From patient to LOWVELO rider: Leukemia survivor gives back

After nearly 50 years together, high school sweethearts Patti and Ben Woodworth thought they were simply beginning another chapter of their life together. They left Maryland for Charleston, settling into a new home and a new rhythm. Parents to two grown sons and grandparents to two beautiful babies, they were running a business together and enjoying life. Patti felt healthy and was looking forward to all that was ahead. Then a routine blood test changed everything.

“They saw some weird things in my numbers,” she said. “And then oncology monitored me every three months for a year.”

At that last appointment, doctors talked about starting to bring her back every six months instead but wanted to check the numbers one more time.

“And they just dropped,” remembered Patti. “It was very strange. I was in the oncology lab on Thursday. They did a biopsy on Friday, and I was in the hospital for seven weeks that following Monday.”

She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Throughout those first few weeks, Patti felt fine. She had no symptoms and even wondered if the tests had been wrong.

“I remember when the doctor told me I was like, ‘What? I'm fine. I feel fine.' For a couple of weeks, I kept saying, ‘There must be another Patricia Woodworth in this hospital that they're mixing my blood up with because I'm fine. I'm totally fine.’ And so, I think I was kind of in denial.”

Ben even remembers Patti asking the doctor what would happen if she just went home and waited until things got worse.

“The doctor said ‘You could die in two weeks,’ and so on the ride home there was a lot of crying,” he said. “But it's the attitude that gets you through this. She said, ‘I have grandkids, I've got family. I'm going to fight this.’ That was before we got home. She had already made the decision.”

That decision would be tested almost immediately.

The next seven weeks of Patti’s life were spent inside the hospital, where she underwent chemotherapy throughout the fall of 2024, while awaiting a bone marrow transplant. For someone who felt healthy just weeks earlier, the sudden loss of normalcy was hard to accept. Patti’s world had become limited visits with family and friends, treatment schedules and confinement to a hospital room.

Taking control

Patti reached a breaking point during that hospital stay. She told one of her nurses that she simply couldn’t do it anymore. The nurse’s response became a turning point.

“She said, ‘You know, Patti, this is your life. You take charge of your life. When you wake up in the morning, you don't wait for us to come in and decide what’s next. Get up, brush your teeth, sit in your chair, get on your computer, make some phone calls. We'll work around you,’” Patti recalled.

That moment restored something she desperately needed – a sense of control.

“It was exactly what I needed to hear,” she said.

The shift wasn’t only happening for Patti. Ben was undergoing his own transformation, too. While she fought for control inside the hospital walls, he was learning how to manage life outside them – supporting his wife through every step of treatment, while handling the responsibilities of home alone for the first time in decades.

“It is long being strong for somebody else,” he said. “But it's what you sign up for when you get married. You worry about things you can control. And you realize when you get a diagnosis how out of control that is.”

From managing medications and coordinating updates with family to keeping the household running, Ben’s schedule was completely altered. But Patti made sure to encourage him to keep some parts of his life as normal as possible – to keep working, to take some time away from the hospital to take care of himself, to spend a Saturday watching the game instead of sitting at her bedside. And both said that without their faith, a sense of humor, and the support of family and friends, they wouldn’t have gotten through it.

Patti had a few weeks at home around the holidays to spend with her family before being readmitted to start preparing her body for a bone marrow transplant in February of 2025.

“I got to speak with my boys one-on-one,” she recalled. “And there was a lot of crying, a lot of just sitting around and talking about life.”

Though it meant more time in the hospital and some days of feeling sicker than she ever had, Patti’s bone marrow transplant was successful. Over a year and a half later, she’s starting to feel more like herself again and a recent biopsy showed no trace of disease.

Giving back

Something else happened while Patti was in the hospital. While walking the halls, she noticed a row of framed photos along the wall filled with happy-looking teams all decked out in cycling gear. After asking around and talking to some of the nurses, Patti learned about LOWVELO. She knew immediately that she wanted to be part of it and of course, that meant Ben would be too.

The Woodworths are no strangers to doing good. Back in Maryland, their printing company became involved in various charity events over the years. Patti was even named Woman of the Year by the local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society after years of volunteering.

Little did she know then how much leukemia would affect her life now. And she and Ben have taken that personal connection full circle by becoming part of the LOWVELO community.

“Everybody is affected by cancer, and all the money goes to MUSC,” said Patti. “This is my home. These people have helped me get better. I really think this is a great cause.”

In 2025, their team, Woody’s Riders, raised almost $12,000. Ben rode the 27-mile route and Patti, who had hoped to ride, ended up not feeling well enough but played a crucial role behind the scenes as a volunteer.

“I think when you get the diagnosis, you can get in a place where you and your spouse feel really alone – because the rest of the world out there is still going on,” said Ben. “With LOWVELO, you realize you're not alone. You realize there are other people that are going through the same thing.”

The annual event brings together thousands of riders, volunteers and supporters to raise money for cancer research at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Riders can choose their own way to participate, but the goal is the same: to turn their miles and fundraising efforts into hope for patients and families facing cancer.

For the Woodworths, LOWVELO has become much more than a bike ride, and its mission hits especially close to home now. They know what it feels like to walk into Hollings and depend on the people inside its walls.

“It's been crazy to say that you get cancer, and you find out it's an absolute blessing by the people that you meet here – the doctors, nurses and staff, and especially the other patients,” said Ben. “But we've come through the other side of bone marrow transplant and we're on the upside of a roller coaster now.”

Now, they get to come back as part of a community working to make sure other patients have more options, more hope and more time. And while Patti couldn’t ride in 2025, she’s hopeful that this year she’ll get on a bike – either for the Island Ride or the stationary ride. One thing is certain: She’ll be there volunteering. After all, that’s where Patti’s heart has always been.

“I ride because this place has made such a big impact on me. It saved my life,” said Patti. “I'm a cancer survivor, and I ride to help MUSC help other patients.”

“And I ride because if God gives you another day, you should go out and do something good for others,” said Ben