Jan Eisner

I am so thankful I can run. Running has given me so much: health benefits, time to meditate, time to enjoy nature, and the chance to meet so many fun and supportive friends. I have always been an active person. When I was younger I ran around playing in the neighborhood, joined the city track team, and studied ballet for many years. The feeling of freedom and sheer joy I get from running or dancing I have never experienced with any other activity.

I was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer in 1999. I was 37 years old, married, and had two very young boys. This is the same cancer that Steve Jobs was diagnosed with. A short time after my initial surgery and treatment, a friend asked if I would go running with him. He finally wore me down with his repeated invitations, and shortly after our first few runs I found myself entertaining the idea of running a marathon.

So, for my first marathon I joined a great group — FTM (First Time Marathoners) — with the local running club. Training was fun and all was going well. About a week before the marathon I had severe pain in my stomach. I dismissed it, and when most people were carb-loading I was not able to keep anything down. I ran the marathon as scheduled, because if it is on my calendar I don’t cancel. I finished, but not with the time I was planning on — I had to walk about the last 6 miles. My running partner informed me I couldn’t count that as running my first marathon because I didn’t run all of it. So of course there were to be more marathons in my future.

After the marathon I followed up on the pain and sure enough the cancer had come back. The past 10 or so years were spent receiving multiple treatments to keep the cancer at bay. The cancer originally started in my stomach and had spread to the liver, spleen, pancreas, and several lymph nodes and a couple places in the bone. Treatment consisted of surgery, chemotherapy, and a radiolabeled therapy not offered in the U.S. Along the way I had what seems like most of my internal organs removed due to tumor, including my pancreas. The pancreatic surgery probably had the biggest impact on my running — following that surgery I became a brittle diabetic, meaning it is almost impossible to keep my blood sugars in the normal range.

Running has helped me make it through all the treatments and recovery time. That and the incredible support from my running partner who always had confidence in me to come back from each treatment. Even when I was running so slowly you could barely call it running, the fact that I was out there made me feel strong and confident. A feeling of being able to take on anything.

Over the years, I have completed 14 marathons, several half marathons and 10Ks. I am so convinced that running has extended my life. I want to share the fun of running with others. In November 2012 I directed my first 5K run/walk to raise awareness for Neuroendocrine Cancer and help support research for this underrecognized cancer. All proceeds from the run went to The Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania directed towards research for Neuroendocrine Cancers. We had so much fun at the 5K the first year that we have been back each November ever since.