Another Walk/Run for Life Tribute

My husband and I are walking in the Barnes Foundation 5K Walk/Run for Life this year in honor of his best friend, Jim Ebersohl. In 2006, Jim found a little lump on his tongue. At first, he thought he bit it accidently. It was very painful and created a little divot in his tongue. Soon he realized it was not going away and his wife Sandi encouraged him to go get it checked out. Jim was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. Now, for a man who loves to cook and grill, this was a difficult venture to start. This 280-pound Marine was going to have part of his tongue cut out with radiation treatments to follow. A gastrostomy tube was placed into his stomach so he could get nutrients into his body. Today he weighs in at 135 pounds and only eats sweets, soft foods, soups and hot, spicy food items because he can’t taste the foods, but it’s the scent of food that he enjoys. His favorite saying is “Eating is overrated.”

We are walking in honor of this man because of his fight for life, his will to live and his friendship. We spend many moments on the road with Jim and Sandi riding our Harleys and we always have fun. He makes us laugh, especially as he performs his six flag routine. With Jim, our goal is to have “more fun”!

- Pam West, VP of Clinical and Regulatory Compliance, Professional Medical