Susan Calarco

Originally written on July 30, 2007:

My father spent 23 years in the Air Force while I was growing up. As a result, “home” never really stuck. We moved from place to place and I have never really been “from” anywhere. Because of this environment, I got to know my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on more of a surface level growing up. They were simply the people who lived in New York that we would visit once or twice a year and on the rare occasion, they would make the trek to Nebraska or Ohio or North Dakota for a visit.

I was very satisfied with this relationship because I guess I did not know any differently. I grew up, went to college and law school, and then entered the Navy. I still lived the nomadic life and was again content to know my family from a bit of a distance.

However, in 2004, my mom’s brother, my uncle Doug was diagnosed with Leukemia. This devastating news suddenly brought my family closer than it had ever been. My cousin Laura–Doug’s daughter–began to keep me updated on his well-being and his progress. In early 2005 I deployed to Iraq. My updates from home were always appreciated, but Laura’s emails were the correspondence I could not wait to receive. While in Iraq, she told me of my uncle’s ups and downs and struggles and triumphs.

When I returned home from in late 2005, I came home to what I thought was great news–uncle Doug had received a bone marrow transplant and was on his way towards recovery. Unfortunately, in the end, he was not able to win his battle.

Just three days after Christmas in 2005, my uncle Doug passed away.

My first event with TNT was with the Rhode Island Chapter–I participated in the Philadelphia Triathlon in June 2006. On the day of the race, every single member of that side of my family, to include Doug’s wife and his three children, were there to cheer me on. It was more emotional than I had ever imagined it would be and I finally realized what it was like to be close to these members of my family.

While Doug’s loss has been hard on my family, I am grateful that it gave me the opportunity to connect with my cousin, and the rest of my family, in a way I had never known before.

Good things do come out of sometimes very difficult circumstances.

Thanks,

Susan

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Donna Marino

Last year I joined my good friend Denise on the route of the Marine Corp Marathon and ran 8miles with her. As I stood on the sidelines waiting to find her, I met a number of peoplecheering the runners and they all had one thing in common..they all said "What would possess someone to run 26.2 miles?"

Okay, maybe it's a because it's thier kind of thing, or simply because by joining upwith Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, I can raise money for a cause near anddear to my heart, and achieve a personal goal of running a marathon.

TNT is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's largest fundraising program, bringing in over $73million this past year alone. Each participant in the program pledges to raise a certain amountof money during the 4-5 months they train for their event.

Every five minutes, someone in the United States learns that they have leukemia, lymphoma, ormyeloma, and every 10 minutes, a child or adult dies form one of these diseases. While more andmore people are becoming survivors, there is still no cure.

I won't be able to train for this alone, and I would be honored if you would help me. My goal isto raise $3300 by August 27. I invite you to be part of my goal.

I am training for a "doubleheader"… two events this fall: the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach and the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia and lymphoma from taking more lives.

I'm completing this event in honor of all those who are battling blood cancers but more specifically in memory of my father, Dan DePasquale, who died of leukemia at the age of 43. He initially went to the doctor on the advice on my grandmother, who told him "his color wasn't right". This was Mother's Day, 1967; he died the following August. I was eight years old. My dad, as well as others battling this disease, are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Thanks for your support. See you at the finish line!

Donna

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Rachel Bonistalli

Originall written on July 20, 2007:

As I shared in my previous message, my cousin John Bonistalli is living with Leukemia. He wakes up each day like the rest of us with a smile for his wife and beautiful daughters and kind words for everyone, but has something a little extra weighing on him as he goes through his day -- he is fighting a battle to keep his Leukemia in remission. This is a battle that started on April 4, 2003 as John was proud to be smoke free for two years and his dear wife Dana was expecting their second child.

John had been fighting chronic sinus infections for several months and the doctor suspected it was a deviated septum so he had an appointment to check it and discuss repairing it. John shared "My doctor said I looked tired and he decided to run some routine blood work. I anticipated it would say I was, like usual, a little anemic. The blood work came back with an extremely high white cell count, but he didn't want to worry me so he ordered a second CBC. The results were not a fluke."

John continued, "I found myself just moments later that morning sitting in an oncologist's office with my mother by my side. Unfortunately my wife, Dana, was sadly sitting in another doctor's office at the same time -- her obstetrician's. She would soon learn that she was having a miscarriage. This would be our second loss. We had been so blessed to have a beautiful 2½ year old daughter (Isabella) and we hoped that someday we would be able to provide her with a sibling to share her life with. My mother and I were soon given the fateful news -- that I had Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). By this time, Dana had joined us in the doctor's office and we all cried together. We were told that, without treatment, my life expectancy was 3 to 5 years."

That was John's dark day, but family and friends quickly came to John's aid and his best friend Chris gave him the phrase that helped him start his campaign against Leukemia "The rally flags are up, we are heading into battle." John was determined not to lie down and let cancer ruin his life.

Then light began to shine through the darkness. A new oral drug, approved in 2001, was showing tremendous results with CML patients. He soon began that drug, Gleevec. Within a year, John was in remission and we had a big party. In 2005, John and Dana were again blessed with new life in the arrival of Amelia (Mia). John's prognosis is with continued treatment with Gleevec and without unforeseen complications, he could maintain his remission for 40 years.
So, with my cousin in my heart and the many who can benefit from my efforts on my mind, I train on -- strides to save lives.

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Stephanie Phung

Originally written on July 12, 2007:

Back in January I accompanied my husband Michael on his trip to Miami to cheer him on as he completed a goal he had been preparing for since October 2006; the ING Miami Marathon. Once we arrived, the excitement was so overwhelming, that on a whim, I decided to join in, and I signed up for the 1/2 marathon. I knew good and well that there was no way I'd be able to do much more than walk most of it, however I still participated and crossed the finish line with a time of well over three hours.

The experience of participating in the half marathon in Miami changed my perspective on my own physical endurance. As I pounded the pavement through the Art Deco District of South Beach, with the early morning sun the sun breaking through the clouds, and the ocean breeze cooling me, I felt a calming presence around me. I looked up at the clouds above me and all I could think of was how much my mom would love this moment. How beautiful everything around me was and how excited she would be to know what I was doing. It was at that moment that I was inspired to keep doing it.

As you may know, in March 2003, my mom, Betsy McPhail, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. For many days after my mom received her diagnosis, I spent at least an hour on the phone with her each night. It seemed that the physical distance between us was too great and no amount of time talking could heal it. The truth of the situation was beginning to sink in and I began to realize that her illness could be fatal. There was one conversation we had that continues to stick in my mind: "Mamma, I don't want you to die."

She said to me, "Sweetie, Idon't want to die either, but if it's God's plan to take me, at least I will go down fighting. I will try everything possible. Even if the doctors can't save me, maybe something they learn from me will help find the cure for someone else. Maybe that is what God meant for me."

As it turned out my mom went through many new and experimental treatments including conjugated monoclonal antibody treatments. These treatments would not have been available to her if it were not for the research, information, and patient services provided by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Since 2003, I have been involved in raising money and volunteering for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. When I returned home from my trip to Miami, I began researching opportunities to continue participating in activities with the Society and incorporate my new found inspiration in long-distance running. As a result of my research I found that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society coordinates a half-marathon in VirginiaBeach every fall; in addition the Society offers their program Team inTraining that is the number one endurance training program in the country. In exchange for valuable funds raised for the Society, TNT provides participants with a comprehensive training program led by experienced coaches who train runners, walkers, cyclists, skaters, and triathletes to complete events in exciting locations around the world.

For the past month and a half instead of sleeping in and enjoying waking up to the warm noon-day sun streaming in my bedroom window, I wake up at 7:00 AM to join my Team in Training teammates for our weekly group run. Last week, I met the 6 mile mark for my training, which is almost half-way for the half-marathon in Virginia Beach. We also had a special picnic after our run in which we met our honored teammates, and I shared with my pace group the story and memories of my personal honored teammate, my mom. It was at that time that I made a commitment to go all the way with my commitment and I will be, in addition to running the half marathon in Virginia Beach on September 2, 2007, running the full Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC on October 28, 2007.

This may seem crazy to some of you, but in reality, running 26.2 miles is nothing compared to what patients with blood related cancers go through on a daily basis. By signing up to run the Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon and the Marine CorpFull Marathon, I have committed myself to run 13.1 miles plus 26.2miles, and I have pledged to raise $3,300 for the Society. I will be running in memory of my mom, as well as for the other honored teammatesin my local area.

My official training website:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/smphung (Click the green arrow to watch the slide show)

My official trainingspace:

http://www.myspace.com/mcphails1



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The Reasons Why We Run

Thanks for visiting my website. I hope you will contribute to my effort to raise money to fight blood cancers.

While this is a personal mission for me -- my grandmother died of Leukemia when I was very young -- my loss feels so small compared with the stories I hear from the folks I run with every Saturday.

I wanted to share some of these stories with you on this blog. I hope you will read them and realize the great need to defeat these terrible diseases that afflict so many people every year.

Chuck

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Ethan Avery

Originally written October 31, 2006:

We thought it was strange that Megan, our 3 1/2 year old, preferred to stay home on Halloween instead of trick or treating in the neighborhood despite my offer to carry her the whole way. She laid on the couch complaining of knee pain and hadn't walked for the three previous days. After a barrage of doctor's visits leading up to Halloween we had ruled out just about all possibilities. Then she developed a fever Halloween night and tested positive for Strep. Our doctor commented that some rare forms of Strep include joint pain. We were relieved to hear this and started her on Amoxicillin. Well, her joint pain worsened and the amoxicllin had no effect on the fever for three days - out parental instincts were telling us something was amiss.

The evening of November 2, 2006 at 7:30pm, my wife and I learned that the mysterious symptoms of our 3 1/2 year old was start of ALL, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Since then we've been inpatient for 4 weeks, had 13 spinal taps, 6 marrow aspirates, MRI's, CT scans, bone scans and countless clinic visits. That first night in the hospital the nurses warned us not to touch Megan's urine due to the toxicity levels of the chemo in her veins. She had to revert back to diapers since any movement to her joints was excruciating. Ironically, going back to diapers appeared to be harder to endure for a proud, potty trained young lady than the effects of the chemo.

I'll never forget the feeling when my wife, Christina, and I returned to the curtained waiting area at Shady Grove ER to see Megan again after being told she has cancer. Despite our best efforts to compose ourselves, Christina and I were sobbing, both of us kneeling beside Megan's bed making feeble attempts to explain to her what was happening. Megan began patting our heads telling us it would be all right. I had never felt more alone and scared. On top of this Megan was asking if we could go to the park the next day since she feeling better. Little did she know earlier administered Morphine taking her pain away temporarily. We then told her the park would have to wait.

As we entered into the uncertain world of cancer, I was struck by the number of positives that sprang from this Hell. First, I experienced a depth of love from my family and friends I never knew existed. Also, Megan has continued to impress us with her fight and resolve to lick cancer. After the shock of the news, I started realizing my network of support grew exponentially. Neighbors we hardly spoke to, except for an occasional wave, came over to share their cancer stories and offers of support. Relationships with family members from around the globe have been rekindled in the face of this challenge. I've told those people around me how much I care for and love them - something I know I wouldn't have done had this not happened.

As of this writing, we are almost 8 months into a 30 month treatment. We've had several scary moments and days-long periods in which we are waiting anxiously for test results to rule out yucky, potentially life long side effects of her treatment. There are way too many people to thank here for helping us get to this point. We are uncertain what is in store for Megan. When doubt creeps in, I recall a lyric from Elton John's song Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters - "I thank the Lord there are people out there like you". We are so grateful for the people we have found, including TNT. When I go out to run, Megan will occasionally ask "Are you and your friends running to beat cancer?" and I respond, "All of us are." Then on one occasion before I walked out the door she said with a furrowed brow "It's showtime baby!" Inspiration is not an issue!

I'd like thank all of those involved in TNT, coaches, team captains and runners, that give people a resource to fight back against blood cancers. It's very empowering and has both mental and physical benefits.

Ethan Avery, proud father of Megan Avery!

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