Tjorvi Perry of Dedham says his colleague Vlad Formanek, a fellow anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is in many respects the complete intellectual and medical package.
"He's taught a huge amount of residents and fellows in the course of the years he's been here in the department. Not only is he an excellent physician and an excellent doctor, but he's compassionate toward his patients," says Perry, who was advised and mentored by Formanek during his residency, and then a fellowship in cardiac anesthesiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "I worked closely with him over the years. First he was my teacher, and now he's a colleague that I learn from."
So it was "quite a blow for the department" when Formanek, 49, was diagnosed with brain cancer in December, Perry says.
"It's unfortunate that somebody has to teach us this lesson, but I think many of us have stepped back and we're thankful for every day that we're healthy," says Perry, 37, who lives near the Endicott Estate. "In addition to everything that he's taught us, this is what he's teaching us now."
Now Perry and the 21 other members of Team Vlad are giving back by riding in the Aug. 1 and 2 Pan-Mass Challenge in honor of Formanek, a Watertown resident. Their goal is to raise $100,000 for brain cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Team Vlad and another PMC squad, Team Dedham Health High Street Blues, will get a shared boost tonight from the BBQ Bash for Cancer, a big fundraiser at the Dedham Health & Athletic Complex. Organizers hope to net $100,000 from the event, says Dedham Health & Athletic Complex Vice President Lloyd Gainsboro.
The bash, which begins at 7 p.m. at the athletic complex's Summer Club at 200 Providence Highway, includes a barbecue with steak, chicken and pork; an all-you-can-eat ice cream truck; silent and live auctions; and live music and dancing. DJ Fast Freddy of Mix 98.5 will be the master of ceremonies. Tickets, which are $50, can be bought at the door or by calling 781-326-2900.
This is the sixth year the athletic complex has held the bash. It and the High Street Blues team - which started with Dedham police officers, athletic complex employees, and their family and friends - were launched for Timmy O'Brien, a Dedham boy who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
O'Brien died at age 5 the year after the first fundraiser, but "we've kept up the mantle," Gainsboro says. Money raised from the bashes and High Street Blues team have made possible a researcher at Dana-Farber who is dedicated to finding a cure for osteosarcoma. The team says it must raise $100,000 annually to maintain that researcher.
Perry says he approached administrators at the athletic complex, leading to the collaboration of the two PMC teams for the BBQ Bash for Cancer this year.
Since 1980, the Pan-Mass Challenge, a pioneering bike-a-thon, has raised nearly $240 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber through its Jimmy Fund.
Perry says Team Vlad includes doctors, nurses, and physician assistants - "a whole slew of people, health care professionals, who have somehow been touched by Vlad. It's impressive."
One of those is Marie Caulfield, a Dedham resident from Greenlodge and a cardiology nurse at Brigham and Women's Hospital who met Formanek on a mission trip to Rwanda in April 2008. While Perry is riding for the first time, this is her sixth year with PMC; she also bikes for her 10-year-old nephew, Tommy Quinn of Walpole, who has an inoperable brain tumor.
"My heart is in raising money for brain tumor research, whether it's pediatrics or whether it's adults," she says. "There's researchers there, but they're just waiting for money so that they can find new and better ways to beat this."
As doctors and nurses, Caulfield says, "We're on the other side of the bed taking care of people. But then when your loved ones are the ones who are sick, you're helpless."
From her experience working with Formanek in Rwanda, Caulfield describes him as "compassionate and caring and a mentor, and everybody looks up to him." She adds that he is "just very kind, and thoughtful" - last year, he donated to Caulfield's fundraising for her nephew for the PMC.
An athletic man, Formanek has climbed mountains, windsurfed, scuba-dived, biked, and run.
He is being treated at Dana-Farber. Perry says Formanek has mostly recovered from paralysis he suffered on his right side, and that he will attend the fundraiser tonight.
"He's graduated from a walker to a cane, and he hopes to be walking without any support very soon," Perry says. "He's making a lot of progress. He's halfway through his chemo ... and he's doing well."
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
