Why me? Why LLS?

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society raises money for blood cancer research through their Team In Training.  Having worked with LLS before, I can tell you that the folks that working there and those that coach and mentor the teams are truly dedicated to the cause.  Many have had family members pass away from blood cancer.

Why would I sign up to raise money to fight blood cancers?

• An estimated 137,260 people in the US will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2010.
• Leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma will cause the death of an estimated 54,020 people in the US this year.  These blood cancers will account for 9.5% of deaths from cancer in 2010, based on 569,490 total cancer related deaths.
• Every 10 minutes, someone dies of blood cancer.  That represents almost 148 people each day, or more than 6 people every hour.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancers among children and young adults under the age of 20.

With numbers like that, why shouldn't I?

Our team honoree is Mark Huff.  Mark was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Follicular (Stage IV) in 2006.  He was an active husband and father of 2 who had recently finished climbing Mt. Whitney just prior to his diagnosis.  Long story short, Mark underwent three surgeries, traditional chemotherapy and infusions of Rituxan.  He also had highly targeted radiation to successfully eliminate the tumor around his spinal cord.  This year, he was able to climb Mt. Whitney a second time with his son who is about to graduate from college.  His daughter received her teaching credential.  He also completed the Tour de Palm Springs last February as part of the Team in Training cycling team.

Here's my take:  I can do something small to contribute to progressive research on a disease that kills more than 6 people an hour.  It might be difficult, but it's not nearly as difficult as chemo, surgery, infusions, or radiation.  It might be time consuming, but I get some great exercise and meet some amazing people doing it.  I have the choice and I'm going for it.

How can you help?  Well, I need sponsors.   My sweet son, Alex, was my first donor and he gave $5.  Visit my fundraising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/tdps11/kcondonahu if you would like to help out.