Today is a big day—Kick off! It’s the first official TNT
ride of the season and time for me to show others my stuff. Or lack of stuff (like my inability to pedal fast while cycling downhill. Little hills. Really little hills).
This ride is an opportunity for everyone to meet our large cycle team, rally around The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s mission (Cure
leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of
life of patients and their families) and most importantly, hear from some of
our Honorees (those who are blood cancer survivors, are in remission, or are
currently fighting cancer). Oh, and cycle a little. Only 16 miles. Nothing too challenging.
One of the incredible things of hearing such
personal and touching stories from our Honorees, which we will do before every
Team Ride, is the fact that some will be training right along side us! Talk
about inspiration. Hearing stories from our Honorees before a ride not only
gives me inspiration to ride strong, but it grounds me and reminds me that life
is precious and what we're doing is pretty darn cool.
The stories we heard during Kick-off and during our first ride
remind me a lot of my dad’s experience with cancer.
At first, something just
seemed off. My dad had cold-like symptoms and when he couldn’t seem to kick it,
he went to the doctor who suggested an x-ray to check for pneumonia. Boy,
wouldn’t pneumonia have been a better
diagnosis at age 41.
After having a lobe removed from his lung, entering remission, the cancer coming back, and finally chemo, the cancer had spread to his liver and treatment was no longer an option. The thing that continues to perplex me is the fact he died of lung cancer, but never even smoked.
One of my favorite photos
My dad did not have a blood cancer, but I can’t help but
wonder if his, and our family’s, experience with cancer would have been different if he had
cancer now. While The
Leukemia and Lymphoma focuses on blood cancers, the wonderful research and and amazing treatments help treat and cure many other types of cancer as well.
I am so honored to be riding with such an extraordinary
group of people and for such an important cause. GO TEAM!
Please take a moment to visit
my fundraising page and consider donating to help CURE Cancer:
Want to learn how much your donation will help?
Watch the video below to find out.
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