Stage 4 cancer patient bicycle across every state

You can make a difference by donating today to No Thyroid No Problem, a 501(c)(3) charity created by a stage 4C Medullary Thyroid Cancer patient.

Our goal is to raise awareness for the need of yearly phsical exams to detect cancer and other problems sooner rather than later.

Too often cancer is diagnosed at stage 4 because the patient was not having yearly exams!

Thomas' Story:

I was diagnosed with stage 4C Medullary Thyroid Cancer at 49 years old in September 2020: there's no targeted chemotherapy or other treatments that can help, I can't be cured... and I love cycling.

I have metastasis in 5 of my vertebrae, both sides of my hips and my lungs. Eventually my lungs will be replaced with thyroid cells and I will no longer be able to breathe. The numbers say I have a roughly 20% chance to survive 10+ years.

My T8 vertebrae is 75%+ metastasized and is at high risk of fracturing from any sort of injury to the back. I may need to have rods insterted into my spine to prevent me from becoming paralyzed if my vertebrae fractures!

Since there are no group fundraiser bike rides in Minnesota I created a non-profit: NoThyroid.org

I’m using my love of cycling to create awareness and I want to raise funds to help thyroid cancer patients and caregivers in any way I can while I still can.

I created a yearly family friendly ride at a local park, I’m going to ride 90-100 miles on ride day and others can ride as much or as little as they would like. I did the ride solo in 2021 and raised $5,000 for Thyca.org

In addition to the annual ride I’m going to start riding across every State in the USA with the goal of crossing them all before I’m no longer able to continue or I die. My inspiration is Terry Fox from when I was a kid in the 80’s. Terryfox.org

I'm a casual rider, this is going to be a major challenge for me and I'm looking forward to it.

I was featured in The Washington Post, Bicycling.com, BIkeMN.org, KSTP 5 TV news and the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper!

I actually had one person on Facebook tell me they are getting a second ultrasound and maybe a biopsy because of one of my posts! I was so happy that I was able to reach someone. I heard a Youtuber say once "If you want your life to be meaningful, try making someone else's life meaningful" so that's what I'm trying to do.

I sold my road bike and carbon wheels as well as my MTB carbon wheels last year because I was expecting to have to pay a bill of $11,500 for one single test that my insurance refused to cover. I was able to get the hospital to write off the charge, but it was difficult to have to sell the nice bike I had. Since then I’ve purchased a decent used bike so I’m back out riding again.

My website NoThyroid.org still needs me to add more content and will grow over time. I also have a couple Facebook groups to help spread the word. I’m just one person doing this all on his own while I also have a full time job. I know I can build this into something great over time, I just need one sponsor to get me rolling.