This is me at the peak of Mt. Diablo. The reason that I am sitting is because I could not walk another single step. This mountain seriously kicked my butt.  

Before we started, we met up with honored team mate, Marsha, who inspired us all when she told us that she was participating in a drug study and was enjoying an 80% response rate. She was in good health and good spirits. 

Her story, like mine and many others, is the reason that we are hiking and raising money. The advancements in therapies and treatments of blood cancers are improving the lives of patients everyday. We have to keep going!

After saying good bye to Marsha, we hiked down the mountain (which wasn't difficult at all). We stopped at Rock City for lunch and then began our journey back up the mountain. When I looked up at the cell towers at the top of the mountain I was shocked to see how far from the summit we actually were.

I did ok until about a mile before the summit. I was tired, and feeling a bit nauseous. I was having to stop every 50 feet to sit down and rest. My teammates were very patient with me. I was literally reciting "I think I can, I think I can" to myself as I slowly put one foot in front of the other. 

Being a part of this team, and pushing myself each weekend  isn't just about raising money for LLS for me. It is also about me continuing to fight and survive. 

For me, conquering this mountain is like conquering cancer. Sometimes I might feel tired and sick, but I will get back up and continue to fight.

Want a few examples of how LLS uses its donations?

• $10 helps a LLS-funded researcher to grow cells in a lab for a week, to understand how well a new blood cancer therapy might work.

• $70 allows one patient to participate in an LLS telephone/web education program which features medical experts who provide the latest disease and treatment information.

• $300 funds one week of important one-on-one and group support for families dealing with the challenges of blood cancer treatment.

• $900 allows LLS researchers to isolate T cells from a patient's blood to be used in a promising experimental immunotherapy clinical trial.

• $5,000 funds a month of testing regarding a patient's response to a new therapy being tested to understand how the treatment is working.

• $25,000 funds one year of studies to monitor blood levels of patients participating in a clinical trial.

• $55,000 funds a research fellow's training for a year, building the next generation of scientists dedicated to developing blood cancer cures.

Every time I finish up a hike I want to yell, "LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!!!"  It is just so remarkable to me that I am healthy enough to hike for miles every weekend. I want to share this feeling with everyone that has ever been told that they have cancer. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has raised millions of dollars for the research and development of the treatments that are keeping me alive and thriving. Please help me to keep that research going. We are so close to finding cures. 

This is Dr. Jeffrey Wolf of UCSF. I credit him with saving my life. As the head of Myeloma research at UCSF in 2008, he sked me to participate in a new drug study (Velcade) that would soon after bring me to remission and become the standard of treatment for most Myeloma patients. Velcade extended my life and since then several other new drugs have been developed that have done the same. Since my diagnosis, my prognosis has gone from 2 years to two decades.

Now researchers are on the verge of a new treatment that could very well be the cure that Myeloma patients have been waiting for. 

I know many of you have seen the LLS ads that say, "Someday is Today!"  They are accelrating cures and saving lives. Well, I am living proof of this claim. LLS has raised almost 1.5 billion dollars toward research and patient care. 

Click here to see where the money goes http://www.lls.org/aboutlls/financialinformation/

Please consider making a donation. Every little bit helps.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I had the most overwhelming sensation that we were being followed. 

Mark Jayne (fellow TnT teammate) and I were on our own for a hike this weekend. The weather was beautiful and the view of the coast from the grassy hills of Willow Creek Park were unbelieveable! Throughout the hike we were constantly aware of the quietness. Even the birds were still. We found ourselves standing quietly for minutes at a time, just taking in the beauty and the absolute soundlessness (is that even a real word) of our surroundings. When we did speak, we could only whisper. It was an amazing experience.

Our 3 mile hike up through the forest led us to one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen of the coast, the river, and the surrounding forests. After spending several minutes at the top of the hill, we said good bye to the view and started back toward the forest. As we walked, I was overcome by the sensation that someone was following us. I glanced over my shoulder and saw nothing. Life has tought me to listen to my instincts, so I quickly went thru a mental check list. Was I sensing an animal close by?  Were there other people on the trail? We were in the middle of a large grassy hilltop. I was sensing something directly behind us, not at a distance. 

After turning around a couple of times, and getting goosebumps all over, I just stopped and had to tell Mark what I was experiencing. I'm sure he thought that I was completely out of my mind. But I felt that I had to acknowledge what I was feeling. I'm not sure if I was acknowledging it to myself, Mark, or to whatever was following me, but I couldn't move on without acknowledging that I felt something.

I'm not a religious person, but I do believe that we carry the souls of others within our memories. After reflecting on this experience, I have decided that what I was feeling was the memories of recently passed people who supported me and this cause while they were alive, and who are still supporting me now because I refuse to forget them.