My Fundraising Page

Last update: 3.10.09

Racing to Save Lives

In late 2001, I was having a pretty rough year. I was finishing up my first semester as a freshman in college, 6 hours away from my home, finals looming, and my boyfriend just broke up with me! My naive mind thought it couldn't get any worse.

Then my mom called. She told me she had cancer. Follicular mixed-cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Stage Four.

Apparently, it got worse.

I came home to find my mother having chopped off her always-long locks. What was once three feet long was a short bob, and soon it would be no more. With my brother at school and my dad at work during that winter break, I helped shave my mother's head, take her to the hospital for chemotherapy, and helped her around the house as she often did not have the strength to get out of bed. The whole experience was rough on her.

Luckily, my mother has a remarkable sense of humor. She joked about her baldness and kept her spirits up. Because of that spirit, she has been in remission for six years.

As if cancer didn't have enough of an impact on my family, last year my Aunt Betsy was diagnosed last year with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), for which she has undergone chemotherapy. She is doing well, but as CLL is, as its name says, a chronic disease. My aunt will have to undergo treatment for this disease for the rest of her life - unless a cure is found.

My father and I have determined that something must be done. We have seen my mother - his wife - and my aunt - his sister - battle diseases that need to be irradicated.

To do so, my dad and I will compete in a triathlon in her honor as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers, but especially my mother. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. You can also donate to my father's page to help him out as well!

Rex Morgan

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

Update: 3.10.09

I didn't know I missed swimming so much, but whenever I get in the pool, it's like giving an old friend a hug! Swimming has certainly been the easiest part in my challenge, and running the hardest. Now that I've been working out for a few weeks, I think I can finally tackle running in earnest. Wish me luck!