A father's bicycle ride of thanks

During the tense days that doctors were treating his 6-month-old daughter's cancer, Derek Jones saw a poster for the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge on the wall at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

"This is something I should do," Jones thought as he waited for his daughter's prognosis.

This weekend, Jones, a Georgetown police officer, will ride in his first Pan-Mass Challenge. Julia, now 4 years old and healthy, will be among those waiting at the finish line.

Approximately 5,000 cyclists are expected to participate in the 27th annual ride to raise money for the Jimmy Fund, the fund-raising arm of Dana-Farber. Cyclists can choose a route depending on their fitness, but Jones will tackle the longest route, a 190-mile, two-day trek from Sturbridge to Provincetown. Among the riders, 1,624 will be participating for the first time.

Four years ago, Jones was typical of many young officers, working long hours as a reserve -- in Essex and Georgetown -- and waiting for a full-time job.

"I was trying to get into the police academy on my own," recalled Jones, 33, from Peabody. "At the time, that was probably the most important thing to me, to get my career on track." That was quickly overshadowed by Julia's health problems.

The realization that something might be wrong came during a vacation when his wife, Pam, noticed that their daughter's left pupil was slightly smaller than her right. MRI results showed nothing abnormal, and a doctor told them that the lack of symmetry was not unusual in a baby so young. The mother's intuition persisted, and a week later when she looked at pictures of Julia, Pam noted, "It was clear that her left eyelid was droopy."

An alert ophthalmologist, Dr. Jeffrey Sorkin of Pea body, recommended a full-body scan, and doctors discovered the cause of the asymmetry: a tumor in the baby's chest that was pressing against her spinal cord.

Julia had a type of cancer called neuroblastoma, which strikes one in 7,000 infants, said Eileen Duffey Lind, a nurse practitioner who has worked on Julia's aftercare. Her parents' instincts helped doctors catch the disease in an early stage.

"Mothers and fathers know their babies," Lind said. "They'll think that he or she is fussy, or something just doesn't feel right. Sometime parents have to be persistent, because it's so rare, it's not the first thought."

Surgery followed, and then 18 months of rehabilitation. The nerves in Julia's left arm were sensitive, and she needed to strengthen it.

At night, she wore a brace on her left hand to open her fingers.

At first, she was less active than she'd been prior to the surgery, and it delayed her development. "But she caught up," said Pam.

There was no need for chemotherapy or radiation, there has been no recurrence, and in February Julia was given a clean bill of health.

"Except for the initial diagnosis, everything we got was good news," Pam said.

It was two months from the time they first brought their concerns to a doctor until their daughter's surgery, including two weeks of worry at Dana-Farber as doctors ran diagnostic tests.

While they were difficult days, Derek noted, "It was nothing compared to what other families were going through."

The couple have another daughter, Jessica, 2. A year ago, Derek accepted a full-time position on the Georgetown Police Department. It was then that he decided to make good on his vow to ride the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Georgetown Board of Selectmen chairman Matt Vincent, a Pan-Mass. veteran, helped Jones through the registration process and gave him a touring bicycle. Jones owned a mountain bike.

"If there was anybody out there who could do the whole 200 miles on a mountain bike, it's Derek Jones," Vincent said. "But I wanted him to enjoy the experience, and didn't think that was going to give him the same enjoyable experience."

Vincent also helped another cyclist join the ride this year, and has two more interested for next year.

"I put it in the top 10 things I've done in my life," said Vincent, 42, who began riding in memory of a friend, John Bianco, who died in 2005 after a long battle with cancer. "It's that great an experience. When you're done, it feels like you've accomplished something and pushed your physical limits, and it's done in an environment where the people around you are all doing this for a common cause."

What particularly struck him were the pictures displayed by the thousands of spectators along the route and on peoples' T-shirts that honor loved ones -- children and others -- who are cancer patients, survivors, or victims.

"It's a powerful emotional weekend when you're done," Vincent said.

Each cyclist is required to raise donations, so Jones reached out to friends, family members, and others for support. He received gifts from the police benevolent associations of Holliston, Essex, and Peabody, and individual contributions from Georgetown police and firefighters, residents, and business people as well as members of the Essex Police Department. Georgetown officer Mike Goddu, who runs a promotion company, made shirts for the ride with Julia's picture on it.

Pam Jones is a teacher in the Rockport school system, and teachers and other employees from the high school and middle school contributed.

When Derek's total came within $250 of the $3,600 fund-raising minimum, Vincent kicked in the balance needed to cover it.

Since then, additional donations have brought the pledge total to $4,960.

To support the Jimmy Fund through Derek Jones, visit the Pan-Mass Challenge website at pmc.org or mail a contribution to the Georgetown Police Station, 47 Central St., Georgetown, MA 01833.