PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A New Jersey mother is in a race against time with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. But that won't stop her from taking on other tough races, for a good cause.
58-year-old Lawrenceville resident Isabella de la Houssaye is a business owner in Philadelphia, and a mother of five.
Related Jawncast: Isabella de la Houssaye refuses to let a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis slow her down - literally.
She's also undergoing chemotherapy for stage 4 lung cancer — while competing in an Ironman triathlon, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike race and ending with a 26.2 mile marathon.
"I think I like a good challenge for sure, always have," she said. "This is a good one. I've done a few while I've had stage 4 cancer. But this will be the first one where I'm actively on chemo."
The endurance athlete is pushing her limits to raise awareness and funds for lung cancer research. Lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined, but sees the least amount of funding.
"It's disproportionately affecting women," said de la Houssaye. "Let's do something about it."
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To do just that, de la Houssaye has partnered with nonprofit organizations, such as Philadelphia's Ride Hard Breathe Easy, which raises money to help lung cancer patients get to appointments, pay rent and cover other necessities. She plans to take on a 100-mile bike ride through the city at the end of the month to benefit them.
She also raised $50,000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center through the triathlon she just completed.
"You know, the hardest step is that first step to get out of bed because you're just lying there, you feel sick, you feel horrible," she shared.
"But if you can get moving, you know, the more movement you can add to your daily routine, the more your body processes, these drugs and eliminates the toxins."
de la Houssaye said she's taking life one race at a time.
"What a stage 4 diagnosis does is make the endgame a lot more real," she said, adding she wants "to be of as much service, to make as much impact on others in the world around me as I can in whatever time I have."
Learn the Philadelphia history of Mother's Day on the Jawncast.