Welcome Friends!

I will be doing the Broad Street Run on May 5, 2013 as part of the Leukemia and Lympohoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.As a team member, I am raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for blood cancers like the ones that have affected my family. I need your help.

I do this In Memory of Keith Winnick

Six years ago on February 4, shortly after 1pm, I said 'goodbye' for the last time to Keith, my youngest sibling. He was 38. Only five months before, Keith had been diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma. What Keith endured between August of 2006 and February of 2007 was beyond my comprehension. No movie I'd seen, no memoir I'd read, no prior experience with aunts, uncles and grandparents with cancer prepared me for the cruelty of this disease and the brutality of the treatment. I never want to witness this again. (Read about my brother's goodbye here.)

I do this In Honor of Stephen Winnick

Two years ago my father was diagnosed with mutliple-myeloma, the second most common form of blood cancer. At 78 and with a heart irreparably damaged 40 years ago by a massive heart attack, he's a poor candidate for a bone marrow transplant, the only real cure. Now he's on a lifelong rotation of chemo and steroid treatments. The disease and the drug regimen have robbed him of his height, his weight, and his stamina. His bones are brittle and he can barely walk. A workaholic his whole life, he struggles to fit in as much activity as he can during the few hours each week that the steroids give him a much needed boost of energy. The rest of the time, he sleeps. The fight gets harder every week.

I do this In Hope

I've never run 10 miles before, and only barely made it through a 5k a couple of years ago. But I have faith that I can complete this race. Just like I believe that it's possible to find more effective ways to tackle cancer. I've signed up for Team-In-Training in hope of accomplishing both. The funds I raise for this run will help find cures and better treatments for lymphoma and myeloma as well as other blood cancers. With your support, we can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts. Thank you.

xoxo,

Kim