A NOTE FROM SAM...

Hello, all.

Just wanted to give a quick shoutout. My white blood cell counts are finally rising into the normal range (4 to 11), which means my bone-marrow-factories are doing well with the transplanted stem cells.

12/8, my white counts were (0.14)

12/9, my white counts were (0.33)

12/10, my white counts were (1.2)

and today they're up approximately at (5).

So, I take everything they say with a grain of salt, but they're talking about me going home this Wednesday, the 14th. That's three weeks to the day they admitted me here. It will still be several weeks before I am back to any semplance of normalcy, and I'll have to work hard not to get any infections. But, at least I'll be out of this Hospital room!

Merry Christmas, Y'all.

Sam

We had some really terrible news today. Sam's surgery showed that the lymph nodes were malignant. After all he has been through, now he will have a stem cell transplant and some heavy duty chemo to face. CANCER SUCKS. Please keep him in your thoughts and send him wishes for coping and healing. No one should have to endure this. He is a gentle man with a huge spirit and even bigger determination. FIGHT Sam! Beat it again!

Dear Friends,

It's me again!!! On January 15, 2012, I will be running for a reason much more important than the personal challenge of completing a half marathon.

Along with coaching the spring season for Team in Training marathon and half marathon events, I will be participating with the winter team and fundraising for the Chevron Houston Half Marathon!!!

I am happy to tell you that my uncle Ray Rakowitz who was fighting leukemia during my last fundraising campaign is doing GREAT!!!! He has beaten the disease and after many months of battle he is living a full life and thankfully is happy and healthy again!

As a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program, I will run and fundraise again, this time in honor of a very special man named Sam. Sam was one of our participants during the last spring season Don and I coached for TNT. He had battled with his diagnosis and was doing well enough that he actually fundraised and completed Angie's Crazy Half Marathon. It was indeed a miraculous performance! Unfortunately, Sam is once again on the warrior road with new nodes appearing in his chest. He is my reason for wanting to continue the effort to help raise money for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma research and patient services programs.

As you may or may not know, leukemia is the #1 disease killer of children and young adults under the age of twenty. Although the cause of blood cancers remains unknown, recently developed treatments and steady advances in research bring us closer to a cure every day.

These research advances have been achieved as a result of contributions made by companies, foundations and individuals. The Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has a goal of raising over $2.1 million dollars this year through Team In Training. As a member of the team, I am helping Team In Training meet this goal and I am asking for your help.

My goal is to raise $2500 by December 1, 2011. Would you consider making a 100% tax deductible donation to show your support? This can be done in person, by mail or at the web address below. In doing so, you will be supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s vital mission. With the generosity of people like you, there is every reason to believe that a cure for blood cancers is in sight!

Thank you for your consideration.

CAROL

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.