GIST Member Story – Michael Byrne

After more than 10 years of fighting GIST, several rounds of ineffective chemo and five surgeries, most folks would say Michael Byrne could use a rest. Michael isn’t most folks. The Plymouth, Michigan, man ran in his first-ever marathon Saturday, March 27. At the finish line he was greeted by his wife, Mia, son Matthew, and a cousin who presented him with a Guinness Stout. But Michael only took a few swigs (“Probably the first time he couldn’t finish one,” says Mia) before limping toward his car, opening a medicine bottle and gulping down four Gleevec pills.