Miscellaneous Monday musings about motive

I'm glad to say that I think things are moving in a good direction for me. I'm not having the continuous pain, so that is definitely a good sign. I hope that a few more days off will just do the trick and I will be back to it in a day or so.

I'm also VERY glad to say that my fundraising total is $2,076! THANK YOU!!! That's so awesome and I'm so excited about that. I'm at 51% toward my goal of $4,000. Thanks to you all for contributing to my effort. I thought I'd share a bit more info about my cause.

Did you know...

• Over 135,000 people were diagnosed with leukemia or another blood cancer in 2007.
• Over 52,000 people will die this year from leukemia or lymphoma.
• Every 10 minutes someone dies from a blood cancer. That's 143 people per day. That's 6 people every hour.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20.
• There are 4 different types of leukemia. AML, the type my dad had, currently has a 20.7% five year survival rate.

By the time you finish reading this post, someone will have lost their fight with a blood cancer. Sometime today, there will be people who will be told "You have leukemia." There is research on new drugs and new treatments that is being done every day. In fact, there are a few drugs that have come out since my dad's diagnosis and death that very possibly could have extended - or possibly saved - his life.

I hope if you reading this and you have not yet made a contribution toward my goal, that you will consider it today. Your gift can be large or small. (I got a very clever gift of $26.20 last week. Get it? One dollar a mile = $26.20). I am appreciative of very penny that you send my way. I just want you to know that what you are doing and what you are giving *really* makes a difference. You are helping find a cure for leukemia.

So what's my point? The rest of my life will be dedicated to raising money and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. One day there will be a cure. Will it be in my lifetime? Will my kids see it? Who knows. I miss my dad. I lost him to this disease. And nothing that I go through in this marathon training will even hold a candle to what he went through while he fought it. I read a quote by a Team in Training runner over the weekend that summed up the whole training thing: "Think this is hard? Try chemotherapy."

As always, thanks for checking in today. And thanks for all the support you give me - words, notes, donations. I couldn't do any of this without you.