Where are we at? Completed my fundraising, thanks to you all. Bumped up to ten miles, then twelve, then fourteen and sixteen, then back down to ten, then EIGHTEEN, back to ten, and finally yesterday UP TO TWENTY MILES. Finished it in three hours and nine minutes, which was around 9.5 minutes per mile I believe. So now all I have to do is somehow make it 6.3 MORE miles on raceday. Fun times.

Dad keeps doing well. His hair is coming back in, and the brain bleed is healing up nicely. (Still not as fast as he’d like.) He can drive again, blood counts are all good and clear, and now he’s just anxious to get back to work. (We’re not sure why, because his job isn’t super fun or anything.)

Lastly, for a few of you who still want to donate (or told me you do at least) I wanted to direct you to one of my teammates’ websites. Since I’m done, and Juli’s done, and two of the teammates I’m closer with are done I wanted to help the others who are still working towards their goal.

Say hello to Autumn Hornyak. (Hi Autumn.)

This is Autumn’s SECOND round with Team in Training, her first being the Flying Pig which she did in May. Hopefully you can direct funds toward her efforts as they all go to a good cause in the end.

So please help Autumn reach her Team in Training goal.

Been late on the updates and I apologize. This past weekend we had to do seven miles which was rough, but done first thing in the morning wasn’t so bad. Maia didn’t want to run with me so I started with Ethan. I say started because we got about a fourth of the way from home before the iPad ran out of batteries. He started to cry so I turned around and walked home. (He’d be bad enough asking, “Are we done yet,” for seven miles, and the crying, yeah not helping.) After dropping him off I did seven miles plus in like eighty minutes or so. Not super fast, but I’m not quite sure my GPS running app on the phone is working properly.

Anyway, this weekend it’s EIGHT miles which should be fun.

Quick note on dad, he is definitely in remission now, and they’re 99% sure the clotting he was having before being diagnosed with leukemia was wiped out with the blood cancer, so that’s good. He’s going to a speech therapist for the brain hemorrage, as he’s getting better tlaking and remembering things, but still a ways off from being completely one hundred percent.

Lastly, I’m attaching a video for one of the ladies who works for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society down here. Her daughter Liz was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) when she was 14. She just finished up her last treatment a few months ago. It really shows what it’s like for an ALL patient to go through treatment, so you will definitely respect the video and the patient for what she went through.

The other night I did three miles and was still at the ten minute per mile mark, BUT I took the new jogging stroller out for the first time. (I know I’m full of excuses.) Took Ethan as he’s the biggest and figured it for a worst case scenario. He had a good time although he had to sit with his legs crossed. People laughed as I let him take the iPad and he was playing Angry Birds while daddy jogged. We got back and he asked, “Are we done already?”

Good times.

Anyway, thanks to all who contributed and we’re closer. For those of you sitting on your hands this IS going to happen so you might as well pony up a bit of cash now.

Sadly it was only four miles, BUT the workouts get increasingly harder from here. The good part about it was I really didn’t feel winded, so either I’m getting in shape or all the pasta I had at Bucca di Beppo helped out on father’s day. I’m trying to run hills as much as I can even though Columbus (I’m told) is a pretty flat course. My thinking is, the harder I train, the easier and more likely I will complete a less hilly course the day of the race. (And also hopefully reduce the odds of me losing bodily control and soiling myself.)

Onto dad. He’s doing well. Some hair’s coming back, although the doctor suggested not investing heavily in hair care products (he has another round of chemo coming soon). He had a bone marrow test done last Thursday, and with all blood numbers on the rise they think they’ll be able to declare him IN REMISSION. Good news, but for some reason he’ll still be taking chemo treatments and pills for the next year or two to “cure” him of the cancer. (We’re all skeptical of how they know once he’s in remission that he’s not cured, and if I get a good answer I’ll gladly share it here.)

Other than that the donating is going well, and I’m hoping for a few more corporate sponsors. Thank you to all of you who’ve donated thusfar, and for those that haven’t, what you like cancer or something?

Just dropping a quick note. Dad is doing better, has returned home from the hospital for the second time, but A LOT better this time. (We think we may have jumped the gun the last time.)

Blood counts are all up, and the only minor thing they’re concerned about is that he has too many platelets (but not enough to get excited about).

I wanted to thank all those who’ve donated so far, and to let you know the training continues. I just got back from a quick trip to Miami visiting a friend who got me into a few Cross fit routines. That’s good, since we technically missed running on the ebach due to losing track of time yesterday.

The two I’m doing (in addition to our running schedule) is:

Monday
100 pullups
100 pushups
100 situps
100 squats

Friday
Run 1 mile
200 pullups
200 pushups
200 squats
Run 1 mile

So far on the second one I haven’t got in that second mile due to the wife needing to leave for yoga class. Pretty good though, and mixed with the running and one day of weights my body doesn’t feel like it’s in a slump. Here’s what I’m shooting for in some of the harder cross fit workouts.

That night, as he started his first treatment of chemotherapy, the thing he was most afraid of was losing his hair and having his grandkids be afraid of him. I’m not sure if he was just trying to put on a good front, or if that was his biggest concern at the time, but it’s why I shaved (and continue to shave) my head. My thinking was that if Daddy had a bald head, then the kids would just think Papa was following the latest hairstyle trend.

Shaving my head wasn’t enough.

Although the rest of the boys in the family followed suit, I still wanted to do more in honor of my father. That’s when I got turned onto Team In Training. At first it was the wife of a friend who asked if she could add my father’s name to her jersey. Of course I said yes, donated to the cause, and found out a little bit more about the organization. The next step was my sister, Juli, saying there was an upcoming meeting nearby. We attended and found out just how much the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has done through Team In Training.

If it wasn’t for TnT and LLS’s efforts to raise money for research, APL would very likely have claimed my father’s life. Through their efforts they’ve discovered a “wonder drug” that wasn’t available 20 years ago, and my father wouldn’t be coming home from the hospital as I type this. Although he’s got a long road ahead of him, he’s one step closer to remission thanks to the drug. Another fact we learned was that many of the drugs and treaments developed for Leukemia also have led to breakthroughs in treating other forms of cancer.

Dad doesn’t even have it the worst.

When most of us hear the term “cancer” we generally think of older individuals. My dad fits that description, but where he’s “lucky” is that he understands what cancer is and the drastic treaments needed to cure it. (At least he should as he beat colon cancer in 1999.) In the meeting we were shown a video similar to the one below, so please take a few minutes to watch it.

Bianca is just one of too many children, and how do you begin explaining to your child what cancer is? What do you tell them when they have to shave their head? How do you rationalize to their young minds that poison is going to make them better? And the hardest part of all is watching as they suffer and not being able to burden the pain for them.

These are the people and families Team IN Training helps out. In addition to research for cures, the organization also donates money to families for hospital bills, transportation costs, and for those families who live too far from a children’s hospital, food and lodging.

I need your help.

It’s a good organization doing good things, and I hope you’ll help me do my part. I’m scheduled to run a FULL MARATHON (That’s 26+ miles which I’ve never done before) at the Columbus Marathon on October 16, and am currently into my second week of training. In addition to solo days, Team In Training has us meet and run as a team two days per week.

My goal is to raise $1,400 by then, and I hope you can help. My company is donating $1 from every cup holder sale made online (via TheScooterStore.com, Allegro Medical, 1800Wheelchair.com, and our website OH 4 Industries) to my fundraising.

Donating is easy, and clicking the “Donate” button on the right side of this site enters a secure check out. (Think of it as buying HOPE on the internet.) Remember to print your receipt and keep it for your taxes, because in addition to helping out, you’re also allowed to deduct it from what you owe Uncle Sam.

There are other ways to help too, whether dropping an email to see how I’m doing, leaving a positive comment on this blog, or forwarding this information to friends and family who can help, everything keeps me going and motivated. (If you’ve got a loved one who’s been touched by leukemia and would like me to add their name to my jersey, please let me know.)

This is about more than just my father, as the cause of blood cancer is still unknown, and too many people need help to beat it.

Thank you.