A lot has happened since my last update, so let me share some of the great news:

My Dad is back in remission after finishing the stem cell transplant procedure! The last sentence of his bone marrow biopsy report apparently said: "No evidence of myeloma morphological activity was detected." What great news! After a discussion with his doctor, it was decided that he's not going to continue taking cancer drugs unless/until the cancer comes back.

It wasn't an easy journey back to recovery. When I came out for my brother's high school graduation in June, my Dad ending up spending most of the time in the hospital due to a very painful blockage of his gallbladder. You're prone to all sorts of diseases and problems when your immune system is compromised by a stem cell transplant. Fortunately, my Dad has now mostly recovered (including his gallbladder) from the stem cell transplant, which required a 100 day quarantine from the outside.

My Dad, Mom, and brother were able to come out to Seattle at the beginning of August, which was after that 100 day time period. It was great seeing the family! We watched a lot of the Olympics, toured around Seattle, and went over to Leavenworth where my Dad was able to go on both a 5 mile hike and a white water rafting trip! I've added a couple pictures that were taken.

I've also really been ramping up my training. I've now completed 70 training runs since I started training. My longest training run so far was 15 miles, but I expect to surpass that during both Saturday practices for the next two weeks.

I am also planning on something even crazier this year - TWO MARATHONS! After the Nike Women's Marathon on October 14th, I'll go right back to training for the Seattle Marathon over Thanksgiving weekend. I'm also setting my sights on a higher fundraising goal: $5000.

Thank you all for your support!

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 what will be my third full marathon 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.

My involvement in TNT is very personal. In December of 2006, my Dad, Brad Garton, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's website has the following description of multiple myeloma:

"Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer in which certain cells, called plasma cells, in the bone marrow grow out of control. These cells can damage the bone, causing bone pain. Myeloma may also cause infection, anemia, problems with bruising and bleeding, and damage to some body organs (particularly the kidneys).

Multiple myeloma is considered to be incurable, but it is treatable. More treatments are currently available than ever before that help individuals with the disease live longer, healthier lives."

According to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts and Figures 2012 publication, the five-year survival rate for myeloma is 41%.

Fortunately, my Dad is still very much alive. The latest step in my Dad's treatment plan was undergoing a bone marrow transplant where they knocked out his existing bone marrow cells with chemo and then infused his own bone marrow cells they had previously harvested while he was in remission. It takes a long time to recover from the procedure, so my Dad is required to rest at home for 100 days. My Dad often blogs about his experience recovering, which you can check out here:

http://music.columbia.edu/~brad/writing/mm-blog/

In honor of the 100 days it will take my Dad to recover, I am going to try to run at least 100 days between the kick-off TNT fall training season practice on May 12th and the Nike Women's Marathon on October 14th.

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

Thanks to all of my supporters so far, I have exceeded my initial fundraising minimum of $2,350!

I have also completed more than 30 training runs in preparation for the full marathon in October.

I have now set a new personal goal of fundraising $4,000 before October.