Photo

The above photo was taken in New Orleans in June, 2009. That's Nathan on the right, with my nephew on the left. I include this because it was taken only a couple of months after his treatment ended-and I continue to be thankful for my little brother, and the fact that we were able to go on a vacation like this!!!!

The Big Day Gets Closer, and You All Rock

It's hard to believe that 13 days from now I'll be in Arizona, getting ready for the Big Day. First of all, I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who's donated-I don't care how much you gave, when you gave it, or how you gave it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I can't begin to tell you how much the support you all have shown has meant to my family and I. Especially as April 28 Nathan had his one year check up and it came out CLEAN!!!! You all have also gone "above and beyond" with donations-the current amount I read on my page is 4675-a full 325 over the minimum. WOW! And that doesn't include a few checks I still have to send in that total around 200. You guys rock. For serious, yo.

Saturday was our big team hike day-the real test of our training before the Canyon. Let's just say it was a really. Long. Day. 16 miles of hiking in 7.5 hours. I drank 5 liters of water. My face has broken out because of the sunscreen I was using (forgot my waterbabies and used a different adult brand. Won't do that again). I have a blister on one toe. A few toes are bruised from intense rocky downhills. My leg is scratched up. The bottoms of my feet were burning yesterday, and while my legs muscles aren't as sore as I thought they'd be, they're still a little tender. But you know what? I did it. We were originally going to hike in 3 groups-one group who's doing the crazy long hike in the GC, one group doing the medium long one (that's my group-I think our trail is about 9 miles), and one group doing the shorter trail. Due to work conflicts, illness, and life in general, we only had one group hiking. The 3 of us who were there going on the medium trail had the option of turning around sooner and the long group would catch up on the return, but we opted to go on. After lunch and about 3-4 miles of hiking, four hikers called in from the back with injuries-pulled muscles, blisters, etc. So they played it safe (don't want to strain anything before the big trip) and went on back. Once we got within about 2 miles-or 1.5 miels-of the end point, two of us elected to take an easier trail that had less up and down and was a more gentle path. That was a good decision, I think. I was exhausted, out of water (and glad I didn't drink more than a bit at one of the last rest stop once I'd run out of water, as the area we were in is under a boil water advisory-but we didn't know it at the time), and my feet were starting to rub a bit raw. But the guy I hiked out with and I did it-we walked in, all the way out, and walked all the way back. I very rarely feel proud of myself when I get done with a hike, but I definitely did on Saturday. It was great practice for the canyon, and the heat helped as well (it was around 80 and humid-which the canyon won't be humidity-wise-but we haven't gotten heat training in because we can't control the weather!!).

So yeah. Long day. Sunday I was exhausted, but when I'm hiking and hurting I remember Nathan during his treatment, especially his mouth. It would turn into one huge canker sore-painful, gross, and kept him from being able to talk or eat. I can't even imagine what it must have been like, even though I sat with him during such episodes (and discovered how good the chocolate ice cream at the U of Iowa hospital is!). That helps me push through the wall-it doesn't mean that I don't take my own pain seriously, but it puts things into perspective.

We leave in 13 days. Now that my minimum has been reached thanks to you awesome folks, I am starting to get excited. It will be so awesome to gather with the other groups (over 100 people will be doing this!) to hike in the fight against cancer.

This one's for you, Nathan.

News Article on Nathan

This Sunday, the Iowa City Press Citizen ran an article about my brother. He was a little hesitant to do it at first, I think, but it's a great article and I think has the potential to inspire all kinds of people. Anyway, if you want to read the article, follow this link:

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20100328/NEWS01/3280325/1079

Training Hike 1

The past weekend marked the first group training hike. We couldn't have asked for better weather-the sun was shining, and the temperature was hovering in the low 40s. This is pretty mild for Massachusetts in February! The snow was starting to melt, but it was still icy in a few places. The stablizers I was wearing seem to be a bit small for my boots-one popped off without my noticing it (it had already done this once but I'd felt it happened), but luckily a group member behind me found the stray stabilizer and brought it to the group's attention. Hopefully by the time I'm able to rejoin the group for the group hikes, though, the snow and ice will be gone and it won't be an issue! We will be doing our training hikes in the Blue Hills Reservation. I'd actually never heard of this place before, so it was nice to discover a new hiking location in the area (it's about 45 minutes away from where I live). We didn't do any intense elevation changes. This week was a chance for people to get their legs under them. The hiking experience levels in the group are pretty vaired, from people who have been hiking for years to others who have never done it before. I met some great people and am looking forward on continuing this journey with them.

Speaking of continuing, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has given so far. The response has been great! Hopefully I'll be able to hit that 25% mark by March 5 so that I can continue in this journey-I committed to doing this, but if folks don't donate I can't do it! You all are part of the team too, I just am the one doing the physical labor part of things : )

My daily training is going pretty well. My husband and I work out regularly anyway, so I've just been keeping that up. Hopefully this week when I'm out of town I'll be able to do some outdoor running-the weather here took a turn for the worse (10.5 inches of snow last night!), so running outside won't be apossibility for a little while up here. It might be where I'm going this week, though. I've also done what are called "reverse hills." This is where you start at the top of a hill, walk down and then back up. When you're hiking in the mountains, you go uphill and then downhill. In the Grand Canyon, however, you hike down into the canyon first, and then up in the second half. Reverse hills are meant to help prepare us for that process. Luckily this part of MA is full of hills, so there's not too much to worry about! That's about all on this front. Thanks for all you're doing to help fight cancer!

Hilary's Update Number 1,

or Why I'm Doing This

I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to start this. I went ahead and left the kind of "form message" that came with the website below, as I think it provides a good overview of Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, and it means I don't have to rewrite that information. Score! But I thought I would begin with writing about why I'm doing this.

Most families have days in their collective family life that they will always remember-births, deaths, weddings, surgeries, new jobs, graduations....you get the picture. November 2008 saw a day my family will never forget (at least I won't, and I'm pretty sure the others won't either)-my brother was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma at age 22. This hit us all like a line drive to the forehead-no one saw this coming. While Nathan had been having stomach problems for a few months, until right before the diagnosis I don't think anyone thought it was cancer. I mean, he was 22. He was healthy (aside from the stomach problems). He was starting grad school. What on earth was going on????

Thus our family took a turn in our life journey that none of us were expecting. Chemo started for Nathan pretty much right away. My mom was out there with him for the tests and diagnosis, and my sister, dad, and I gathered that weekend for Thanksgiving week. We spent that Thanksgiving in the hospital with Nathan (his chemo was all inpatient)-and it was an incredible Thanksgiving. We brought food made at Nathan's house at sat together around a table in one of the patient/family rooms on Nathan's floor. That moment of prayer, as we held hands and thanked God for what we had been given-was... I don't know. I still don't have words for it. Let's just say I think we all experienced Thanksgiving in a new way that year.

Fastforward to spring. Nathan had a PET scan after finishing the chemo regimine, and the cancer was...GONE. He's continued to be cancer free!

Throughout this journey, the Leukiemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) was very visible-from the informational folder they gave out when Nathan was diagnosed to the pamphlets in the hospital hallways. Furthermore, they can help pay parking fees and prescription drug costs. These are parts of LLS that those who aren't battling cancer may not know about. The research is key, and arguably the most visible part of the LLS mission. As a family I think we experienced it in a very "on the ground" way, since my brother was battling lymphoma.

During Nathan's treatment I heard about Team in Training and decided that one day I was going to do that. My brother was able to go through a really intense and painful chemo regimine, so the least I could do was train for a few months and raise money to support research that will hopefully one day cure blood cancers.

This spring looked like the perfect time-in some ways it's not, but I could always come up with reasons NOT to do this. But cancer doesn't care about time-cancer doesn't care if you're 22, or 4, or 44, or 80.

So for the next 99 days (because the event is 99 days from today), I'll be training to hike part of the Grand Canyon. Not only is this about the physical discipline of training for an endurance event-and anyone who's been hiking or remembers my training for the week on the AT in 2005 will know that hiking is very much an endurance sport-but this is also a spiritual discipline, one of lifting up in prayer those who have lost their battles to cancer, those who are currently fighting, and those who have won. Nathan's treatment taught me to be deeply thankful for the lives of those who have come before him-who may not have lived, but whose treatments helped develop treatments that would benefit those like my brother who came later. And I will pray for the doctors and researchers who help us find new ways to fight blood cancers.

Will you join me in this journey? I have to raise $4,350 in order to go-most of which (75% I believe) goes to LLS and their research, while the rest pays for my trip out there and back. ANY amount you can contribute will be greatly appreciated. And feel free to send you friends to this website! The more the merrier-and the more money we raise, the more money we can give to researchers who are helping us find ways to cure diseases like Burkitt's lymphoma.

Keep checking back to this website for updates on my training! My plan is to post bi-weekly updates about how things are going, and pictures as well (assuming this website supports them) of my hikes as I prepare to travel and meet with others who are raising money to fight cancer.

Are you in?

Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in an endurance event 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. 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.

I hope you will visit my web site often.

Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your

support!