Racing For A Cure

Updates:

5/21/10:

Well, I was able to get out of part of my water stop thanks to Kristen, my TNT staff member :) This allowed me to at least get a couple laps done around Lake Harriet. The rest of my time I decided I would make the best of it and worked on my tan since it was a lovely day. We had our last hill training Wednesday night. Thank goodness it is back down time as it was SO HOT!!! 4 hill repeats were enough for me! This weekend we are scheduled to do 8 miles on the Minnetonka Trail. I LOVE this run (as long as it's not raining!) I can't believe that we leave in just 2 weeks from today. I can't wait!! Thanks for checking in. :)

5/13/10:

Well, the trip is officially booked! Booked the final hotel yesterday! This is a great feeling as I can now concentrate on getting my last minute fundraising in and maybe even more importantly getting my final training in before race day. Last night we did run even though there was a threat of rain. Really - Rain? That's all we've had these past few weeks JEESH! We were lucky enough to finish the run before the rain started up again. It was a challenge avoiding all the puddles, but I managed to finish without soaking shoes. Our run this weekend is scheduled to be a LONG one. 11 miles for me and 16 or 20 for those training to do the full marathon. Right now I am scheduled to work a water stop, but I'm hoping that I can find someone to do it for me so that I can get this important run in. Thank you for checking in and for all of your support!

5/5/10:

We are now less than a month away and I'm starting to get really excited! My family is now joining me on this trip and we will be staying in California for 8 days flying into San Diego and then out of Los Angeles. We will be hitting many stops in between on this fun filled, very busy trip! Training is going well. Unfortunately my run this evening needs to be skipped so that I can attend Taylor's first soccer game of the season. The run on Saturday will also be skipped due to the Twin's game since we need to be there by 10:45 for the parade around the field and to watch Chase and Brenden throw out the first pitches. Should be a good time! Thanks for checking in.

4/9/10:

Fundraiser planning is coming along. Invites will be emailed this weekend, but please be sure to keep April 24th open!!! 9 mile run scheduled tomorrow morning on the Minnetonka Trail. A little nervous for it since I haven't run since last Saturday! Oh well, it will be just fine right?? Personal trainer session scheduled for bright and early Sunday morning too. I'll be paying for this at work next week for sure! Chase took his last chemo pill yesterday and Brenden (another personal honoree) took his last chemo pill a month ago and got his port removed yesterday! These great milestones inspire me to keep moving so that more people will hopefully be able to cross these milestones themselves. Thanks for checking in! Have a great day!!! :)

3/20/10:

Water stop went good today. Taylor came along and helped get the water and Gatorade poured for all the runners/walkers. Our fingers and toes were a bit cold when it was all said and done, but it's all good. My friend Paula Charchenko (http://paulacharchenko.blogspot.com/) helped me design our 2010 Rockin' for a Cure t-shirt logo last night (posted above). It turned out GREAT!! Our group will be selling them as a fundraiser. Please let me know if you are interested in "Rocking" one yourself!

3/18/10:

I survived the hills last night at the lock and dam while sporting the green for St. Pat's day. What a great night for a run! 7 miles are scheduled for Saturday at the Gateway Trail in Maplewood. I will be working the water stop for my teammates during the run so I will need to find another time to get my miles in. Just part of my duties as a Mentor! :)

3/10/2010:

Well, training is in full force. Tonights run is set for 5 miles at Lake Harriet. Usually wouldn't be that big of deal, but it is expected to be raining. Oh well, cancer doesn't stop for anything and it won't stop me! I might need to stop on my way and pick up a light weight rain jacket, but you won't see me skipping out because of it. I've kept myself busy working with my 10 Mentees and am also busy planning a big fundraising event that you all need to save the date for. Right now it is penciled in for April 24th. More details to follow! Thanks for checking in!

2/24/2010:

I was officially diagnosed with a pretty bad sinus infection today. Was prescribed some antibiotics, prednisone, flonase, and an inhaler to keep me going! Run tonight is scheduled for hill repeats at the Lock and Dam. Normally I don't mind these. Wait, I'm not going to lie, they suck doing them, but you feel pretty good 2 days afterwards when your legs aren't sore anymore and they feel stronger than ever. I just think of all the things all of the cancer patients go through on a daily basis and it keeps me going. We'll see how the hills go with the infection. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well!

My 2010 List of Heroes that I will be running in memory or in honor of:

McKenna Johnson (10 forever - ALCL) , Chase Banken (ALL Survivor - last IV chemo treatment in 2 weeks!), Brenden Conroy (ALL Survivor - CANCER FREE!), Sally Swanson (My Grandma, Breast Cancer Survivor), Irene Miller (My Great Aunt, Breast Cancer Survivor), Sydney Leighann Robinson (18 mo. forever - Fanconi Anemia ), Shandra Robinson (Breast Cancer survivor), Evan Cousineau (9 forever - ALD), Caroline Harmon (5 forever - JMML), Gwen Thayer (AML Survivor) Joel Wagner (3 forever - LCH), Melissa Bastian-Donley (Breast Cancer Survivor), Kim Motley (Breast Cancer Survivor), Megan Nurnburger (Leukemia Survivor), Kyle Field (MDS Survivor), Levi Stephens (HLH Survivor), Tiahna Hoff (9 mo. forever - Leukemia), Cadence Thomas (1 forever - AML), Dalton Serich (Neuroblastoma Survivor), Ginny Brunskill (Breast Cancer), Susan Rezac (Breast Cancer), Robin (Leukemia Survivor), Georgia Mae Ediger (Leukemia), Zoe Bartlett (Leukemia), Todd Jutting (Leukemia Survivor), Robert Scheuble (Leukemia), Dominik Lawson (2x Kidney Failure/Transplant Survivor), Blair Anderson (16 forever - Leukemia), Cricket Hermann (Breast Cancer Survivor), Mara Norton (MPS VI Survivor), Kathie "Buzz" Cosgrove (Breast Cancer Survivor), Dennis More (Lymphoma), Juan Manuel (Leukemia), Crickett Hermann (Breast Cancer - newly diagnosed), Emily Consior (CML - newly diagnosed), Roger Katzka (Kidney Cancer), Reuben Lemley (Leukemia)

** Know of anyone who has been affected with any type of cancer or life threatening illness? Please let me know and I will gladly add them to my list of heroes!

(Original Website Message:)

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I am once again mentoring and training to participate in the Rock 'n Roll San Diego 1/2 Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. This will be my second time participating in the San Diego Rock 'n Roll event after particpating in the Inaugural Rock 'n Roll Seattle event last summer.

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!

My Team in Training Story:

(I want to apologize in advance for the length, but some of you may not know the full reason as to why I'm so passionate about this cause.)

I became involved with TNT a couple summers ago with a friend of mine that I had met through work. I was a Radiologic Technologist at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital - Fairview. Basically, I took x-rays of kids. In 2007 I met Krista Johnson and her beautiful daughter McKenna when they had come in for an x-ray of McKenna. I called McKenna back to the imaging room and immediately knew there was something special about her. Her beautiful big brown eyes and her cute little smile were just to die for! While making small talk with Krista and McKenna, I told them I also had a daughter named Makenna, but just spelled differently. From that point on I was known as "Makenna's Mom".

After her visit I really didn't know much about McKenna. It wasn't until a few months later that I learned why Miss McKenna had been coming in to see me. While finishing up my morning portables on the bone marrow transplant unit, I walked by one of the doors and my heart sank. There on the door was that adorable face that I had fallen in love with. I knew that it wasn't good. It turns out that McKenna was diagnosed with Ki-1, Anaplastic Large T-cell Lymphoma (or ALCL - a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma) when she was only 2 1/2. This was her second BMT that she had undergone as her first one was successful, but had relapsed and was in need of a second one.

After a successful transplant and 37 days in the hospital, McKenna was able to go home, but only for 2 short weeks. She was re-admitted to the hospital in October 2007 with RSV and unfortunately it was from my x-ray that they decided to do so. I went up to visit McKenna on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on her 10th birthday (a day after mine I must add!) to bring her a gift. While visiting her, she was struggling to breathe and was grasping onto her bipap mask. Doctors were going in and out with very intense looks on there faces. I left the gift beside her bed and told her that she could open it when she felt better. She nodded her head holding onto her face mask ever so tightly and even managed to say "Thank you". As I was leaving her room, Krista walked me out and gave me a hug. She then told me that they were going to intubate McKenna and that SHE had asked for it. Tears rolled down our faces, but we knew it was for the best and that even McKenna knew it was too. All she wanted for her Birthday was to just be able to BREATHE!

McKenna was intubated that afternoon shortly after I had left her room. I took daily chest x-rays of her to make sure that the tubing was remaining in the same spot and that there weren't any changes in her lungs. During these daily x-rays, I noticed a Team in Training bear in McKenna's bed and a picture of McKenna in a TNT shirt on the wall. It was then that I decided to ask Krista what Team in Training was all about. She explained what it was and all about the amazing things that people where doing for people like McKenna. We both kind of chuckled knowing that neither of us could EVER do such a thing as run or walk a 1/2 or full marathon.

McKenna received daily (sometimes multiple) x-rays for a month after being intubated on her 10th Birthday. She sadly passed away on November 27th, 2007, her Mother's Birthday. Shortly after her passing, I was reading her CaringBridge site and found out that Krista had signed up to do the Rock 'n Roll San Diego 1/2 marathon with Team in Training. I immediately e-mailed her to ask how I could get involved. If she could do it, then I certainly could do it too in memory of Miss McKenna. Well, the rest is history. We ran that year with a small group raising nearly $25,000 for cancer research and patient aid. Now we're back and stronger then ever for a third year with even more members on our team and more reason to run as we are now running in honor of Chase Banken for a second year as well. (You can follow Chase's story at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/chasebanken)

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. If you or someone you know has been affected by any type of cancer, please let me know so that I can add them to my list of heroes. You can jot their name in the comments section or send me a quick e-mail.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Also, did you know that many companies will match charitable donations? Make sure to inquire with your human resources department and your donation can be doubled!

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

support!

Thanks for checking in!

Jill

P.S. We are always looking for more people to come and join us in our fight against blood cancers. Please visit the LLS website to learn more about how you can get involved and join us in this life changing experience. This is a great year to get involved too as the fundraising minimum for the San Diego event has been discounted to $2,900 (normally $3,800!) due to the co-branded event of the "2010 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon & 1/2 To Benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society." This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that has never been seen before in LLS history. Visit the website below to find out more!

www.teamintraining.org/mn