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Racing to Save Lives

The sun is shining on us and Van & I continue to chase our miracles. We both have the good fortune of checking in with our doctors every four months instead of every week or even every day, as it once was. We are both still in remission-no detectable cancer in either of us. Truly miraculous to us and our medical caregivers. And yet, we both feel the need to continue to fight-both for ourselves and for the many others who suffer from this monstrous disease, cancer.

We are in our ninth year with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training program and we are signed up to train and fundraise for our ninth event with them, the inaugural Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in Seattle on June 28. My goal is to raise $20,000.

Up until now, many of you have helped us raise $160,000 (and counting) to help cancer patients and their families. We know how much this has helped because we see the financial aid going to people who need it, we ourselves participate in teleconferences with experts who explain the latest in research, and we talk to newly-diagnosed, very frightened people, all examples of programs funded by the LLS.

You already know that BOTH of us are alive today because of research funded by grants from the LLS. It goes without saying that we are overjoyed at being rescued from certain death. The LLS continues to support research all around the country (to the tune of $71.4 million in 2008.)

There is no guarantee how long this rescue will last, but Van and I have learned to live our lives one day at a time, embracing what each day brings. It is hard to describe the joy of just getting through a day feeling energetic and hopeful. Running and walking these marathons for others affirms our strength and celebrates our survival.

Van and I hope for a cure for all cancers, and we want to help make that happen. We know that cancer research intended for one type of cancer winds up applying to other types. My drug, Gleevec, puts a type of stomach cancer into remission and is being studied for its effects on melanoma and diabetes. The treatment Van had, yet to have a name, is headed for FDA approval sometime soon. And so we continue on, just like the researchers, one step at a time, one dollar at a time.

In a time when gas prices, food prices and other costs are at an all-time high, making a commitment to raise money in this economy is one that I have not made lightly. And the fact is, cancer is out there and it does not care about the economy. And it is after our families and friends. Like Natalie, whose leukemia relapse required a bone marrow transplant from her four-year-old brother last year, and Tyler, who is in treatment for the lymphoma relapse he had last year. They are brave and strong children and they are our honored teammates. (They are in the photo above with me at a team picnic.)

Please be my partner again in helping to make lives easier and searching for a cure. Help me boldly fight the monster cancer by making a tax-deductible secure donation on my website. If you prefer, you can mail a check (payable to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) to 4114 Las Casas Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. I would appreciate receiving your donation by March 31, my first deadline, but I can accept it whenever you can send it. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, my contact information is below. I will do a sort of blog here on this page so you can keep up with our progress. Check back from time to time.

A Kenyan proverb says it all: "Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable." Thanks for being a part of my bundle!

With hope,

Virginia

909-596-4309 (home) 909-519-2630 (cell)

vgarner@doglover.com

April 17, 2009

In two days, April 19, I will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the day I swallowed my first Gleevec pills. I guess it's obvious why I call it my REBIRTHday! I can't believe I'm thriving after being doomed to certain death when I was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia going on 12 years ago now.

How fortunate I am to be able to wake up every day and enjoy my life and my friends. How wonderful it is to be able to help others like myself through my efforts on behalf of the LLS. Life is good!

April 25, 2009

We just found out that our honored teammate Tyler is now going to have to endure yet more challenges. His most recent tests showed suspicious cells so he has to have chemotherapy directly into his brain (where the cells are) and then after that have radiation. It hurts my heart. This little boy doesn't deserve to suffer like this. He has such a positive attitude about it all. He told his dad that maybe the surgery to implant the port for the chemo would be O.K. because he likes having general anesthetic! Can you believe it? What a character.

This only renews my resolve to continue my fight to end the monster. If you are reading this, please send healing thoughts Tyler's way.

Natalie, our other honored teammate is doing well==getting straight A's in school, loving her hip hop dance class, and trying to get back into her normal routine. I am so glad for that.

May 20, 2009

Well Tyler's implant procedure went well and he is doing well with the chemo. However, some suspicious cells showed up in his bone marrow now, so they are awaiting results of another test to verify he has cancer cells in his bone marrow. If he does, then he will have a bone marrow transplant. My heart goes out to him and his family. It just isn't fair that a sweet little boy has to go through this.

On another note, I go in every three months to have a test called a PCR for leukemia cells, and I just got the news that my latest test is negative again. That means over two years of no detectable leukemia cells in my body! I am so relieved.

After my back injury (I herniated a disc in my lower back,) I am finally back to walking. I did seven miles a few days ago, and I feel like I'm back on track.

May 28, 2009

Thanks to physical therapists who have great faith in me and and 7 weeks of three days a week of hard work, last Saturday I walked eight miles! Next stop, ten miles. I'm making good progress and now know for sure if all continues down this path, including me (pun intended) I will be walking the half marathon in Seattle. Woo hoo!

June 6, 2009

I did it!! I walked a hair less than 11 miles today! I started at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, walked up along the Rose Bowl and golf course, onto the trail, past Devil's Gate Dam, past JPL, up into the national forest and all the way to Elmer Smith Bridge! (and back to the Rose Bowl.) It's all uphill, so it's a challenge for me normally due to my chronic anemia caused by the Gleevec I take, but aside from that, my back gave me no problems.

It was a cool, overcast day, so I wore a heat wrap around my waist to keep my back muscles from tightening up and causing pressure on my sciatic nerve==and it worked! No pain.

Now I know for sure I can do the half marathon in three weeks! When I look back to three months ago when I injured myself and how I've progressed from not being able to walk or move without excruciating pain to being able to do the normal things in life and walk 11 miles without pain, I feel like I've triumphed.

I still hurt from time to time, but I have learned to manage it. I often think of our honored teammate, Tyler, who is having to grit his little 6-year-old teeth and move through all the treatment he's had, and now a bone marrow transplant, and I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all go away. But all I can do, is try to help raise funds for research that will one day end the suffering that he and all cancer patients have to endure.

As my story and the story of Gleevec shows, there ARE victories. I want to be a part of more of those.

June 27,2009

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Seattle

Our team got to the start line very early--5 A.M. After standing around until the race was to begin at 7 A.M. I moved into corral 34 (I think there were 39) and waited another 55 minutes to cross the start line after the gun went off at 7. This is because it was a wave start, meaning each corral was sent off separately with a couple of minutes in between--so I had to wait for 33 other groups of people to begin before I could. By the time I got started walking, my hip was really hurting from all that standing. I decided to just launch into it and see what happened. Aftet two miles, I hit my stride and things got better. By the time I hit the 5K mark, I wasn't feeling much pain at all.

The course was beautiful--right along the water for quite awhile, then on the freeway into the city with a view of the beautiful city skyline, and ending in Qwest Field. When I crossed that finish line, I knew I had triumphed and all my physical therapy and preparations had paid off. I also knew that I had struck one more blow against cancer and my soul was singing. Life is good!

I want to thank everyone who gave donations to support me in this worthy cause this year. I know times are bad, but you gave anyway. You are heroes. If you missed donating and still would like to support me, I have four weeks from June 27 to continue to fundraise. Our Los Angeles Team raised almost $300,000 and all the teams from across the nation who came to Seattle raised $4,000,000. That's a lot of research and help for patients and their families. With a grateful heart I end another season with Team in Training and leave you with this thought:

We must be the change we wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Ghandi