Standing on Ali’i Drive, after watching the swim start of the Ironman World Championships, I saw their purple shirts, a shade of purple I recognized immediately as belonging to pancreatic cancer awareness.
The front of the t-shirts read, “Molli is doing the Ironman with Pancreatic Cancer.”
That must be a typo, right? They must mean ‘for’ pancreatic cancer. There’s no way she could be doing it with pancreatic cancer.
Having witnessed the pain and torment my mother went through in the past year, I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving that horrible disease, let alone completing an Ironman with it.
I didn’t think it was possible.
After John had a chance to refuel and clean up from the race, we returned to the finish line of the Ironman World Championships to watch the last two hours of people crossing the finish line.
Standing right in front of us were the group of purple shirts. The back of their shirts read, “Defying the Odds.”
Then, I saw one shirt that read, “Molli.”
Wait? How could that be possible?
A few days ago, I watched the highlight show of the Ironman World Championship, and learned there was no typo. Molli was a Kona Inspired athlete, and she was a pancreatic cancer survivor.
When my mom passed away, I remember accutane thinking and telling others, “There are no survivors of pancreatic cancer.”
I didn’t understand how it was possible.
But, Molli defied those odds. The tears flowed as I watched the show, and learned about this woman who not only battled pancreatic cancer–she won. She told the cameras about putting her chemo pump in her bike jersey in order to complete her training. I remembered my mom’s chemo pump. I remembered how much it pained her, and the way in which she would tug at it. That pump had come to symbolize a prison for mom.
As I learned more details about Molli’s triumph, I felt ashamed and saddened. I had given up hope that it was possible to win the battle against pancreatic cancer. I remembered my mom’s depression and our despair when she found out that her cancer was not operable, and that the best they could do is hope to “maintain” it.
And, yet, here was this woman, in stark contrast to our depression and despair. She had just completed the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona with an 11:31 finish time. It seemed impossible.
But, there she was. Vibrant, strong, alive. Molli’s story has renewed my hope that in Ironman and in life anything is possible.
