Team Giving Back: The Bassett family walks for breakthroughs

For Fran Bassett of Leominster, Massachusetts, the UMass Cancer Walk is more than a community event—it’s personal. She and her family walk each year to support cancer research at UMass Chan Medical School, research that helps make lifesaving expertise possible for patients like her husband Joe. 

Joe was diagnosed with Stage IVb Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, on May 25, 2011. Stage IVb Burkitt's lymphoma indicates the cancer has spread to at least one organ outside the lymphatic system, with the “b” often signifying the presence of bone marrow or a central nervous system component. At the time, Joe was 66 years old and facing daunting odds. 

“Because he was diagnosed at such a late stage and how sick he was by then, we were told that he had about a 15 percent chance of survival,” Fran recalls.

After months of unexplained illness, Joe was referred to an oncologist who quickly realized that his case required urgent, specialized attention. By a stroke of good fortune, a lymphoma specialist had had just joined the UMass Cancer Center and saw Joe immediately. Within two days, his treatment began. 

What followed was grueling: six rounds of intensive inpatient chemotherapy, each with severe side effects. 

“He had significant side effects with each round and the longest he was able to be home after any round without having to be readmitted was one day,” Fran said. 

Against the odds, on Aug. 25, 2011, Joe was declared in remission. 

Today, more than a decade later, Joe is enjoying retirement after a long career at UMass Memorial Health, where he worked as a contracts manager. Together with Fran—who continues to serve per diem as a pharmacist at UMass Memorial Health—they are grateful that Joe was able to see their son marry, welcome grandchildren into the world and continue building memories with family. 

That gratitude is why Fran named their UMass Cancer Walk team Giving Back. 

“We were so fortunate as a family to have my husband and our kids’ father survive,” Fran said. “The cancer research done at UMass Chan will help others be able to do that—but none of that will be possible without funding.” 

This year marks Fran’ 14th walk and her daughter Caitlin’s 15th. Fran still remembers the first one her family participated in in 2011, when Caitlin walked with friends while Fran kept watch from Joe’s hospital window. Since then, the walk has become an annual tradition of hope and solidarity.

“The supporters and sponsors all do an incredible job raising money for lifesaving research, supporting each other and the families of survivors as well as those who have passed away. I hope that this continues until everyone can be in remission or cured. This support gives hope to many and inspires patients to follow treatment plans that are difficult to endure but gives them hope to do so,” she said. 

On Sunday, Sept. 28, Fran, Joe, and their family will once again join thousands at Polar Park for the UMass Cancer Walk. Their message is simple: funding research saves lives.

“We want other families to have the joy we’ve had,” Fran said.