Friday, November 12, 2010

Meeting Emily

We had our Team in Training Kick-Off party last night and was great to meet our team going to LA!!! Our friend Andrea also joined the team so it will be great share these memories with her as well.  Along with meeting our team, we met our sponsors who have experience in running events with Team in Training, and will also be running it with us!

Most importantly we met our Honor Patient, Emily, who will be our united team inspiration. Her story truly gives me a hope and cause for what we are running for.  We are running to save lives like Emily's, through fund raising for research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Emily was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) on January 20, 2010 and is currently recieiving maintenance treatments that will last two years. She was only 20 years old and just getting ready to restart classes at KU after Winter Break when she got diagnosed.  After taking a semester off from her Speech Pathology major she received grueling and painful treatments that have battled the cancer so far.  Emily is now back in school ready to graduate in December 2011!  

Emily's story hit home with me, because she is so close to my age, lives close and is at a similar point in her life.  It feels like yesterday that I was a junior in college. This disease seems is so real, and I am so happy that I am running in March to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

As for the running...we haven't hit big runs yet.  Only the 2 and 3 miles so far, but come tomorrow (when training ACTUALLY begins) and the 4 mile run...I might have a different opinion.

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