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Kind of crazy to find yourself hoping that someone you love has Lymphoma, right?
Hard to imagine, but at this point that is exactly what my whole family doing.
Most of you wont know who I am, some of you may. I now live in Baltimore, MD as of May this past spring, but before that I was in Albany for some time. I became involved in TNT in January '07. I fundraised and trained to complete my first marathon in June '07 in San Diego California. I was lucky to not have been directly effected by any blood related cancers, me nor my family, nor any of my friends. I just fell in love with the organization, the people who are involved, what they help others achieve and what they help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society accomplish.
At the same point in time that I started training for my first marathon, my sister Julie started working in Boston for the Massachusetts Chapter of TNT. She became a Campaign Coordinator, mostly involved with triathlons during the spring and summer, and marathons in the winter months. She needed to get a job, wanted to work for a non profit agency, and like me, fell in in love with the mission of TNT.
When I ran my first marathon in San Diego, my brother Steve was able to cheer for me on the side lines. Not being involved with the event or the organization at the time, he was completely moved by what he saw. The support and the cause was overwhelming and he decided he needed to be a part of TNT. He then signed up, fundraised and completed his first marathon in January '08 in Phoenix.
My sister Julie, in Phoenix with her Massachusetts TNT chapter was able to cheer my brother and I on as we ran the marathon in Phoenix together. Since then we were known as "Team Southwell". All three of us have now completed various events for TNT: San Diego Marathon, Phoenix Marathon, Boston Marathon and Lake Placid Half. We have never had a close person to run for, we did it just for the simple reason of what the money we raised could do for others............until now.
For almost a week now "Team Southwell" has actually been hoping that the most important man in our lives actually is diagnosed with lymphoma.
For 3 months now, my father has been having problems with his right leg. It progressively got worse. His symptoms developed from pain, to foot drop, to a numbing sensation all down his leg. When he got an MRI done, he was told that he has a large mass wrapped around his sciatic nerve, they were unsure if it was cancer or not. Last Friday in Syracuse doctor's operated on my father. After an hour of surgery, they confirmed that it was cancer. The surgeon came out to my mom, said they were not sure what kind yet, but they were hopeful that it was Lymphoma. As the surgeon hugged my mom, my mom said " funny, three of my kids have fundraised and run marathons for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society". The surgeon responded "maybe that is a great sign then".
So, it has almost been a week, and there still has been no confirmation of what kind of cancer my father is living with. My family and the doctor's are still crossing our fingers that it is a type of Lymphoma, because we are told that it is the most treatable kind of cancer he can have.
I am confident that without the LLS and TNT, we would not be able to live with that kind of hope, that Lymphoma would be a type of cancer that would not be considered "the more treatable kind of cancer". But right now, we are able to say, and think, and hope that, because of people like you.
Thank you to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to their staff, their coaches, their mentors and their participants. Without people like you I may be struggling here in Baltimore away from my family, thinking that my father is living with a death sentence, but I am not.
Before all of you complete your training over the weekend, before you shut your alarm off because this weekend you just don't have it in you to get up and train, know that you make a difference, you offer hope.
Go Team!
~P.S.
~RSF
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