Salem resident is a role model for young adult cancer patients

Allison Burke, 33, of Salem, New Hampshire is a former dance teacher and exercise physiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is a novice runner, a Boston College and Northeastern University graduate, a devoted wife and a loving mother to a happy and healthy 13-month-old girl named Kenna. She is also battling neoplastic astrocytoma/oligodendroglioma, a type of brain cancer, and has become a role model for young adult cancer patients everywhere. She has been named a Walk Hero for the 25th anniversary of the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai and will participate in the one-day fundraising event which is set for Sunday, Sept. 8.

As a Walk Hero, Burke will inspire an expected 8,500 participants, who will walk up to 26.2 miles along the historic Boston Marathon® route with the collective goal of raising more than $7 million to support lifesaving adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund. The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk aims to raise $7 million. Since its 1989 inception, the Walk has raised more than $87 million.

The Walk Hero Program sponsored by Sun Life Financial matches Dana-Farber patients with Walk teams, providing an inspiring opportunity for walkers to connect with patients who are being treated for cancer.

Burke’s cancer story begins in August 2012, when she experienced debilitating headaches similar to a migraine. At the time, she didn’t think much of these headaches because she was a new mother still adjusting to performing everyday tasks on little sleep. One month later, her husband, Raymond, heard a loud thud from the kitchen and ran downstairs to discover his wife had suffered a seizure. A brain biopsy conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital revealed Burke had brain cancer.

“At the time leading up to my diagnosis so many things had happened, it was such a blur,” says Burke. “Going from hospital to hospital by ambulance, listening to doctors describe what my potential next steps could be, was incredibly scary. All I could think about was seeing my baby and wonder what was going to happen to my family.”

Burke immediately began oral chemotherapy treatments at Dana-Farber and to date has completed nine rounds.  She takes chemotherapy, called Temodar, at home for five days each month.  During the days Burke takes the medication, she experiences a variety of side effects including nausea, loss of appetite and fatigue.  However, these symptoms are relatively mild and she is still able to perform daily tasks such as taking her daughter for a walk in her stroller.  In addition to these acute side effects, there are greater tolls that the chemotherapy has begun to take on her body.  Burke’s oncologist and nurses at Dana-Farber continue to monitor her blood levels with weekly blood draws to make sure they do not go dangerously low to ensure she is able to continue with her treatments.

Burke says the key to surviving cancer is to understand you are not alone and accept that it is okay to ask others for help. After meeting other cancer patients through Dana-Farber’s Young Adult Program, designed to recognize and address the unique circumstances related to lifestyle, work, school, family life, and emotional development that young adults face when living with cancer, Burke now views her youth as her strongest asset in battling this all-too-often deadly disease.

“To be a Hero for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk means the world to me,” says Burke. “I am one of the lucky ones in a position where I can inspire other cancer patients to be strong. I am excited I can be present to let people know how significant their participation in the Walk is to the cancer community when other cancer patients are not so fortunate. I want people to know just how important it is to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber. The research that is done at this institution can change care for cancer patients all over the world.  In turn, to inspire others keeps me strong.”

On Monday, July 22, Burke will have the opportunity to meet for the first time members of Team TJX, the Walk team she has been matched with during the Hero Match Party at Fenway Park. The event provides an opportunity for all involved to get to know each other, enjoy dinner together, and take in a Boston tradition, a Red Sox game at Fenway.

Through her family’s support and the fortune of being mobile with no visible symptoms of illness, Burke is able to maintain a “normal life.” She wakes up early every morning to feed and play with her daughter. She takes Kenna to music classes, story time and the playground, and also makes sure to squeeze in a run or a dance class for herself. Once a week, her sister-in-law picks her up to run errands, tasks she can no longer accomplish on her own because the state of New Hampshire prohibits individuals who have suffered a seizure from driving up to one year after the medical occurrence. Her mother drives up from Rhode Island to watch Kenna while she goes to her doctor’s appointments at Dana-Faber.  Her father, who is a physician, makes sure he attends every doctor’s appointment and helps translate medical language to her and her husband after the appointments. Burke is especially grateful to her husband, who is there to support her physical and emotional needs every day.

“I know I wouldn’t be where I am without the love and support of my friends, my family and my team of doctors at Brigham and Women’s and Dana-Farber,” says Burke. “To be a part of the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, an event that draws thousands of participants and fundraising dollars, is so incredibly special. These people donate their time, their energy, their emotional support and their financial means to help cancer patients like me. I feel like there is probably not a single person out there who doesn’t know or know of someone affected by cancer. The only way to beat this thing is to do it together.”

The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk is a one-day fundraising event that provides participants a unique opportunity to walk one of four routes along the historic Boston Athletic Association’s (BAA) Boston Marathon® route and to raise money for Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund. The BAA has supported the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk for 25 years.

To register for the 25th anniversary of the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk (#JimmyFundWalk) on Sept. 8, or to support a walker, visit www.JimmyFundWalk.org or call (866) 531-9255. Registration is easy and walkers can enter the discount code NEWS for $5 off the registration fee.