7 day countdown!

Happy Monday! I couldn't be more excited than to share this post with you...Georgia, our honored hero, is 7 days away from NO MORE CHEMO!  Yes, you heard that right...1 week...the 7 day countdown is here.  Her mom, Courtney, has been adding one post each day for the last 30 days of treatment and you really should check them out.

We were touched beyond words that Saturday's post was titled - Relentless for a Cure! - and shared how we became part of Georgia's journey.  The honor has been ours and we cannot wait to see Georgia and her family in May to help celebrate such a joyous time for their entire family. I know that Georgia's 2.5 year endurance event is more than anything Will and I have endured in our training and events.  She has been a brave, beautiful cancer warrior and I hope that she knows how much of an inspiration she has been to us and many others.

Courtney selected her words just right because Team in Training is RELENTLESS from the start. TNT participants are FOCUSED on raising money and training for an endurance event while being INSPIRED by honored heroes who are battling cancer.  TNT participants have an incredible opportunity to make a DIFFERENCE in the lives of cancer patients and their families. I would encourage everyone I know to consider becoming a part of the BEST. TEAM. EVER.  You won't regret it!

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Tamales for TEAM!

Cassie...one of our Triathlon teammates is selling TAMALES to help with her fundraising!!

The tamales come in a 6-pack and can be purchased in a several flavors: beef, chicken, pork, habanero pork, jalapeno cheese, spinach and cheese, pinto and cheese, black bean and cheese, pumpkin, apple or sweet potato. The tamales are made by her Aunt and Uncle who own Padrino Foods.

A 6-pack of the same flavor is $8.00. If you purchase 3 - 6 packs it is $20.00 (each six pack can be a different flavor)!

If you live in the area and would like to order some Tamales please email me with your order no later than Sunday, April 22. I will place the order with Cassie and have the tamales on May 5 and arrange with you a time to pick them up. If you live a bit farther and are willing to come to Frisco to pick up your order I can do that too but unfortunately I cannot deliver. You will make payment directly on her fundraising site which will also be a tax-deductible donation : )

You may also contact Cassie directly at anartisticeye@gmail.com if you live farther away or have a large order.

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First TRI & Being 18

We are more than half way done with our Tri training and things have intensified to say the least. This past Sunday we completed our first official Tri event - King Tut Sprint Triathlon.

For those unfamiliar with Triathlon distances:

Sprint: 750 meter (.47 mile) swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run (the swim can actually range from 400-750 for some sprint events)

Olympic: 1500 meters (.93 mile) swim, 25 mile bike and 6.2 mile run

Half Ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run

Ironman: 2.4 mile swim, 110 mile bike, 26.2 mile run

Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us and our event was shortened due to the rainstorm. So instead of the above sprint distance we did 300 meter swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. Our team crossed the finish line right and about 15 minutes later the downpour came. It was still an awesome experience and it makes me even more excited for our Olympic event in Austin. Granted swimming 1500 meters in open water still concerns me a bit but I'll get there. At least I have no fear of the lake zombies anymore : )

The photos above are before the start ready to swim and Sharee, Karen and I at the end of the race. A quick note as you might have noticed Will not in his wetsuit...he was hit with a virus late last week and unable to eat for 2 days. It wasn't wise for him to compete like that, so he cheered on the sidelines with Coach Kelly. But don't you worry we are going to do another Sprint event in two weeks together!

Changing subject.

Most of the folks reading this blog are probably 30+ I'd have to guess. So I have a question...do you remember being 18? I do! I remember being so excited to BEGIN. MY. LIFE. Not the life that someone else intended me to have but MY. LIFE. And I have to say that the years between 18-25 really defined me as a person. That doesn't mean I didn't make mistakes but that was my time to enjoy being young and carefree with fewer responsibilities than those you have later in life. Granted you usually don't see this until you are older : )

Allie turned 18 about two weeks ago. We celebrated by having dinner and opening presents...the traditional birthday celebration, but we were all together as a family and that was special. I really enjoy being with her and Andrew (her younger brother) mainly because they are such awesome kids with good hearts but also it continues to show me what is in store for me as a mother as my kids get older. And all things I have to look forward too. This past week she had her annual visit with her pediatric oncologist. She still goes once a year to see him and thankfully she continue to get an AWESOME bill of good health! God is good. Life is good.

Another 18 year old teen whose Aunt (Tammy) I am friend's with...has a bit of a different story today and I ask for your help in sending prayers her way. Alanna was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma and TODAY marks her first chemo treatment.

My final thought on "18"...a fellow Tri teammate Robert was also on the same Tahoe cycle team with me back in 2000. Furthermore he ran his marathon with TNT in 2010 (same as me but a different race) and therefore we will Triple Crown together after our Tri event in Austin! I don't know what to say about that except sometimes parts of your life come full circle. On Allie's birthday I donated $18 to him in her honor. In his thank you note, he shared something new with me...the number 18 means "chai" or life in the Jewish religion. It almost took my breath away when I read that because that $18 donation was exactly a celebration of life!

So if you ask why I do this...why I continue to ask you for donations, sign up for more events, wake up at 4:45 several mornings a week...its because no child should know what it feels like to get chemo AND every child should have a life filled with many many celebrations!

"The more your praise and celebrate your life...

the more there is in life to celebrate!"

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Kicking Booty

Our Tri coach told us Saturday that this will be our hardest month of training...we will hit some two-a-days trainings (which I've already done) as well as some aches, pains and simply exhaustion. But NONE of that compares to what a child (or adult) endures going through treatment.

The photo above is one of my honored hero, Grayson...with a face that says "I'm kicking cancer in the booty!" It is photos like this that make me smile from ear-to-ear yet can bring tears streaming down my face.

Grayson is entering his roughest phase of treatment this month too...it is called Delayed Intensification. It is a 60 day treatment cycle and anytime there is a drop in counts, he will be delayed on getting his chemo. Kalee, his mom, is guessing there will be lots of those delays since he’ll be getting 6 different types of chemo on a rotating schedule. He’s had all but 1 of those thus far and unfortunately has experienced leg pain, muscle weakness, extreme nausea/vomiting and just flat out misery. But even Kalee knows there is a light at the end...that being after this is done things should smooth out and he'll be on maintenance which is 3 years of at home chemo. I pray daily that this phase goes by fast for Gray and he'll be nearing the end with a blink of the eye like our other honored hero Georgia who is less than 25 days out from her VERY LAST CHEMO treatment! We are so excited for her and hope to see her while in Austin for our event.

Do you want to help Grayson kick cancer in the booty? Well you can do that and help us reach our goal...we still have $500 to raise. Click the donate widget to the right and make a donation today!

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