Thank You for All Your Support!

I finished!

This has been an amazing season for me. With all your generous contributions, I raised over $2800 and counting for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! At last night's inspiration dinner, we had a fabulous speaker who is in remission from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (and whose parents both are Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors!). She talked about how sometimes patients need more than just moral support - they actually have real needs. LLS was able to fill those needs for her by providing $1,000 to help with her copayments and other medical bills. She was just out of college and only had a major medical plan because her employer did not offer health benefits. She said to always remember that when you make a donation or raise money, it is not going to a faceless organization. It is actually going to one person, and it is meeting that person's needs. So rest assured that your generous contributions are making a difference in the life of a blood cancer patient.

Around 5,000 TNTers competed in the Nike Women's Marathon today, together raising the equivalent of $500,000 per mile. And you folks made that happen!

Of course, I have gotten something out of this as well. I have met many inspirational cancer survivors, family members, and even patients undergoing treatment. I have gone from running 0 miles to running 13.1 miles! But of course I had my setbacks. Between my sprained ankle at the end of August and my bout with h1n1 at the end of September, my training was less than adequate. I have not run more than 3 miles at once in over six weeks, and I had never run more than 6 miles in my life! Because of my illness I didn't even go to the gym for nearly 2 weeks.

But I finished! And I did it, I think, in approximately 11 minutes per mile, which is just a bit slower than the pace I was hoping for pre-injury and -illness. And while I am exhausted now, it was a fabulous experience! A couple of weeks ago I was not even sure I could finish, and this morning I was not even sure I could run the whole thing. But I did it, thanks to all your support. I did not want to let my donors down!

And I owe special thanks to my wonderful husband who supported me during training, waited on me when I sprained my ankle and while I was sick, and showed up on the race course at 8 miles and at the finish line while still under the weather.

Thank you again for all your support and your generous donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

(And just to show that it wasn't all fun and games when I finished the race, I'm even letting you see this picture.)