雷弗洛伊德's $1 million hole in one

It was Christmas Day 2011, when Maria Floyd received the call she’d been urgently awaiting. She’d placed a request toAshish Kamat, M.D.，副教授Urologyat MD Anderson, asking to discuss her cancer.

“Maria had been diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the bladder, a rare and aggressive type ofbladder cancer”雷弗洛伊德，她近40年的丈夫如是说。“我们刚刚完成了在该国最受人尊敬的医院四个广泛的巡演。我们在寻找我们能找到帮助玛丽亚的最佳伴侣。她谁愿意在MD安德森癌症殴打的朋友，她想从医生多了一个观点有作为“。

Kamat had reviewed tests Maria had undergone at other hospitals and recommended the Floyds start treatment as soon as possible. The cancer had begun to spread, and waiting to start treatment would only decrease her chance of survival. She flew to MD Anderson and was admitted Dec. 27 to undergo chemotherapy.

“我给玛丽亚解释治疗方案，她的肿瘤是已经转移的侵略性的变体，” KAMAT说。“玛丽亚告诉我，‘即使有只有2％的机会，我会通过这场斗争中得到的，我给它我的一切。’”

Role reversal

雷弗洛伊德学分玛丽亚和他的杰出的成功ss as a member of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).

“我有两个职业：一个前我遇到了玛丽亚，并一前一后。她对我的职业生涯产生巨大的影响，并在我在美巡赛上的多年支持我，”他说。

Over the next several months, with Ray now in the supportive role, Maria endured round after round of extremely intense, inpatient chemotherapy at MD Anderson. It was an aggressive approach to fight an aggressive form of cancer.

“化疗的目的是缩小其肿瘤，所以她可能会幸运地考虑手术治疗，” KAMAT说。“玛丽亚不得不对化疗的积极回应之后，才可以采取下一步行动，这是根治性膀胱切除。这对夫妻的方法来对待她是像雷的做法，以在比赛打。他们会解决一个孔，或在他们的情况下，处理在同一时间的一个阶段“。

玛丽亚通过化疗打她的方式，通过给予Arlene Odelia Siefker-Radtke, M.D.，副教授Genitourinary Medical Oncology. The next stage of treatment prior to surgery was a clinical trial, prophylactic radiation treatment of the brain. Chemotherapy is designed not to reach the brain, and the doctors wanted to give Maria the best chance for beating her cancer.

“多发性硬化症。弗洛伊德通过治疗，这部分没有航行曾经抱怨，” KAMAT说。

KAMAT然后取出癌膀胱和重建她的尿道。病理结果非常好 - 有膀胱没有可行的肿瘤。

一个专门的倡导者

即使在她的治疗，玛丽亚拒绝停止支持她的许多慈善承诺，如三杆洞高尔夫球场，在她的棕榈滩的故乡，PGA巡回赛妻子协会，有利于贫困儿童，并通过慈善活动他们的家庭。为了促进膀胱癌意识，她和雷建立通过膀胱癌宣传网络年度研究奖，她在该组织的年度大会上发言。乐动体育LDsports中国

Routine follow-up visits to MD Anderson revealed no cancer, but in April 2012, Maria contacted Kamat complaining of headaches. An MRI revealed, despite the radiation treatment, the cancer had metastasized to her brain and spread to her spine. She immediately began more chemotherapy, continuing her advocacy for bladder cancer until her death on Sept. 7.

A gift of friendship

Kamat’s family and the Floyds became close friends during Maria’s treatment. They worked together to create awareness of bladder cancer and discussed the need to fund research to help other patients. Shortly after Maria’s death, Ray reached out to Kamat with important news.

“I was on vacation with my family and received a text from Ray asking me to give him a call,” says Kamat. “Ray said he’d decided to make a $1 million pledge to support my research. I was completely surprised by the gift.”

Ray hopes the donation will touch patients’ lives in a specific way.

“This is my way of continuing Maria’s fight,” he says. “My hope is that my friend Ashish will use this donation to discover a way to reduce the suffering from this disease and help patients avoid the ravages of chemotherapy and its impact on the body.”