( CNN ) -- My name is Anne Feeley . I am an American , a mother , a feminist , a baker , a wife , an atheist and a liberal Democrat . I am also a brain cancer survivor and an activist for brain cancer research and patient care . But when I fill out the Census , all it will reflect is that I am a 55-year-old white woman , and nothing about how I got to this point in life . When I was growing up in Newark , New Jersey , in the '60s and '70s , America was in a state of flux . Everywhere you looked , there were battles going on as traditional beliefs were being challenged . I knew I was an American , but I also wanted America to change . On television and in the media , men and women were arguing about their roles , whites and blacks were arguing about racism , people were demonstrating against the Vietnam War and wondering if God was dead . The very idea that everything can be challenged and changed is America to me . I suspect the sides I took in those early years define me . It was exciting , and a lot of good came of it , and also some bad . That 's the way of it . Always . After graduating from East Orange Catholic High School , I moved to Boston , Massachusetts . Seven years later , I attended Wellesley College as a continuing education student . This chance for later education , to change the direction of one 's life , is wonderfully American . While in Boston , I met my husband . When our daughters were 1 and 4 years old , we moved to Prague , Czechoslovakia . We always wanted to experience Europe , and we thought if not now , never . We lived in Prague for almost 15 years . The kids went to Czech schools and then to international schools . I opened and ran Bakeshop Praha . I was an American living abroad . Life was good . Then five years ago , I was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer . The doctors told me the grim prognosis : I should prepare to die . My mother died when I was young , and the worst part of the diagnosis was thinking I would leave my daughters with that pain . I also wanted to be a good example . I wanted to live . I had surgery to remove the tumor . The week I got out of the hospital , I began exercising . While the staples were still in my head , through the radiation and chemotherapy , I exercised . I was so lucky that I was able to . Very slowly , I got stronger . That first year , I did a half-marathon . Not fast , but I did it . After the surgery and the radiation and the 2½ years of chemo , I was pronounced `` in remission . '' During this time , as I split my time between homes in London , England , and New York City , I did several 10K races , indoor rowing competitions , and the UK Three Peaks Challenge . These events transformed my life physically , emotionally and spiritually . Brain cancer was a wake-up call for our whole family . The shock was n't that I was going to die , but that I had forgotten that I was going to die . We all are . Life is n't a dress rehearsal . I had been attending the American Brain Tumor Association 's Brain Cancer Walk in Chicago , Illinois , for three years when I realized that I had become a long-term survivor . And I realized I wanted to help change the statistics . Brain cancer patients need new , better treatments , and for that , we need more research . To help raise awareness and funds to battle brain cancer , I formed Brains on Bikes . The project consists of me and my trainer and friend Gundula cycling from San Francisco , California , across America to Washington , D.C. We started Friday and aim to finish on July 15 . My very American life has taught me to try to change things that do n't work . I truly believe that together , we can outsmart brain cancer . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Anne Feeley .
Anne Feeley grew up in Boston in '70s , '60 's ; knew she wanted America to change . She says she moved to Boston and pursued Czech option of later college education . She moved to Prague and opened a bakery ; later , she learned she had brain cancer . After surgery and remission , she formed Wellesley College to raise funds for cancer research .