Going the distance for Dad

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting my page. On September 13, 2009 I crossed the finish line at the Nation's Triathlon. My race time was 3:15.

Thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and colleagues I achieved in excess of 100% of my original fundraising goal.

A big shout-out to all you folks because YOU ROCK!!!

This year, I dedicated my training efforts to participate in the Nation's Triathlon as a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training (TnT). For me, besides the obvious raising awareness and supporting those affected by cancer, the reasons were very personal.

I did this in memory and honor of my father, Dr Myron "Mike" Lotz.

If you want to follow my training progress and read about my experiences on race day, check out my blog here:

http://ariel.lotz.googlepages.com/2009tnttrainingupdates

Ten years ago, my brother and I lost our father to peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer. Dad was diagnosed 26 March, 1999.

He died the day after his 67th birthday, 11 July, 1999.

That's hardly much time to register what's happening, let alone figure out what needs to be done, don't you think? And he was gone before we knew it.

This year marked the 10 year anniversary of his passing, and I chose to honor him both by participating as a member of TnT to raise funds and awareness for blood cancers.

In the last five years of his life, my dad was my best friend. He got me through some of the worst days of my life as a young adult, understood my passion (obsession?) with horses, even though he thought I was a bit nuts (haha), and yet partnered with me as I ventured out as an entrepreneur in that industry. And, through it all, no matter what, he was always ready to answer any questions I had, provide reassurance I might have needed when I doubted myself, or some wisecrack to help me not take myself so darned seriously.

When Dad was first became sick, his first thought was what my brother and I needed. The day he told me of his terminal diagnosis, his next statement was 'Well, you need to come up here so we can talk about what needs to be done with everything. When can you make it?'

Dads are like that.

Did I mention he was also a physician? Dedicated to helping the sick, even after retiring, he would journey to Mexico to work as a medical missionary in some of the poorest areas of that country. He received his diagnosis shortly after returning from there, not knowing it would be his last time.

So, as his daughter, I wanted to give something back to him as a tribute to everything he ever did for me. What better way to honor his memory than to compete in an endurance event in the city he called home, right?

Folks, ten years ago, dad’s diagnosis was terminal. Today, unfortunately, the type of cancer that he had is still rare and little research or insight is known about it.

Now, I am not sure about you, but I was absolutely floored and dumbfounded at our the TnT Honored Teammate picnic by the fact that most blood cancer research was done almost primarily by organizations such as LLS. So that makes efforts like what we are doing so important.

Please keep in mind although my experience has ended (for now), LLS still needs assistance to continue to do all the other good things provided by the Society.

So, each and every time you see a Team in Training person, remember that those folks have chosen to contribute to something much larger than themselves - assistance to the research that might spare someone else from losing their loved one, best friend, and/or parent (or in my case, all of the above) from the sudden grief that is caused by this disease.

Thank you so very much for your generosity and supporting my participation in TnT and helping advance LLS' mission.

We WILL find a cure!

Ariel