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Jason Merrill
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ST. LOUIS - When Leisa Zigman participated in a first-year cycling event called Pedal the Cause in 2010, she approached it like one of the many charity events she takes part in – an appearance to help raise money for a good cause. In this case, cancer research.

However, events that would transpire over the weeks that followed not only changed the KSDK anchor’s life, it made the 2011 Pedal the Cause the focal point in her efforts to “pay it forward.”

“Two years ago, I found a lump on my groin and I always had been pretty proactive about my health, including routine physicals and blood work, but it got bigger and bigger,” says Zigman. “In October, I was working out with my trainer and she yelled at me for an hour saying, ‘You better get it looked at.’”

Concerned, but still thinking the lump was nothing to truly worry about, she was referred to David Mutch, MD, chief of gynecologic oncology at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

After some tests, she was soon delivered shocking news on November 1, 2010. Despite feeling healthy, she was diagnosed with low grade follicular Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“I had election coverage the next day, and I was covering both Russ and Robin Carnahan and I thought in my mind it was low grade and a tiny follicle and they would zap it with radiation,” says Zigman. “I did not grasp the gravity of the cancer.”

Zigman points to the day of her first appointment with Siteman oncologist Nancy Bartlett, MD, as an example.

“A volunteer met me at the door to tell me where valet was and where the pharmacy was and then I thought, ‘Does this mean I’m going to be here a lot?’ … that’s when I knew I was in for a pretty long journey,” she says. “Still, I saw Dr. Bartlett and told her I thought they had made a mistake …

… and she held my hand and said you have cancer.”

The news is a surprise to many KSDK viewers. Zigman stayed on the air throughout treatment without any noticeable physical changes, missing only a few days of work. The reason she was able to continue working is a new treatment protocol that did not exist until the past year and a half.

“That first day, Dr. Bartlett put me on a protocol that specifically targets cancer cells leaving healthy cells unharmed,” she says of the protocol – a combination of Rituxan and Bendamustine, a chemotherapy drug that has fewer side effects than older treatments. “The miracle of this new drug combination allowed me to work through it and it helped my family keep a relatively normal life.”

Ironically, if Zigman had started treatment when she first noticed her lump two years ago, the treatment protocol did not yet exist. Rather than a traditional chemotherapy treatment with side effects like hair loss, the Rituxan/Bendamustine treatment did not cause Zigman to lose her hair.

“I heard someone say, ‘I saw Leisa on TV and her wig looks great’” she says. “Not on this treatment. It’s my own hair.”

Treatment for Zigman ended April 11. Dozens of friends and family gathered around her on the seventh floor of the Center for Advanced Medicine near Siteman’s infusion center. With husband Michael Edlin, daughter Micaila, 15 and son Taylor, 12, at her side, Zigman rang the ceremonial bell mounted outside the infusion center to mark the end of cancer treatment.

However, before ringing the bell, Leisa took the time to announce something she wanted everyone to know – her interest in “paying it forward” through an event she only a few months prior attended as part of charity efforts.

Pedal the Cause founder Bill Koman – also a Hodgkins survivor – is a friend on Zigman’s with strong ties to the St. Louis corporate community. After Koman’s cancer fight was complete in 2006, he helped the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation transform their annual Reach For The Stars gala into illumination – an event raising on average around $1.5 million annually for cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center.

To take his efforts to another level, he created Pedal the Cause, a cycling event modeled after Boston’s Pan-Mass Challenge. The Pan-Mass event raises more than $30 million in one day for cancer research at Dana Farber in Boston. Koman’s vision is to one day make Pedal the Cause a $10 million event to raise money for Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital through their Cancer Frontier Fund and Children’s Discovery Institute, respectively.

Through Koman’s efforts, sponsors such as Edward Jones and Anheuser-Busch have donated enough dollars to cover costs at the next three Pedal the Cause events. Every dollar raised by participants goes straight to cancer research.

“One year this will be a $10 million one-day event,” says Zigman. “We need seed money for clinical research and we’re only on the ten yard line. If I can be part of that team who moves the ball forward I will be part of a team making a significant difference.”

To that end, KSDK viewers will soon see news of “Team Leisa,” Zigman’s own Pedal the Cause team she wants to be the event’s largest.

“All the money raised will stay right here in St. Louis – the genome center at Washington University, Siteman, Children’s, Barnes-Jewish,” she says. “It will have a tangible impact where we all live.

“Moving forward it is and will become, besides my family, a major focal point of my life,” says Zigman. “I hope that my role as a public figure can be used to raise awareness for a cause I care deeply about and that’s helping to find a cure.”

For more information about Pedal the Cause, click here or visit www.pedalthecause.org.