Inspiring New Book: a young triathlete and his astonishing comeback

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Michael Vitez just couldn’t get one story out of his mind – and neither could his readers. Michael first wrote about a young man named Matt Miller who had everything and then, in an instant, nearly lost it all, as a three-part series for his newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer. He received an overwhelming response from readers, who, like Michael himself, were deeply touched by the inspiring, against-all-odds story and wanted to continue to follow it. Michael’s new book, “;The Road Back, A Journey of Grace and Grit,” launching this month through CreateSpace, Amazon.com’s self-publishing platform, celebrates the human spirit and the power of fidelity and faith as it follows one young man’s incredible, soaring comeback from what should have been sure death.

Matt Miller, then a standout student and athlete at the University of Virginia and member of his college triathlon club, and two classmates had just pedaled up a mountain pass. He was on top of the world in so many ways – Matt was in love with his high-school sweetheart, Emily, and had dreams of attending medical school. He was so fit his resting pulse was 42! But as he cycled along Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway, he suddenly fell into an oncoming car and his life forever changed. Matt broke every bone in his face and suffered a massive brain injury. The real story though is not just about what took place on that terrible day, but what happened after. Today, Matt, 24, attends the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and is engaged to Emily, who has stood by his side throughout his entire ordeal and is in medical school with him at Penn. Remarkably, Matt has completed a dozen triathlons and the Cozumel Ironman since the accident. In “;The Road Back,” Michael compellingly shares with readers the humbling and miraculous journey of Matt’s survival and recovery and the people who rode along with him, rescued him and helped him heal. It is truly a story of grace and grit, one that is as gripping as it is inspiring.

After writing about Matt for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Michael continued to watch him recover in the most astonishing ways. He was so taken with Matt’s courage and commitment, that Michael decided to take a leave from his job to more fully immerse himself in Matt’s life and write this book. The award-winning writer and author of the popular “Rocky Stories” (about the famed Philadelphia steps and all those who have come to run them) is one of the latest examples of the red-hot trend of established authors choosing to take control of their publishing “journey” and opting to self-publish their work. Though his new book centers on one young man from the Philadelphia area,  Matt’s amazing story and the book’s messages are universal. “The Road Back” is available in paperback on Amazon.com and as an e-book on Kindle, Nook and Ipad.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Vitez has been a staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer for 27 years. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for a series of stories about five people approaching the end of life. Vitez has taught classes in narrative non-fiction at the University of Pennsylvania and was a visiting Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton. He is also a former Michigan Journalism Fellow. He is the author of Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope and Happiness at America’s Most Famous Steps. (2006, Paul Dry Books) He graduated from the University of Virginia, where he was editor-in-chief of The Cavalier Daily. He is married to Maureen Fitzgerald, food editor at the Inquirer, and they have three children. For the last 12 years, he has organized the annual triathlon at the Erlton Swim Club in Cherry Hill, NJ.  www.michaelvitez.com 215-313-3518 michael.vitez@gmail.com @michaelvitez on Twitter.

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Julie Moss and Kathleen McCartney Returning to Kona

Two Big Island originals are coming home to race the 30th anniversary event
Published Monday, May 14, 2012

Julie Moss and Kathleen McCartney Returning to Kona

Two of Ironman’s original leading ladies are returning to Kona this October. We followed them to Nytro Multisport in California, where they each received brand-new Cannondales for the months of training to come.

by Jennifer Ward Barber

Thirty years ago, a college woman named Julie Moss made history by crawling her way across the finish line of a grueling race in Hawaii. Over the coming years, that Big Island suffer-fest in 1982 would evolve into the famed Ironman World Championships—held every October in Kona and attracting the world’s best triathletes.

This year, Moss and Kathleen McCartney, the woman who passed her that year to take first, have decided to return to Kona to race the 30th anniversary event together.

“I’ve always wanted to do the Ironman again and I just thought the 30th anniversary of that special race Julie and I had would be a really great time to go back,” said McCartney, who committed to the race in February of last year. “I just wanted to do something really positive for myself,” she added.

McCartney immediately thought of calling Julie to see if she wanted to join her, but the ball didn’t get rolling until the two spoke at a November Triathlon Club of San Diego meeting. The weekend following the event, the two participated in a weekend triathlon relay (at Bob Babbitt’s prompting). This got them talking about the idea, and it wasn’t long before both had signed up to swim, bike, and run their way to the Ali’i Drive finish line on October 13th. (The last time either completed the race was back in 2003 when they raced together for its 25th anniversary.)

Even though her last Ironman is a distant memory, McCartney says that having done the race a total of eight times gives her confidence. “At any time in my life, whether I was in triathlon shape or not, I’ve always felt like if someone told me I had to go do an Ironman tomorrow, that I could do it,” she said. She says she’s felt this way since she did her first Ironman, and that this knowledge gives her a sense of strength and empowerment. Needless to say, McCartney has no doubts she’ll finish.

McCartney’s calm confidence is balanced nicely by Julie Moss’ bubbly energy. The spark that compelled Moss to try her young legs at the 1982 race in Kona—all in the name of a college Phys Ed course—is still burning strong. At Nytro Multisport in Encinitas last week, where Bill Rudell of Cannondale presented them each with brand new Cannondale Slices, the two women provided hours of entertainment while they tested “funny looking” saddles and asked questions about hydration and transition tactics.

Moss said she’s excited to race once again in Kona, but what she’s really looking forward to is the “Lance Factor.” “I want to see it,” she said. “I don’t want to read about it or follow it online. I want to catch a glimpse of it myself.”

As one of the original darlings of the sport who helped catapult triathlon into the public eye with her stark determination, Moss will likely share some of that limelight with Mr. Armstrong. It will be an exciting year in Kona indeed.

Visit lavamagazine.com to watch a video of the bike fitting and see a photo gallery of the afternoon.

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The Cat Rattles his Cage

Living with a chronic disease like chronic lymphocytic leukemia is like living with a caged up wild cat in your basement. You do your best to keep it locked and chained and barricaded away. You live your life with an “out of sight / out of mind” mentality. Intellectually, you need to be aware that you have a huge and sometimes angry cat locked away in a room downstairs, but emotionally, you can’t let it own you. So you work hard at keeping those reminders held at a safe distance. You work hard at doing the right things and address those things requiring attention, and turn blinders to the rest.

On February 24th, 2006 I was first diagnosed with CLL and introduced to this animal. And while I needed to undergo 4 rounds of chemo and 2 years of follow up maintenance chemo,  generally I felt in control, or made every effort to be,  and would walk past that cat’s cage and glance at the lock to check that it’s secure and then move on with my amazing fairy tale of a life. Often times even giving that cat a cocky glance to let him know that I am living my life on my terms in complete control of the mental grip and fear that his existence wants to bring to some people. Sometimes I would hear it snarl a little, or even stand up and pace just to try to let me know he IS still there.  But generally speaking, I walk past, give him a smirk, jiggle the lock, flip him the bird, and move on.

I take pride in how I continue to manage my situation for myself and my loved ones and,  for the sake of others, many of which I may never know. But who I know are out there listening and reading. The strength and support they draw from my is very important and I take that aspect of ‘my gift” very seriously. (There I go calling my leukemia a GIFT again!)

I recently had a situation where my pet man eater decided he wanted to let me know he was awake and restless.

Several weeks ago I was starting to have a few uncomfortable symptoms that very much resembled what I felt when I was first diagnosed close to 7 years ago. So I checked in with my oncologist and did the normal blood workup along with a CT scan. And as suspected, a few CLL symptoms have returned. My blood work was actually ok, but the CT scan showed very pronounced lymph nodes in my neck and in my throat. The good news is that the rest of my CT scan was quite good and clear but we needed to do something about the nodes that were on the move. Initially we tried to treat these symptoms with a low dose steroid to see what may happen.  Which wasn’t  much and came up a little short.

We talked about a number of potential treatment options and next steps. My symptoms are very localized and confined to my neck and throat. While my tonsils and lymph nodes are uncomfortable and very enlarged, and are making swallowing a challenge and even talking a little uncomfortable, the rest of my body is still rather “normal”. So that ruled out a conventional chemo treatment protocol. At this point anyway. The leukemia may be starting to awaken from a relatively quiet and innocuous sleep, but we can (and will) address this early and knock it way back off of the radar again.

So what we have agreed to is an aggressive hard core 4 day round of a high dosage mega steroid. And maybe repeat this in 2 weeks. It’s a relatively standard quasi chemo option in cases like this. The downside is that I need to take a few other things just as an infection preventative with this drug. The real downside is that I don’t sleep on this stuff – at all. Saturday was day one and I was awake most of the night. (Actually I was car shopping online at 3 AM. So perhaps there is a perk out of all of this because I am picking up my new car on Wednesday.)  This is only a 4 day blast so it won’t last too long.

Honestly, this is fine. The bottom line is, I am OK. But in the spirit of full disclosure I have included my family, friends and cancer community contacts along for the ride from the very beginning. This is just another chapter of the story to discuss and hopefully learn from. And I will treat this with the same diligence, determination, and even a little humor that I try to display with all of this. It’s just another opportunity to lead by example. While so much of my cancer journey has been good, there are some less favorable parts along the way that still must be dealt with. And I want people to take my lead in their reactions to all of this. Patients, and supporters alike. We’ll take care of business and lock the cat back up where he belongs.

And again I would like to remind people to not just live WITH their disease or condition, rather, live ABOVE it, and live loudly and proudly above it.That being said, the races and events on my calendar for this year are ABSOLUTELY still on. This little treatment blip should pose no threat to my 2012 goals.

Don’t focus on any (perceived) limitation. Focus on taking action and MOVING.

Hakuna Matata

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New Philly Health Watch Article, “Get the Heck OUT”!

I am a huge fan and advocate of sneaking in a workout any time, and any place possible. Thus my motto of “always keep a bag packed”. You never know when you might be able to sneak in a quickie. And quite often, that quickie might be in the gym, the basement, a hotel, etc. Opportunities to “steal” a little fitness are abundant; you just need to keep your eyes open for them.

Continue reading…

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Eagles Fly for Leukemia Golf Outing

On June 4th, I will join Master of Ceremonies Vince Papale to speak at the Eagles Fly for Leukemia’s 28th Annual Golf Classic and Dinner. This year’s event will be held at the Huntington Valley Country Club in Huntington Valley Pennsylvania. For more information, and to reserve your foursome, please contact Eagles Fly for Leukemia at (610) 622-0600 or efleukemia@aol.com .

Founded over thirty years ago, Eagles Fly for Leukemia supports pediatric cancer and leukemia research at three Delaware Valley hospitals, helping their world renowned scientists in the quest for a cure.

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First Descents Coming to NYC

First Descents offers young adult cancer survivors (ages 18–39) a free outdoor adventure experience and is excited to launch a new program FD intro (FDi) which is a shorter, more accessible adventure experience for young adults with cancer. These two-day programs are designed to make the FD experience available to young adult survivors who might not be able to do a full week program due to health reasons, treatment schedules, family and job commitments, or just general hesitation.

FDi is free of cost for participants. The next program is June 2–3, 2012.

Please contact Kimarie Boerger, LCSW at 646-888-4736 for more information about this program or visit www.firstdescents.org

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New Philly Health Watch Article

Check out my latest contribution to Philly Health Watch:

Looks Really Do Count! (…sort of)

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Philly Health Watch Interview

Here is the interview I recently did with my buddy Sergio at Philly Health Watch.

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Steadfast, Relentless, and HEADstrong

head plaqueI am still struggling over finding just the right words to appropriately describe how moved I was at the 2nd Annual HEADStrong Lime Light Gala, held on March 23rd at the Hyatt at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia or how extremely honored I am to be the recipient of the Nicholas E. Colleluori Award for my contributions in the field of blood cancer.

This was simply an amazing night put on by an amazing family in honor and in memory of their son Nick, and the heroic crusade that he started through his vision of the HEADstrong Foundation.

HEADstrong is the real deal. The Colleluori family is the real deal. Every single person that I met Friday night was driven, committed, and loyal to HEADstrong and to the Colleluoris. You cannot spend 30 seconds with this family without feeling the love and dedication they feel for Nick and for Nick’s dream.

I thought I had orchestrated my thoughts and had a pretty good idea of the things I wanted to include in my brief acceptance talk. But the truth is I was thrown a little emotionally off guard as my bio was being read and my name called by Master of Ceremony Pete McCarthy. As Pete talked about my background, the entire Colleluori family gathered to the front of the room and stood in line, with Cheryl Colleluori holding a crystal plaque commemorating the award. Nick’s family stood tall and stood proud and walking up to that was quite a moving sight. And while it was almost a little intimidating at first, by the time I reached the family I was reminded of the solidarity that the warriors in this fight all share. I felt that strength. And I felt that our movement and march was even more powerful.

head coll reception lineOf course what made this night even more special for me was the fact that I was able to share it with my family. Nothing I do …. no award that I receive, no finish line that I cross, counts without them. They are the reason and the motivation behind everything that I have been blessed and fortunate enough to be able to do.

head brown famThe mission of the HEADstrong Foundation is to carry on the legacy and vision of HEADstrong founder Nicholas Colleluori through advocating, fundraising and supporting those affected by blood cancer and those working towards eliminating it. In just a few short years of existence, they have evolved into an organization with the strength and visibility of one ten times its size. The reason for their success in my opinion is that every person involved with this mission is personally committed and connected to who Nicholas Colleluori was and what he stood for; and continues to stand for.

head coll famBut they cannot do it alone. And I was so impressed by everything that I saw on Friday night that I vowed to remain on board and to do whatever I can going forward to continue to drive Nick’s vision and eradicate blood cancers. Please learn more at www.headstrongfoundation.org

In the words of Nick Colleluori:

“Make use of the time you have and don’t stress the little things. Have a smile and enjoy what you can get out of life”.

Click HERE to listen to the acceptance of the award.

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HEADstrong’s Lime Light Gala

Next week I am being honored by the HEADstrong Foundation for  my contributions to blood cancer. I am really honored and very much looking forward to what will be a great night. Details are below.

limelightOn Friday, March 23, 2012 the HEADstrong Foundation will roll out the lime green carpet for what has become one of the most special events in all of lacrosse. The 2nd Annual Lime Light Gala; an evening in remembrance of HEADstrong founder Nicholas E. Colleluori, honoring the patients, families, survivors and victims of blood cancer and benefitting Nick’s House, the Nicholas E. Colleluori Lymphoma Research Fund at the Abramson Cancer Center and the City of Hope.

The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Tickets are $200 per seat and there are sponsorship and giving opportunities still available. While the event includes cocktails, dinner, program and a silent auction, the true purpose is to build awareness and support for the fight against blood cancer.

This year the HEADstrong Foundation will present the Nicholas E. Colleluori Award to a survivor demonstrating heroics and perseverance in the fight against blood cancer. The program will also feature several lacrosse personalities, celebrities and other performers.

“Of all of the amazing events that the HEADstrong Foundation is involved with during the year the Lime Light Gala is the one that is most significant. It is a celebration of my son Nicholas’ life, what he meant to the game of lacrosse and most importantly what the lacrosse community meant to him. It is our hope that our guests will leave with a renewed appreciation of the work that is being done to improve the quality of life for patients and families of blood cancer and inspired to get further involved. We wish to extend an invitation to all that can attend the Lime Light Gala.” – HEADstrong President and Nick’s Mom Cheryl Colleluori

For purchasing tickets and more information on the HEADstrong Foundation and the Lime Light Gala visit www.HEADstrongfoundation.org. The event is a formal black-tie affair however guests are encouraged to wear lime green. Tickets are subject to limited availability.

Sugar House Casino will provide complimentary valet parking for guests of the HEADstrong Foundation’s 2nd Annual Lime Light Gala. Trolley shuttle service provided by Philadelphia Trolley Works & 76 Carriage Company will begin transporting guests at 5:30PM and will run through 8:30PM, service will then resume at 9:00PM and run through 12:00AM.

HEADstrong Foundation works to advocate, raise funds for and to support those affected by blood cancer or working to eliminate it.   Foundation generates funds for blood   research, distributes grants and provides assistance to patients and survivors of blood cancer. In addition, HEADstrong Foundation awards scholarships and grants for students with ambitions of entering the medical field. Founder Nick “Head” Colleluori” attended Hofstra University where he played lacrosse. While at Hofstra Nick was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. While sick he began counseling other patients and began laying the framework for what would become the HEADstrong Foundation, in an effort to raise cancer awareness and help others and future patients that found themselves in a similar situation. In August of 2006 he even found the strength to play in one last lacrosse game. Nick passed away on November 28, 2006 at the age of 21. Even though he is gone, his memory and relentless determination lives on through the HEADstrong Foundation.

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