A Letter from Tori Bahr ’09
Four years ago I graduated from Augsburg College with a Biology and Chemistry degree. It was a great four years, but I knew more education was needed to get me to my ultimate career of becoming a physician. In August of 2010 I began medical school across the river at the University of Minnesota.
I was fortunate enough to receive the Rein in Sarcoma Scholarship this past year while at medical school. This foundation was started by Karen Wycoff who while in college was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma. She had never heard of sarcoma before her diagnosis. Shortly before her death Karen conceived and created the Rein in Sarcoma Foundation as a way to raise awareness of sarcoma cancers, to encourage sarcoma research, and to support other sarcoma patients and their loved ones. In the eleven years since its conception Rein in Sarcoma has raised over $1,000,000!
As a scholar I have been blessed to meet many people who have been touched by this awful disease. Unfortunately, sarcoma is too often misdiagnosed and many have stories of doctor after doctor not taking them seriously. While most cancers are diagnosed four months from the onset of symptoms, the average time to diagnosis for sarcoma is 14 months! It is time to change this story! Catching sarcoma early is the best way to improve outcomes.
Over the past three months my fiance, Paul Sanft (also an Auggie, class of 2005) and I have invited survivors and the loved ones of those that sarcoma took too soon to come tell their stories in front of the camera. The goal of this project is to change the sarcoma story from “never heard of it” to “we caught it early.” I am so thankful to have met these wonderful people. I will always carry their stories near my heart as I approach my future patients. Please help us change the sarcoma story by sharing this video with your friends, family, and colleagues!
-A special thanks to Zach Sobiech, a 17 year old from Minnesota, currently fighting osteosarcoma for providing the music. He also was recently featured in People magazine.
-A special thanks to Paul Sanft at Ideatap Studios for donating the editing and filming.
Thank you for helping change the sarcoma story today!
Tori Bahr
University of Minnesota, MD candidate 2014
Rein in Sarcoma Foundation Scholar
Augsburg College, 2009