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| Family Portrait in Maui |
My health overall has been fantastic (knock on wood). I've continued to focus sucessfully on weight loss and exercise, and though it has been slow going, I am nearly 30 pounds lighter than I was two years ago. I have undergone two more maintenance treatments of Rituxan, one in March and one in June, and both went very smoothly. I am scheduled for my MRI next week and I am expecting to hear good news when I meet with my oncologist the following week.
This past Thursday night, I did something that I've been thinking about ever since I was diagnosed a year ago: I signed up with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October. My involvement with TNT began in the fall of 2005, when, on a whim and in attempt to improve my fitness level, I decided to attend a TNT informational meeting and was so inspired that I signed up to do an event there and then. Never having been a runner, this was a huge deal for me. I was always the kid who walked the laps in junior high PE, always coming in last. I took dance class in high school so I could avoid PE and running! I’d never ever even completed running ONE mile, yet there I was, so inspired by this meeting that I signed myself up to run 13.1! With the support of TNT’s amazing network of coaches, mentors, honorees, and other participants, I went through their incredibly successful training program and completed the San Francisco Kaiser Half Marathon in February of 2006, not to mention that I raised over $5000 for the LLS! I can honestly say that crossing that finish line was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.
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| With my dad, after completing my half-marathon! If you look closely, you can see the tears of joy in my eyes. |
Little did I know at that time that I would be directly benefiting from my fundraising efforts only a few years later. Many of you who have been with me throughout this journey know that I have been fighting my cancer battle by receiving infusions an amazing drug called Rituxan. Rituxan is a type of antibody therapy, which is different from traditional chemotherapy in that this drug targets the specific cancerous cells and binds to them, which creates a target for the body’s immune system to attack. Traditional chemotherapy kills healthy as well as cancerous cells, and thus causes so many of the horrible side effects that people experience. With Rituxan, thankfully, I have not experienced the harsh side effects of hair loss, nausea, extreme fatigue and immunosuppression. This miracle drug has literally melted my tumors away, keeping my cancer under control with a very minimal impact on my life.
I was thrilled to discover that the Leukemia Lymphoma Society provided critical funding for the development of Rituxan. This is incredibly motivating for me to help raise even more funds for the LLS, knowing so personally that the efforts of this amazing organization really do change lives of cancer patients. It is so satisfying to know that the money I raise as a participant will go directly toward more research to develop other new miracle drugs that will greatly improve the lives of future cancer patients, and eventually one day... find a cure. As of now, there is no cure for the type of cancer that I have.
In addition to being a participant on TNT's South Bay Run Team, I am also serving as an "honoree" this season. I will sharing my story with my team, and making a personal connection with those participants whose lives may not have been affected by someone who has a blood cancer. I hope that in this way, I will be able to inspire and encourage them, and make their TNT journey more meaningful and fruitful.
Please consider supporting me in my efforts by making a generous financial contribution and donate to my fundraising campaign. No amount is too small! As a direct beneficiary of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's efforts, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Click the link below to donate:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf11/jreido
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| I'm ready to kick some cancer butt! Please join me by offering your financial support. Thank you! |
