I'm so grateful - My Aunt Judy was able to come to Brendan and my wedding and celebrate with us, despite going through chemo. It was so wonderful to see her and give her a big hug.

Here's the latest update from my uncle. Reading this - deciphering all the medical information that no one should ever have to learn and understand - re-lights that fire in me to raise funds for LLS. She shouldn't be going through this. One of her sons just graduated college and her other son is still in high school - she should be celebrating. WE MUST DO SOMETHING to stop this.

Judy is now on chemo on Mondays and Thursdays at the Washington University Hospital Siteman South County Cancer Center. All radiation is complete. She is now on day 10 of her 16 day chemo treatment. Next week will be an off week so I may be taking some vacation time.  She then has two more weeks of chemo leading into August.

In late August, Judy will receive a port and then undergo a week long process of stem cell harvesting. The goal is to get 5M stem cells. Average time harvesting is 3 days of out-patient. Stem cells are then frozen. 

In early September she will go into the hospital for a final high dose of chemo followed by the stem cell transplant. She will be in the hospital for 2-3 weeks. During the hospital stay and after she returns home the next 100 days are important for her to be isolated. She will have a very low immunity level and highly susceptible to infection. I will take time off during parts of this period to care for Judy and reduce the contact with the outsidevworld. Sorry but no visitors. That said every day will get slightly easiervwith the end of the 100 days around Christmas.

During this period she will start chemo maintenance for the rest of her life which will be many many years into the future.  

As Siteman is part of Washington University, Judy has been asked to participate in 3 research studies of new drugs to treat Multiple Myeloma and Stem Cell Mobilization. Judy's doctor is heading one study of a combination of drugs that shows promise of extending life beyond expectations of existing drugs. It is also an oral routine which will reduce the visits to the
cancer center. She will likely enter that study.  The other studies look promising too so we are researching.

I feel so angry.

My wonderful Aunt Judy was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Below is her most recent update. I have no words, except to remind everyone that we MUST keep raising money to aid in the fight against cancer. I'm grateful that LLS provides funding for multiple myeloma research and I will continue to do everything I can to support this worthy cause. 

On 28 April, I got an MRI for back pain. The next day my doctor called and asked that I come into the office. At that point, I was thinking bulging/fractured disc. I was completely floored by the diagnosis—cancer.

I have multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer in bone marrow. I have it especially bad in my spine and cranium. (It’s not in my brain but in the skull.) On 1 May I was admitted to Barnes and had emergency back surgery on 3 May. My lower spine was compromised by the cancer and a titanium plate now replaces the L2 through T10 vertebrae. The cancer also had to be removed around T11-T12 because it was pressing on my spinal cord.

An old colleague of mine recently passed away from cancer.

I was so taken aback when I learned he passed away. I was certain he'd be fine after treatment. I never realized how bad it was.

I've been so overwhelmed with emotion. Rage, mostly. I'm so angry that cancer still steals lives. After finding out, I cried for days. I haven't seen him since I worked for the Jets, but always kept in touch through his weekly "Go Jets!" emails during football season and his fun Facebook posts...and of course, I could always expect an e-card on my birthday. But still, I felt like I couldn't stop crying. I feel so much sadness for his family and wonderful wife, because even though I didn't see them much over the past few years, they seemed to be more in love than just about anyone I've ever known. And their smiles were always wide, their positivity always abundant. It hurts my heart.

I can't take it.

For the previous few weeks, I had been researching charities to run the NYC Marathon with. I've raised money for LLS 3x in the past and debated supporting someone different this time around. There are so many options. I wanted to support a friend who works for a charity. I also thought about supporting a charity that gives kids access to running and fitness opportunities, because these types of opportunities changed my life and I believe it's so important to keep kids active. I wanted to support an animal-based charity because animals need a voice too. But this was a huge push to once again raise money for cancer research, so I began researching all the cancer-related non-profits. Where the money goes is so important to me, so I studied their websites like crazy, looking up margins and ratings and info on all the different programs.

And then, I was watching Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies on PBS. Crying my eyes out for the majority of the program, once again. When Dr. Brian Druker, an LLS-supported researcher/oncologist appeared on the screen, I gasped. I'm not sure why it surprised me, because his contributions are definitely well known in the cancer research realm. He might not be your typical household name, but working at LLS it was. He's a big deal. I was reminded how knowledgeable LLS is at funding the right research projects and how much good has come from funded research. Case in point: An oral chemotherapy called "Gleevec" was driven by Dr. Druker and took the survival rate of a certain type of leukemia from 50% to 90%.  If you're interested in his work, here's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU8iruhryTs&feature=youtu.be

And I know these cures that start with blood cancers are helping patients with other cancers, too. Research fascinates me. And if you need a little hope, it helps knowing there's promise.

This one with Dr. June (another incredible oncologist) is the most ground-breaking of all. If you don't watch the other video, watch this one at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6SzI2ZfPd4

(And here Emily is today.)

SO, there I was again, wondering what the F I'm doing sitting around doing nothing but complaining about it. I know people hate getting asked for money. Some people love to hate on charity runners. Others think it's not worth it. Once, a guy told me that if a treatment saved one life, it wasn't worth the investment. He only wanted to donate if I could tell him it would save X number of lives and compared it to malaria nets, a tangible item that you can count and know how many people are benefitting. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but if we can even attempt to save ONE LIFE, I say let's do it. You never know whose life that might be. And I want my family, even if it's 50 years from now, to have a better shot at living cancer-free.

I guess you understand what I'm getting it. My goal is to run the NYC Marathon this year (and go SUB-4 AHHHH) and I'm officially signed up. I also want to make another tiny little dent in the fight against cancer, so I'll be fundraising yet again with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If (WHEN!) I reach my first goal of $3,500, I will have personally raised over $20,000 in total (since 2008) for LLS, thanks to extremely generous family, friends, and strangers. THANK YOU. I hope you know how humbled and grateful I am for your past support of this very important mission.

I still struggle with the "asking people for money" part of fundraising at times, but I remind myself that the money isn't for me and it's going to help someone who needs it. And if I'm running this much and this far, I need to use it for something positive. And hey, I don't expect anyone's support. Anyone can just say "no, leave me alone". I won't be mad. I totally get it.

Regardless, I'll be on Staten Island on November 1st ready to race my heart out. (OH AND PS I'LL BE AN OLD MARRIED LADY BY THEN! CA-RAZY.) I hope that by the end of that day, at least one person is inspired or hopeful or just smiles because they know there's a whole bunch of people out there trying to help.

...and if you want to join me in the race, I won't be mad. Just saying.