Battling the Monster Under the Floorboards

When Seth Grumet was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2010, his then 10-year old daughter told him the cancer was a monster under the floorboards that needed to be stomped out.

A father of three and Marlboro resident, Grumet was training for his second Ironman Triathlon. During a morning bike-ride, Grumet just didn’t feel right. His first diagnosis: allergies. Grumet was sent home with an inhaler. A second trip to a new doctor a few days later showed troubling symptoms, including shortness of breath,  night sweats and weight loss among others.

After a CT scan, doctors found a tumor the size of a first in his right lung. And after several more tests, including bone marrow, Grumet was cleared for chemotherapy.

Despite his physical ailments, Grumet considers himself lucky. He has a full support system, but Grumet realized through hospital visits and bonding over chemotherapy treatments, that not everyone was as lucky.

“My middle child digested the info my wife and I gave her and then said "Dad, your Cancer is the Monster under the floorboard...You just have to STOMP IT OUT!!" I was blown away,” Grumet said on his website.

And so he decided to help Stomp the Monster under the floorboards by creating a non-profit organization to help in any way he could.

Grumet said on his website, “I met people during chemotherapy that needed help and I want to help them. Some could not get rides to treatment sessions, some were simply going through this alone, while others still had to take care of their families and homes while suffering through the sickness that comes with treatment.  At first I found this terribly sad, but soon I began to see the opportunity to help.”

Almost exactly one year ago, Stomp the Monster was born. Its founders gathered in Councilman Frank LaRocca’s law office, and started a plan.

“We talked about Livestrong and how we could be like it, and we all laughed,” he said. “But now, I think about five years from now. I can’t see why in 5 years this is not in every state.”

The group is certainly rapidly growing. Since its inception last October, Stomp the Monster has raised over $150,000 for individuals and organizations in need. During its first event, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk, Stomp the Monster raised $27,000.

Stomp the Monster is now helping families in Georgia and Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida, among others. And this past Columbus Day, Stomp the Monster held its golf outing at . The event raised over $30,000 for Stomp the Monster, Lungevity and the LaRocca Memorial Scholarship Fund.

“We’ll help anybody,” LaRocca said, adding that their biggest groups in need are single mothers and children with cancer.

While helping others around the country, Grumet is now going through another round of chemotherapy, which he began at the beginning of the year.

And as his family and friends continue to rally around him with unwavering support, Grumet continues to offer support to strangers across the nation who find themselves battling the monster.