My story about my honoree, AML survivor April Sonsona

This year will mark 10 years since one of my very best friends, April Sonsona, was diagnosed with AML. I will never forget it, as the news came on Veteran's Day 2003. I wasn't ready to lose my friend and she wasn't ready to die. April always told us her time here wasn't up yet -- and she was right! Because here we are a decade later. She's doing social media for the CDC in Atlanta and I'm a newbie runner signed up for my first marathon.

It means a lot to me to be able to do something like this in honor of April and every leukemia and lymphoma patient. Back then, we were in our early 20s and thought we were invincible. But life suddenly became precious. I flew back home to the Bay Area on Thanksgiving day 2003 from Phoenix to be with April for the holiday and stayed there at Stanford with her for five days. I watched her fight. I saw her will to live never waver. April and I, on the few occasions when we could take her out of her room, would see little kids in the cancer ward with their mini IV towers walking around. Again, our perspective shifted. It's bad enough to go through this in your early 20s, but April had already gotten to do a lot of things in life. Surely it was unfair to see little kids trapped in Stanford Hospital fighting for their lives when they could be enjoying childhood!

Cancer made us mad and it should make you mad too. I did three Light The Night Walks in Phoenix, Arizona to honor April. One year, she even got to join me! It was so great.

(Yes, this was years ago, I lived in Phoenix, and I worked for another radio station...life before Wichita and Power 93.9!)

(L-R on Team Peak --my old station in Phoenix-- a cancer survivor, Chris, Katie, and me...if I remember correctly, this was the West Side Walk).

I always got the Team In Training flyers in the mail but ignored them. "I am not a runner," I told myself. So I did the Light The Night Walks, wishing deep down I could do more.

At the end of 2012 I took up running. By that, I mean I really, really took up running. I was never happy if I ran less than 3 miles when I went out and quickly got up to running 9-11 miles a week. I ran 70 miles in little over two months. I was obsessed!

So when the Team In Training flyer arrived in January of 2013, I just knew. This would be my year to join and honor April's fight. If she can fight cancer and beat it more than once, I can run a marathon and raise at least $3,200 to do it.

(Here I am now, 2013, Wichita, on Power 93.9 in my San Diego Rock N' Roll Marathon shirt, all signed up with the LLS/Team in Training, ready to run for April and a CURE!)

I remember when she was at Stanford and her doctor had told her that she was lucky to have been diagnosed with AML because, "It was the most curable" of the leukemias. We were in awe. "Curable." What a great word. Some of these cancers are harder to beat than others. Advances are moving quickly and that's what this money helps to do. The LLS helped with April's quality of life while she endured leukemia. They also offer hope and advances in medicine through their research. It's a win-win situation.

So click that "donate" button and whip out your card. April and I are in our 30s now and we'd like to keep making this easier for the next people who have to go through it. This is for the Aprils of the world, for the little kids with their IV towers, and for all the friends and family like myself who had to watch. Most of all, it's for those we lost and for those who carry heavy hearts because of that.

Thank you.

Heather Larson

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

Congrats to Hector Frias for picking up NASCAR tickets at auction on my Facebook page...

Congrats to Tommy Gallegos for winning a $150 style package from Studio 11!

Congrats to Peter Pittman, who wins a one-hour psychic reading with Cynthia Killion for $120! Thank you for supporting the Leukemia & Lympoma Society!

Congrats to winner, Paige Mollen! She gets the 20-minute toe reading and 30-minute intuitive reading from Sherri Devereau! Thank you for your donation, Paige!

Congrats to winner and cancer fighter Robert Gillespie who won the "Dreaming of a World without Cancer" dream package of three dream books + a one-on-one dream analysis from Lauri Quinn Loewenberg! Thanks again to Lauri for donating this package of $145 value! Follow Robert on Twitter @nffc65!