Get Your Rear in Gear!


Roper Physical Therapy will be participating as a team for the Get Your Rear in Gear race in Charlotte on Saturday, March 3rd. Get Your Rear in Gear is dedicated to colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon and rectum) with the goal of preventing more deaths due to a lack of awareness and prevention. We invite you to join us in supporting an important cause that is near and dear to many of us at Roper PT!  To register, please click here

Why We Walk, Run, and Are Asking For Your Support

Sue Falco, one of Christine Roper’s patients at Roper Physical Therapy, was diagnosed with Stage 1 colorectal cancer in 2009. She had most of her rectum and a part of her colon removed. Four years later, while training for her first 1/2 marathon, Sue received the dreaded news that the cancer returned and was now in her lungs. Despite the diagnosis, she ended up running that half marathon and two others while receiving treatment.

Later on, Sue was referred to Roper Physical Therapy for chronic shoulder pain which prevented her from running. She had seen numerous Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, and other specialists, but no one was able to help her. Sue’s sleep was also suffering and, through a sleep app on her phone, she knew she was only getting 2 hours of sleep a night. After just the first treatment, Sue was able to sleep for more than 2 hours. Through continued therapy and treatment, the pain, which had prevented Sue from running, sleeping, and enjoying all the things she loved, disappeared. Unfortunately, Sue passed away in 2016. She fought her battle with cancer with a positive attitude and an uplifting spirit. She has forever placed an imprint on our hearts. Sue was also responsible for starting the first chapter of the Get your Rear in Gear event in Charlotte.

In addition to Sue, Christine’s friend and the wife of her husband’s Western Carolina fraternity big brother, Beth, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 52. She received the diagnosis on her first routine scheduled colonoscopy. We lost Beth in April 2017, just one month after walking the race with her family. This will be the first Get Your Rear in Gear walk for Christine without her. Also, Christine’s baby brother Craig was diagnosed five years ago at age 40. Fortunately, he is now cancer free, but, as Beth always told Christine, “honey, it is always in your head that you had cancer in your body.”

Sue, Beth, and Craig are some of the many patients, family members, and friends within the Roper Physical Therapy family that have been affected by colorectal cancer. In honor of all those affected, we have created a team to run the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k walk/run and Kids Fun Run. We are looking to raise awareness for colorectal cancer by asking for as many participants as we can. The money raised through the race is invested into the local community to increase awareness, screenings, and prevention. One in 20 will develop colorectal cancer with 1 in 10 diagnosed before age 50. Only lung cancer kills more Americans, but colorectal cancer is largely preventable.

Please register today! In addition to a race t-shirt, you will receive your own Roper PT shirt with our new logo, “With Awareness There is a Choice.” You can walk, run, donate, or schedule a colonoscopy in support of colorectal cancer awareness. Let’s do this together!

To register as a walker, runner, or supporter of the Roper Physical Therapy team, please click here

To learn more about colorectal cancer, your risks, the symptoms, and preventative steps you can take, click here