Welcome to Jessie George’s Team In Training (TNT) home page!

In honor of Niko’s Papou, George George, my fellow teammate Dave Gent, and all the patients with blood cancers, I'm training for my first century ride (100 miles!) in Solvang, CA on March 10th.

Why am I riding my bike 100 miles?

CANCER is a horrible word. When you hear that word associated with a loved one it is devastating and so many people hear that word everyday. Every 4 minutes a child or adult is told they have leukemia or another blood related cancer. Every 10 minutes another person loses their life to a blood cancer.

One of the individuals I am dedicating my century ride to is George George, Niko’s Papou (Greek for Grandpa), who was diagnosed with multiple-myeloma, in 1977. Unfortunately, he lost his battle with the disease and passed away within 10 months of being diagnosed. In the 70’s, being diagnosed with a blood cancer was almost always fatal. Since his passing, with the help of innovative research funded by LLS, survival rates have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled for blood cancers patients.

Along with riding in memory of Niko’s Papou, I am riding for a fellow participant, Dave Gent, who has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is in remission currently which is thrilling, but his disease is incurable. He has been battling the disease since 2003, and has undergone both lymph node and bone marrow biopsies, numerous radiology scans and blood tests, and 14+ treatments of chemotherapy and two years of ongoing therapy. Dave’s good health today is due in large part to a drug called Rituxan. What’s also amazing about Rituxan is that it was funded by Team in Training and LLS. Dave is living proof that your donation matters.

What can you do?

Cancer patients have a very hard road to travel, some with incurable forms of the disease. Finding a cure is why I am volunteering with Team in Training and asking for your help in raising funds for more research.

Your support is greatly appreciated!