Saturday Runs...

Running is great. It is invigorating. It gets me motivated and moving so much earlier than I used to. It has been amazing. Add in the team members that show up every week, and the fun factor increases significantly.

Today however, I thought I would share with you our Honored Team Mate. Every week, we have a mission moment, where someone shares why they are with the team, typically sharing a story that honors a victim or a survivor of Leukemia or Lymphoma. It reminds us why we are there doing what we are doing. About every other week, we get a check-up with our Honored Team Mate, this past week, was one of those weeks.

Our Honored Team Mate is two years old. He went to the doctor with what seemed to be a chronic ear infection, but with his parents persistence, the doctors performed more tests in which it was discovered that he was suffering from Leukemia. He was checked into Seattle's Children's Hospital where is was admitted for 6 months of care, including 6 rounds of chemotherapy. We have received letters from his parents that describe a day in the life of their son and what he has gone through to eradicate the cancer from his body. As a mother of a one year old, I cannot even begin to imagine the stress and strain on this family (who also have a 6 year old).

This past Saturday, our team mate's Dad was hoping to join us, however, they were sent to the hospital with a temperature of 106 degrees, so he was unable to join us. He did however send us a note to update us on our littlest team mates progress. They were told that an infection had sprouted in his central line (which is surprisingly, better news than anticipated), so he was set up on 4 different antibiotics to treat the infection and his central line was replaced. On a positive note, on his last scan, there was no sign of cancer in his blood. He is getting ready to start his fourth round of chemo and we are all hoping that his scans continue to be clear. Please, pray, think positive, whatever you do, to keep this little guy feeling good and clean and clear of cancer in his blood.

This is why we are all out there on Saturday morning. Forget how I feel afterward. Forget that I have made new friends. Forget that I am physically surpassing goals on my runs. The fact is that, the money we raise, goes directly to funding research so our Honored Team Mate continues to recover from this disease, and so other kiddos never have to suffer through what many of us can't even imagine.

Thank you to all who have donated to my goal, and who continue to follow my progress. I am blessed to have a happy and healthy family, but knowing that organizations like this exist to ensure that when and if something ever did strike close to home, makes me work even harder to raise money for more research, and treatment options.

Thanks again,
Stephanie