From The Enterprise (Brockton), Monday, April 20, 2009

Bridgett Lasbury-Casey usually keeps her running less than two miles.

But on Monday, the 38-year-old Easton native will run 26.2-miles in the Boston Marathon in the name of her 2-year-old son and a rare form of cancer.

Lasbury-Casey, a stay-at-home mom who is also head coach of the Bridgewater State College Lady Bears women's basketball team, is running to raise money for pediatric hematology-oncology programs at Mass. General Hospital for Children in Boston.

That is where her son Liam was cared for and treated after being diagnosed, at the age of 51/2 months, with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of muscle cancer.

Just at the beginning of life, the toddler has endured two surgeries to remove tumors from his lung, months of chemotherapy and weeks of radiation therapy.

His mother says his perseverance will help push her across the finish line on Monday.

"There are days out there doing a 10-mile run and at the end I say, ‘What am I doing this for?' Then I think of Liam, and I'm reminded. I'm doing this for myself and I'm doing this for him," Lasbury-Casey said. "He'll be there at the finish line to see me. When I'm at 18, 19 miles, I'll have a picture of him in my head and that will get me across the finish line."

Lasbury-Casey is married to her partner, Meghan, and they have four sons: Owen, 6; Jack, 5; Liam, who turns 3 in June; and Troi, 20 months. Meghan Lasbury-Casey will join Bridgett for the last six miles to the finish line on Monday.

Rhabdomyosarcoma has taken a toll on Liam and his parents. Doctors removed a tumor from his lung in December 2006, and the toddler received chemotherapy until May 2007. But within months, a CAT scan revealed the tumor had come back.

In July 2007, Liam underwent surgery again, then went through eight months of weekly chemotherapy and four weeks of daily radiation treatment.

"Definitely countless sleepless nights in hospitals and emergency rooms," Lasbury-Casey said. "We never questioned, ‘Why Liam?' This is something we were dealt and we're going to deal with it."

Subsequent CAT scans revealed the tumor has not come back, and Liam is a happy, healthy boy who enjoys playing. He's now been in remission for 15 months.

Julie Piotrowski, a MassGeneral nurse, inspired Lasbury-Casey to run in the Marathon after running for Liam herself for the last two years. MassGeneral is fielding around 110 runners as part of a patient partner program, Lasbury-Casey said.

Stonehill College cross country athlete Jackie Oates - who, like Lasbury-Casey, is a graduate of Oliver Ames High School - is coaching Lasbury-Casey.

Lasbury-Casey runs every day, with longer runs on weekends, and has been training since November. She also ran a half-marathon in New Bedford in March.

"After training I can see how running can become an addiction. It's the best bang for the buck in terms of working out. But it does take a toll on the knees," she said. "I have a new respect for cross country and track athletes."