My Mission to Help Find a Cure

As I was typing the subject for this post I got a text message from a really good friend saying her step dad's cancer has spread to his stomach and liver. When I read that my stomach became twisted in knots, I could feel my eyes tear up, and the memories of when my dad was diagnosed

Living with cancer, whether you're a survivor, family member or friend is a sobering experience. The tribulations of day-to-day life just don't seem as important. It's something I don't wish upon anyone, and the fact that there are still people out there being diagnosed and losing their battle is just not okay with me.

I'm not a doctor or a scientist; I get queasy at the very thought of donating blood, and I don't think I could ever be as strong as those who are fighting that evil six letter word.

The only thing I can do is what my gut tells me to do. I may not be the fastest runner, but every time I put on those running shoes and trained for my previous half marathon I envisioned the pain and lack of strength my dad had while he was going through chemo. I imagined what it must have been like for my grandma to have a mastectomy to get rid of her breast cancer for the second time. I sympathize with every patient and empathize with family members and friends going through this hard time. If they were able to get up and out of bed day after day, then I can certainly run in their honor.

Cancer victims have it so much harder than anything going on in my life right now, which is why I'm committing myself to raise money again for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It may seem like a daunting challenge to raise close to $4,000, especially in this economy, but it literally breaks my heart when I hear that someone close to me is going through this trial. Running the marathon (I'm doing a full marathon - 26.2 miles this time) is an after thought. If people are surviving every single day from this terrible disease then I can certainly bust my behind, get out there and make some money for them.

I actually didn't intend for this post to go in this direction today, but my heart is heavy right now and this is the only way I can express my thoughts. We pray every night that my dad's cancer will remain in remission and by asking for money I feel I'm at least doing a little something to help keep it gone forever.

I'm Running for a Cure and would love it if you could join me. came flooding back into my mind. People shouldn't hear news like that.