Meet Rachel Anne. Today, she is a happy, healthy 9-year old. Six years ago, she was experiencing cancer treatment after being diagnosed on her 3rd birthday.

I became friends with Rachel's mom when we were both pregnant with our second children. Both our girls and our boys are the same age, so Rachel's diagnosis hit home with me as well. I watched from afar as this family dealt with things no parent ever wants to think about, much less experience.

Rachel's mom explains, "The protocol consisted of twenty six months of daily oral chemotherapy- along with spinal taps, additional shots and additional chemotherapy agents injected into her port." Consider that for a moment. She was 3 years old when diagnosed, and spent almost that amount of time - the next 2 years and 2 months in treatment, some of it excruciating, all of it attacking her body in an attempt to defeat the cancer. I try to remember these types of things while running and fundraising. If this little girl could make it through all of that and still smile like this, I owe it to her to do what I can.

Rachel's mom continues, "Needless to say, diagnosis was a pivotal point in our lives in many ways. As new parents, we had just begun to find our comfort zone in the 'normal' parenting world, and cancer pushed us right out of it- without a second thought.

We learned about compromised immune systems, blood counts, necessary evils and wants vs needs."

What astonishes me the most is this family's reaction to this nightmare of an experience:

"I guess overall...to spite the horrors of the cancer roller coaster...I owe it quite a lot.

It has made me a different person- a better person.

A better parent, wife,friend and mother.

I appreciate so much more, love with more abandon and share with less inhibition.

As terrible as cancer was- there was also an odd epiphany buried inside of the terror."

Even better is how well Rachel is now! "Thankfully, we finished treatment in 2008. And these days Rachel is at the top of her grade! She has had the highest GPA in her class for three years running, and she just LOVES school! Soon she will be in fourth grade, and we are beyond proud to watch her grow and mature.

Every day -when I look at her- she quietly reminds me that working as a family-we can face all the trials and tribulations placed before us...even when they're terrifying or seem insurmountable.

And every day I feel more and more thankful to be her mother." (that woman is lovely, isn't she?)

Rachel's family participates in LLS fundraisers in Georgia when they are available in their hometown, and were happy to let me tell their story here. LLS provided them with patient information, and the research done by LLS is what helped with Rachel's recovery. LLS also provides scholarships and mentors to patients when possible. Your donation will be well-spent to help amazing families such as this.

I promised to tell you all about the people who have allowed me to run for them as "Honored Heroes." My team also has a group "Honored Hero" as well, and I hope to tell you about her too. Right now, that makes 4 people I'm running for, with a possibility for a 5th! Blood cancers affect so many people, and I'm so glad to be able to raise money to help those affected by it.

Justin Sharp currently teaches 7th grade English with me. I met him about a year ago when I was hired at the middle school I'm at now. Right at the beginning of this school year, he was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia. Side note: one of the kids was going to print that he had "Hairy Ball Leukemia" in the school paper, which is both wildly hilarious and wildly inappropriate. Thankfully, Justin caught it. :)

Justin is one of the most dedicated teachers I know. He has a heart for kids that is evidenced by his 8 years teaching. He taught for 5 years in Ohio, and then moved to Las Vegas 3 years ago to teach at a Title I school. Title I basically means that a large percentage of the student population is low-income. Daily these kids shock me with the things they do know but shouldn't, and should know, but don't. Anytime I go into Justin's room after school, there are usually several kids there, getting help, chatting with him, or just hanging out. Justin has created a safe environment for them to learn, grow, and just be. He also is involved with several committees that take up extra time. He could move to another school if he wanted to do so. Instead, he chooses to stay with these kids who so desperately need a good teacher who cares about them as individuals.

Justin is no rookie when it comes to adversity. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant, and has physical limitations as a result. He has not allowed these limitations to actually limit him in any way that I have seen. I forget that he has them often. I believe this is a testimony to his students who can see his limitations and what he has accomplished. They see that, if they want to do something, they can, depsite what others may think they can do.

This is Justin telling his story of diagnosis and treatment:

"My story starts with a case of bronchitis last March. A routine blood test showed a major drop in my white blood cell count. As a precaution, I saw a hematologist. My WBC kept dropping, but it took five months of testing to figure out why. I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia, an extremely rare and chronic form of Leukemia in August. My oncologist never told me, but my guess is it was Stage I cancer. Less than 2% of all leukemias are diagnosed as Hairy Cell. Even though it is a chronic cancer, it is extremely treatable. HCL is a very slow-growing and slow-spreading cancer - my oncologist couldn't pin down how long I've had HCL, but it's likely been years - it took THAT long for symptoms to show up.

It is treated with chemotherapy - specifically, the drug cladrabine. It is one of the few chemo drugs that WILL NOT cause you to lose your hair. The regimen is odd as well - you get chemotherapy 4 hours a day, 5 days in a row. That's it. However, it wears you out and kills the immune system. That's the worst part - waiting for the immune system to build back up. It takes about 6 weeks for the chemo to run its course through the body. I started chemo in September, and was in remission (symptom free, NOT cancer free) on October 21, 2011. However, It still took another 2 months to get my immune system healthy enough to go to work!

Recovery...the long-term survival rate is very high; 96% over a 5-10 year period. My 3 month remission check in January went well, and I have another checkup in July. I will always technically "have cancer", but hopefully, this will never flare up again. There is a 40-50% rate of reccurance, but reccurance usually doesn't occur for at least 5 years, given the slow rate of growth.

However, if it weren't for research efforts, I might not be here today writing this. Prior to ground-breaking research, this cancer was essentially a death sentence 30 years ago. It has gone from that to being one of the most treatable cancers today."

This is why I'm running with LLS. You and I can have an impact. We can help find cures, educate, and make life better for so many people.

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

I will be running in honor of a few different people. I will post their stories in the next few weeks. In the meantime, know that any donation, big or small will help fight cancer. LLS is committed to spending at least 75% of all donations on research and patients. You're also helping me to accomplish a personal goal of running a half-marathon. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!