🚴 Tour De PET Scans: A 620km Ride to Help Beat Lung Cancer Help us raise $10,000 for life-saving lung cancer research. In September 2023, I walked into a GP clinic with a stubborn cough and a head full of plans. I was about to relocate to Karratha for a new chapter with my partner, Bec. A fresh start. A career step forward. Life was moving in all the right directions — or so I thought. Instead, I walked out with a diagnosis that changed everything: Stage IV cancer. A CT scan of my chest revealed the unthinkable. The cancer had already spread — to my liver, spine, hips, and pelvis. ________________________________________ What followed was an intense and surreal blur: ✈️ An emergency flight to Perth 🏥 Frantic calls to hospitals and oncologists 🧪 Eleven straight days of scans, tests, and biopsies Eventually, I was diagnosed with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) — a rare, aggressive subtype that mostly affects younger, healthy and active adults. Like me, most people have no idea anything’s wrong until it’s far too late. My PET scan lit up like a Christmas tree. The cancer was everywhere. My bones were thought to be so fragile doctors warned that jumping out of bed could fracture my pelvis. ________________________________________ Since that day, life has been a mix of fear, hope, and resilience. With the love and support of Bec, my family, and close friends, I’ve learned to live alongside this disease. There have been difficult moments — disease progression, new medications, rounds of radiation — but I’ve kept going. Kept laughing. Kept living. Kept pedalling. In many ways, life feels richer now. More meaningful. More urgent. ________________________________________ 🚴 Why I’m Riding Throughout it all, cycling has been my outlet — my way of staying strong, staying sane, and staying connected to something outside of cancer. It’s more than just exercise. It’s become part of my treatment. This November, during Lung Cancer Awareness Month, I’ll be riding 620km across Western Australia, visiting every PET scan centre along the way — retracing the route that thousands of people travel when they receive that life-changing diagnosis. Because for many of us, that first PET scan is the moment life splits into two parts: before cancer, and after. ________________________________________ Who We’re Supporting All donations will go directly to two organisations doing incredible work: 🔬 TOGA (Thoracic Oncology Group of Australia) Pioneering research into more targeted and effective treatments for lung cancer. 💙 ALK+ Positive Australia Providing support, advocacy, and community for people like me — and for the people who love them. ________________________________________ 🎯 Our Goal: Raise $10,000 by November 30 💛 Donate now. 🚴‍♀️ Join the ride. 📢 Share the mission. Every donation, no matter the size, helps fund research that is literally keeping me alive. It helps give people like me — and those who come after me — more time, more treatment options, and more hope. This ride is for the 1,257 West Australians diagnosed with lung cancer every year. It’s for the 36 Australians who hear the words “you have lung cancer” every single day. And it’s for the small but mighty community of people living with ALK+ NSCLC. We're also inviting and encouraging anyone who'd like to join us riding on one or all of the days. If you'd like to take part or would like to find out more, please send me an email - chris@ckhgroup.net. We'd love to have you join us.