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Taking It to the Streets
Southwest Georgia's Dr. Jose Tongol gets a helping hand from Tour De France champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.
Anyone who has ever met Jose Tongol, M.D., can tell you how passionate he is about his role as an oncologist at Albany, Ga.-based Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. So when he combined his expertise in cancer medicine with his dedication to running and biking to create a fundraising program, it was only logical. Tongol's program benefits cancer prevention and treatment in southwest Georgia, one of the poorest areas of the nation.
Tongol had always led a highly active lifestyle, participating in any and all sports activities. He learned long ago the health benefits of physical activity. But about seven years ago, he was encouraged by a local runners club to get serious about biking and running. Soon he was participating in marathon events around the world and, today, he is always on the lookout for the next one.
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Finding a purpose
Having lost his non-smoking mother, Gloria Tongol, to lung cancer in the late-90s, Tongol dedicated his first marathon run to her. That 26.2-mile event in Pensacola, Fla., in 2000 launched him into an evolving quest for a way to use his love of fitness to help those in need of the cancer treatment he provided every day.
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"I started to think about different ways to encourage fundraising by emphasizing the importance of serious lifestyle changes as a means of preventing cancer," says Tongol, who was among 30,000 runners in the 2002 Marathon International de Paris. While he regularly runs, cycles or swims five days a week, logging an average 30 miles, Tongol raises the bar to 40 or 50 miles per week when training for an upcoming event.
"I still believe that a lot of cancers are preventable with a healthy lifestyle, including a good diet and avoiding obesity and use of tobacco," he says. "I always encourage others to exercise. You just can't beat physical activity for making you feel good and healthy and strong."
In southwest Georgia, the numbers tell the story about cancer in this region, where the number of incidences of the disease is roughly 35 percent higher than elsewhere in Georgia. This year, more than 1,500 southwest Georgians are expected to die of some form of cancer, and another 3,500 will learn they have the disease. Only four cancers - lung, colon, breast and prostate - are responsible for more than 50 percent of all the cancer deaths in southwest Georgia.
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Learning from the best
Knowing what the residents in the area are up against in terms of cancer diagnosis and survival, Tongol's interest in using physical activity to promote cancer prevention, research and treatment was kicked into overdrive in 2003, when he was named among the top fundraisers chosen to cycle with Lance Armstrong in a national cancer fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
Armstrong, a cancer survivor and six-time winner of the Tour de France, founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997. His foundation provides the practical information and tools people living with cancer need to live strong, serving its mission through four core
program areas: education, advocacy, public health and research.
Tongol took the opportunity to talk to Armstrong about his plans to create a cancer fund to raise much-needed money for patients in southwest Georgia, many of whom struggle with issues of access to care and low income. Armstrong's organization was quick to offer support and even promised some funding for the proposed Cancer Care Fund. That fund is now operated under the auspices of the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition, named one of three "Programs of Excellence" by the Georgia Cancer Coalition.
After months of planning and preparation, the Cancer Care Fund hosted its own event in late-2003, the 5K Riverfront Run in Albany. The event was well attended, including Albany native Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Republican Sen. Saxby Chambless, also a son of southwest Georgia. Having raised an impressive $45,000 in its inaugural year, the run will be an annual fundraising event for the Cancer Care Fund.
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"I believe in clinical research and clinical trials, which many people don't realize are available at the Phoebe Cancer Center," says Tongol. "Our goal is to promote the clinical trials and make them available to anyone who needs them. I want the whole community to be aware of cancer care and prevention, including trials and new modalities of cancer treatment."
The Cancer Care Fund already
has drawn attention from around
the state, including Emory and the Georgia Department of Public Health, who are looking at it as a model for
cancer fundraising programs to be created throughout Georgia. Tongol is happy to share his ideas and methods for creating the organization, and looks to his board of directors - many of whom are his peers at Phoebe Cancer Center - for direction and support.
Today, Tongol is busy preparing for the Napa Valley Marathon this March as well as a seven-day mountain biking trip through Utah. In each event, Tongol runs or bikes in memory of one of his patients who lost his battle with cancer or in honor of a patient who continues his fight to survive. And while Tongol, may not raise enough money to help everyone in the region facing a diagnosis of cancer, he's certainly going to give it his best shot. nGP
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