Thanks to my friends, family and a few fundraisers, I'm now only $93 away from my $3,500 goal!! Since my last blog, two of my friends hosted Premier Jewelry and Pampered Chef parties, after which The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society received a percentage of the sales. In addition, I'm the accompanist for my middle school's chorus, and the director agreed to hold a benefit concert for LLS. Between cash donations, poinsettia and candy bar sales, we raised $464! AMAZING!!
It's humbling to look on my fundraising page and see this:
Of course, I'm still fundraising. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's need is ongoing - and although my $3,500 makes a HUGE difference, LLS would gladly accept donations above and beyond.
As you've read in my previous blog posts, I've been having issues with my knees, particularly my right knee, during my training. At this point, I've run 235 miles, and have to endure a pretty good amount of swelling and pain after each run. Sometimes more than others. So, I finally gave in and visited an orthopedic doctor who ordered an MRI. The MRI results showed that I'm missing a "chunk" of cartilage behind my kneecap. Since I don't recall an injury of any kind to my knee, the doctor thinks I must have been born without it. This makes a lot of sense because I've had knee pain all of my life and now that pain has been aggravated by the increased activity. At this point, I'm weighing my options, but I won't take any action until after my January 15th race. My options are 1) to do nothing 2) to have surgery. If I decide to do nothing, the doctor suggested I find an exercise other than running. So...surgery is a pretty viable option.
While this Team in Training voyage has been challenging, it has also been a BLAST! At the beginning of December, a few of my teammates and I ran the Reindeer Ramble 5K at Keeneland (the horse racing venue I mentioned in my last blog). Our theme was "White-Out Blood Cancer". We covered ourselves in "snow" and carried snow related items. I hope to never run a 3.1 mile race carrying a snow shovel ever again. :-)
Thanks again to all of my friends and supporters. This journey has been more worthwhile because of you!
If you know anyone who has been affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma or another form of cancer, please feel free to share my journey with them.
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Keep reading!! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing great things!
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will Help Support Curis Drug Candidate
By Chris Reidy
Curis Inc., a Lexington drug company focused on cancer, said it could receive up to $4 million from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to support the development of a treatment for patients with B-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Curis has designated the potential treatment as a drug candidate called CUDC-907. Under the agreement, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will fund about 50 percent of the direct costs of the development of CUDC-907, up to $4 million, Curis said in a press release. According to the society’s web page, lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. In 2010, about 628,415 people were living with lymphoma or were in remission.
