Margaret's story

In June 2021, shortly after my 25th birthday, as an otherwise healthy, happy, and active young woman, I was diagnosed with a rare (~1 in 1,000,000) cancer called synovial sarcoma located behind my right knee.

Since there is no cure for synovial sarcoma, complete surgical resection is the only means of achieving disease-free survival, as was the case for my disease. In October 2021, an amazing surgical team led by Dr. Chandrajit Raut, Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at BWH and Professor of Surgery at HMS, performed an 8-hour surgery which included resection of the tumor and an involved vein, a venous graft, and complex reconstruction to plug the golfball-sized hole left behind. In the planning and execution of my surgery, Dr. Raut took special steps to preserve the functionality of my leg because I am a runner. He called in Dr. Matthew Menard (vascular surgery) to perform the venous graft, which is not attempted on most patients, and Dr. Lydia Helliwell (plastic surgery) to perform the reconstruction.

In addition to treating patients, Dr. Raut conducts research focused on multidisciplinary management of sarcomas. For example, he is currently developing a novel, implantable drug-eluting film to reduce the rate of local recurrence in sarcoma. Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare disease, and like all rare diseases, is in desperate need of research funding. All funds raised by Strides for Sarcoma will support Dr. Raut’s sarcoma research and education fund.

Please join me in supporting Dr. Raut’s research so that more sarcoma patients can have outcomes like mine.