tbts.org/

National Brain Tumor Foundation - http://www.braintumor.org/

American Brain Tumor Association - http://hope.abta.org/site/PageServer

Clinical Trials & Treatments - http://www.virtualtrials.com/

From the Brain Tumor Society:
       • There are currently no known causes of brain tumors, however, epidemiological studies are ongoing. Complete and accurate data on all primary brain tumors is needed to provide the foundation for investigations of its causes and research leading to improved diagnosis and treatment.
       • Brain tumors have no socio-economic boundaries and do not discriminate among gender or ethnicity.
       • At this time, brain tumor research is under funded and the public remains unaware of the magnitude of this disease. The cure rate for most brain tumors is significantly lower than that for many other types of cancer.