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Pomodoro and Silent Auction Fundraiser

kforsyth — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:35:01 GMT

Lauren Eleuterio and Kim Forsyth are hosting a fundraing event at Pomodoro in Sherman Oaks! We hope to see everyone there with friends and family to help support the cause. The event is all day long but the silent auction is going to be held from 6-8pm.

We will be auctioning off fun items that include a Wii, Iphone, Starbucks Merchandise, Services and other fun items!
Details on the event are on the flyer below. GO TEAM!

Make sure to print out this flyer and bring it with you so 20% of what you spend goes to Leukemia & Lymphoma!

Click Here to Download the flyer in PDF format.

September is Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Awareness Month

millss — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:11:56 GMT

September is an important month for us at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). It is a special time when our ongoing collaboration with patients, caregivers and medical professionals is highlighted by our campaign for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma awareness. Please join us in this campaign to educate more people about blood cancer.

Here are some quick facts* you can share on your own websites, blogs, social networks or in conversations with friends.

Today more than 894,000 people in the United States are living with a type of blood cancer.
Today about 75 percent of children with acute leukemia and nearly 80 percent of children and adults with Hodgkin lymphoma are cured.
Every ten minutes someone dies from a blood cancer.
An estimated 52,910 people will die from a blood cancer this year.
Since LLS began in 1949, our organization has invested more than $600 million in research to find cures and better therapies.
This year alone, LLS will dedicate $71.4 million to research.

Another thing you can do this month is help our Public Policy team work to get September officially recognized as Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Awareness Month by your state. How does this help? It ensures that there will be more media coverage around the month, which means more people will learn about blood cancers. It also means more people could support the fight to eradicate cancer. Contact your local LLS chapter to learn more about how you can help.

Learn more about leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma on the LLS website at www.LLS.org, or contact the Information Resource Center with any blood cancer questions.

*Note that these statistics are for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma only.

Tomorrow

vwillis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:26:45 GMT

I meet with my Team in Training group at the crack of dawn... or maybe the sun wont even be up at all at 6am tomorrow. I will be ready to do the first 6 miles of my training. Its hard to think that I will be walking 6 miles on the first day of training... i wonder what a month from now will be like. I suspect I will wake Sunday morning with blisters. Its all good, tho, and I am pumped and excited to hit the path. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to sweat, to push myself... for those whom I have loved and lost to cancer. I do it for them- and for those who are currently being treated. I am doing it for those all around us, or maybe even ourselves, who will get 'the diagnosis' one day. Statistics say 1 in every 4 people will have some form of cancer in their lifetime. Some of us earlier than later... some of them treatable and most untreatable. None are cured. I guess they say if ya go 5 years free of any recurrent disease then you are 'seen' as cured. I question that. I feel we must look at the group of diseases known as cancer straight in the face- for what it is, and come to terms that if we do not learn more about cellular mutation and DNA gone bad, then we are left to accept the fact that most chemo's and current treatments do not stop the disease process in due time. It may stall it, yes... It may 'buy time' as they say, or reduce the pain, but in the long run... it regains strength and over-takes a somewhat healthy body. Am I gloom and doom? No, I am a realist. I have sat under some of the best biologists and molecular scientists in the world, and we have hit a brick wall. What is holding research back? Is it lack of ideas? Lack of leads? No... there are numberous creative scientists who are hot on leads... it is simple. There isn't enough money.

Tomorrow I will begin my training. I will push myself in the direction of my dreams- a cure for cancer- a cure for broken and disappointed hearts who lose loved ones because there just wasn't enough money to continue the research. One hot lead- many saved lives. Please give.

Lighting the Way to The Olympics

lazzaric — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:03:54 GMT

The following post was written by Hugh Baker, a Canadian Bobsleigh hopeful for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. After losing a close friend to a blood cancer, Mr. Baker set his dreams in motion and began training for the Olympics. As he raises the necessary funds to compete, he is simultaneously donating 50% of the money received to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk. You can follow Mr. Baker’s journey to the Olympics on his web site: http://www.hughbaker.net.

Everyone has a dream. It could be anything from climbing Mt. Everest to being the best parent you possibly can. My name is Hugh Baker, and I am currently working towards making my dream come true. My dream is to represent my country on the biggest stage and inspire others along the way.

In 2005, a truly good person in my life lost his fight with a blood cancer. The thing that always stood out about my friend was his ability to always be positive. I rarely remember him without a smile. Last year,
I was part of a team who did the Light the Night walk in his honor.

In May of 2006, I took the first real steps to making my dream a reality and attended an identification camp held by Alberta Bobsleigh. By November, I was representing Canada at the Europa cup for the sports of Bobsleigh and Skeleton. This experience made me realize that this truly was what I wanted. I wanted to go to the Olympics.

In 2007, I needed to take the next step in order to make my dreams come true. I held a number of fundraisers to raise the money required to travel and compete in Europe. It was during this time, that I had a paradigm shift. I realized the reason I was doing this was not to only to make my dreams come true, but also to inspire anyone I came in contact with. I now had a greater duty than thinking of personal glory. And I had an idea of how I could live up to this higher calling.

Remembering my friend, I have decided to take my goal of inspiring others to the next level. I will continue to have fundraisers to help supplement my training costs, but I will also be donating half of all money raised to a worthy charity – The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk.

It is my belief that with all of our help, we can wipe these blood cancers off the face of the earth. And in that, we will be making a lot of dreams come true.

*The photos in this post originally appeared on http://www.hughbaker.net.

Why I called myself Crazy Ken

CrazyKen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:50:49 GMT

First I did not come up with it. It is what my sister's Nurse called me. Every time I would go visit my sister in the Hospital, I would not treat her like she was sick, she already knew that. I would get her out of bed and take her for walks around the halls and joke with her. One time I over heard a Doctor ask who is that Nut, the Nurse told him that is her crazy brother Ken. You know Crazy Ken.

The day before my sister pass from this earth she was in ICU in the U Of Michigan Hospital and before I walked in I pull myself together. Then I walk in saying ( What do you think you are doing we have laps to do!) She Smiled and laughed and said ( They told me that I had better start geting better because Crazy Ken was Comming.) I thank God that her last day on earth I was able to make her laugh and see her smile Karan fell asleep later that night and did not wake up. I miss her.

I thank her Doctors and Nurses of U of Michigan Hospial that treated her like family.

Just Crazy Ken From Melbourne Florida

Fun Week!

ccira — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:18:49 GMT

First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far! You guys are the best!

My training is going quite well. On Thursday and Saturday I did strength workouts. I wrote myself two very tough workouts that I alternate, so Thursday was an endurance strength day and Saturday was a power strength day. Each workout took over an hour to complete due to the sheer number of moves I included - I like to hit the muscles in a variety of ways, so I usually do at least two moves for each muscle group. I also added new stability work (one-legged squats on a wobble board, to name one move!) and updated my ab circuit to be positively ridiculous...but my training motto is, what does not kill me will literally make me stronger!

Sunday was amazing - I did a long walk of about 9.5 miles in preparation for my September 6th half marathon. It felt great! I kept a fantastic pace and it felt super-easy! It didn't hurt that the weather was gorgeous. I love the weather in Waterloo/Cedar Falls...although I must confess that the wind is a bit much on occasion! Then yesterday (Monday) I rode my bike to the rec center, did a fitness class that I'm going to begin teaching tomorrow (excited about that!), then rode back home. Today I am SORE! That fitness class didn't fool around. Hopefully I can keep up the very-difficult tradition!

I'm totally psyched to begin workouts with the team. My life as a runner/walker has been quite solitary, and I look forward to feeling a camaraderie with others who have similar goals. In the end, it's just your body and the road, but at least there are people who can help you push through mentally. That's what endurance sport is all about - put the miles on the legs, yes, but it's primarily about mind over matter. That's one reason Team in Training is so great. When I did the 2008 WDW 1/2 marathon, I constantly saw the "purple people" on the course and on the sidelines, and everyone was cheering each other on. I'm sure that's a big reason of why so many people are able to finish the races, even if just 6 months earlier they hadn't run a step. There's a lot to be said for motivation, both in terms of the fundraising and altruistic aspects, and with the crowd and team support.

I may need to take today off from workouts to let my legs recover from all the squats and lunges of yesterday's fitness class - I smell a high-protein-intake day ahead!

Researchers: Apply for a Career Development Program Grant

millss — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:58:33 GMT

Each year The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) awards research grants through the Career Development Program (CDP) to professionals who do important research related to cancer, including blood cancers. This research is critical in improving cancer treatment, and potentially in cancer prevention.

If you are a researcher and would like LLS to fund your research, visit our CDP webpage where you can learn more about what we award, as well as details on what we need from you.

Here are a few details:

Your letter of intent (required) is due by 3:00pm ET on September 15
Full applications are due by 3:00pm ET on October 1.
We will use proposalCentral for both the letter of intent and full application.

For more information, including guidelines and instructions, visit the CDP webpage.

My Letter to friends and family:

vwillis — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:22:08 GMT

Dearest Friends and Family-

I sit here this hot August evening, laptop humming and idle, and try to articulate the immensity of my thoughts. Be patient as I try...

Just 4 years ago I sat in this same chair, overcome with butterflies, and counted the days ‘til my college life began. I was 40 and prompted by dreams, courage and God to embark on this life changing experience. Hard work, inspiring professors and countless credit hours later and I am once again filled with those familiar butterflies, only this time I anticipate graduation. In December I will receive a BSN with a minor in Biology and will celebrate the most wonderful memories a person could ever hope for. I have learned so much in such a small amount of time, honing my love of medicine and patient care into a calling and a fire.

These years have been both magical and bittersweet. My beloved friend and mentor, biology professor Dr. Ron Jenkins, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away just several months later, April 2007. Also, family members (JE, AK, SE, DB, EP, and Cindy's brother-in-law) and friends (BN, SH, DM, K, L, BD, Jeff's Mom, Marie's mom and David's father-n-law) have also been diagnosed with cancers of various types and prognosis, and like my friend Ron, some have left us early for Heaven. Cancer has inevitably touched us all; in some measure each of us has a story or a memory.

It is for all of us, and for each of them, that I am writing to you tonight. In conclusion of my studies and in celebration of becoming an RN, I have joined ‘Team in Training' and will complete a 26.2 mile marathon January 11, 2009. For those who aren't familiar with Team in Training, it is part of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society that trains everyday people to participate in marathons, raising money for cancer research. I will have 5 months of training and will travel to Florida for the marathon, joining the group of 1000's who will walk (others run). It will take us 7 hours to complete, and will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. As a new health care provider and as a friend and family member of many who have or have had cancer, I can't think of a more wonderful way to give back- for all that my college experience has given me.

Many of you have followed me during this journey... listened to my battle stories of impossible exams to pass, clinical nightmares, difficult assignments and chemistry experiments. Many of you rejoiced when I received my biology awards, academic honors, and achievements. You have inspired and encouraged me. Thank you for your support during these four years. I really couldn't have completed all that I have without each of you along the way.

It is with deep appreciation and one more invitation that I write to you tonight. Please join me once again, this time as I conclude my college career. I must raise a minimum of $3,400 to participate in the January 11, 2009 marathon for leukemia and lymphoma research. I have created a page on the Leukemia Society website. By following the link below you will read more about this opportunity and about the race itself and how you can help me reach my goal. I am committed to help researchers find a cure. I am not trained to go into the lab and look into microscopes, but I do hold patient's hands, treat them after chemo, hug overwhelmed and scared family members and pray. I can also walk... I can walk real far. I can and will walk the 26.2 miles for Ron Jenkins, for all the others, and for you.

Please stop for a moment and think how precious an opportunity this is. You have a very real, tangible way to participate in cancer research. How honorable it is and how it honors those whom we love. Please consider making a donation and if possible, a generous donation. I donated $75 and my Mom donated $30 to get the ball rolling. You can help me reach my $3,400 goal by October 15^th^ and know that you have participated in finding a cure! Know, also, that all donations are 100% tax deductible.

Those who donate $750 can have their business logo printed on the back of the marathon running shirt! Just think what advertisement that will be for the 32,000+ marathon participants and countless supporters at Disney World, Orlando, Florida! How cool is that? It is virtually free advertising because it is 100% tax deductible. It is the perfect end of year giving. It is a perfect way to help find a cure... and for me, a perfect way to begin my life as a health care provider. Information about secure online donating, corporate and business donations and tax receipts are located at the web address below. Those who prefer to donate using personal checks may contact me for mailing information.

Thanks so much to all of you. I am both grateful and overwhelmed tonight. And tomorrow... I begin my training. Gee...

Online Donations: http://pages.teamintraining.org/al/wdw09/vwillis
Vikki's training blog: http://community.lls.org/blogs/RunVikkiRun
Vikki's email: ~~mailto:runvikkirun@gmail.com~~
Vikki's cell: 205-706-3418
About Dr. Ron Jenkins: http://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/rlj/index.htm

Goal: $3,400 by October 15^th^, 2008

Jumped in with both feet

cll051362 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:34:56 GMT

My husband was diagnosed with CLL a few months ago and is about to finish up his treatments. Thankfully his blood levels are back to normal & he is feeling so much better.

So we signed up for Light the Night & he is registered as the team captain. The walk is only 6 weeks away and we need some ideas to help jump-start the team. We've emailed all of our family & friends and have received a few donations through the website, but no one is signing up as a team member to walk with us.

Our neighbors aren't signing up because the walk is the same night as our high school Homecoming. How else can we recruit walkers & donors? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Gotta Start Somewhere!

ccira — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:24:38 GMT

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog. I'm extremely excited about training for my first-ever marathon in my favorite vacation destination (this will be my 11th visit in 20 years!), and being able to help raise money for the LLS while doing it!

Since this is the first entry, I'll put down where I am right now. As a personal trainer, it is extremely important to me to be in shape. I try to work out every day, either with a 60-70 minute strength session or with cardio (preferably over an hour). I am currently training for my 4th half marathon (well, I suppose the training is my 5th half marathon training, since I trained for a half marathon in June that got turned into a 10-miler due to flooding!), which I will be walking. I have run/walked two half marathons - the 2007 Sturgis Falls Half Marathon in Cedar Falls, IA (which was my current PR of 2:50) and the 2008 Walt Disney World Half Marathon (2:54 - it was humid and hot down there!). I walked the Park to Park Half Marathon in 2007 in Waterloo, IA, with a time of about 3:17. I'll be walking that race again this year on September 6th, only this time my mother will be joining me! She smoked for forty years, quit cold turkey shortly after her 56th birthday and has not wanted a cigarette since - so I roped her into doing a half marathon!

Since this upcoming race will be walked at a slower pace than my others, I haven't been training for it in a traditional way. Instead of long walks going up to 10 miles, this time I am simply walking to and from work once a week (roundtrip of 8 miles). I also get in a couple of other walks during the week of 5-6 miles. Strength training is about 3-4 times a week, and I usually throw in a bike ride of 60-90 minutes.

Nutritionally I tend to do well. I count calories, but I don't restrict them. Calories are, as any endurance athlete knows, extremely important! Especially carbs - if anyone else on my team is reading this, please do not fear carbs! They are your friends! I drink a minimum of a gallon of water a day - on heavier workout days I'll drink up to a gallon and a half. I recommend copious water consumption to anyone training for an endurance event. I make sure to eat small meals throughout the day and I always eat within 20 minutes after a workout.

Main concerns going into marathon training:

1) Short periods of laziness. Sometimes I have a week where I don't feel like doing much - low energy. Hopefully having the support of walking with new friends will help!

2) Fundraising! I am a bit scared that I won't make the minimum. Hopefully my friends and family will help me out by recruiting others to donate!

3) My shins. Due to biomechanical defects in my feet and shins I am extremely prone to severe shin splints and stress fractures. Currently my shins are at a point where running would be, well, very unwise. I take many precautions to ensure that I am able to continue exercising, and I'm not worried about not being able to complete the marathon - at this point, I remain hopeful that I will be able to run a portion of the course! If not, I will be fine with walking it in its entirety.

That's it for now. I hope to update this blog at least once a week with training updates. If you have any questions or comments, let me know! Thanks!