These past couple of months I have tried my best to give you a sense of the meaning and importance of this type of fund-raising campaign and the reason I come back every night to ask for help finding a cure. Sometimes I think the best way to do that is to give you a glimpse into Tressa's fight and battle. Not only is it a battle for the child but the parents as well when very tough decisions have to be made. Here is one such example when again the Leukemia came back with vengeance.
It was in November and Tressa's parents made a very difficult decision to place her back on the ventilator. It allowed her to sleep soundly and peacefully, giving her parents comfort to see her that way and they felt that they made the right decision. But then a more difficult decision came to the surface quickly the doctors will be scheduling a tracheotomy for either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning. They knew she would not completely comprehend when they told her of the surgery to come, due to all the pain-killers currently in her system. They were not sure she was going to fully understand when she would awake with a tube sticking out of her throat. The hope was that someday, she would realize that there were so many different reasons that led them to that decision, but it all boiled down to one thing that they loved her with all of their hearts and only wanted what was best for her.
It's these types of decisions parents shouldn't have to make for their child and you can help me put an end to this with a donation and spreading the word. No donation is too small and it can make the difference between life and death so in the next 10 minutes we don't lose another loved one to blood cancer. Please make the decision to be involved donate today... http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Days 75 & 76 of...98 Days...Two Extra Strength Tablets
Well I missed my very first Blog Post yesterday I was disappointed in myself but I was unfortunately incapacitated by some kind of poison in my system.
Quick back story I was in Chicago visiting my daughter and soon to be son-in-law and so excited about going on the hunt for the perfect pair of bridal shoes for her first actual wedding dress fitting the next day. My daughter and I went out to eat the night before giggling and laughing catching up as we went to a couple of stores with no luck. But hey we had the next day and a plan after her Law School class we would rendezvous to find those perfect shoes.
So our day started and unfortunately I was feeling off I kept telling her it feels like I was slipped a Mickey. I was feeling dizzy and at times ready to pass out but I did not want to ruin this day we had a mission. As we were racing from one store to the next shopping for those shoes before our 6:30pm appointment dress fitting I got worse and very sick food poisoning ahhhhhh no! Not only do we think I had food poisoning and all that comes and goes with it but a massive migraine on top of it. But I was determined we would find the perfect shoes before I dropped which happily we did but sadly I was too ill for us to make it to the fitting. But the good news is that has been rescheduled.
As I laid their head pounding every noise amplified and sick to my stomach where I couldn't eat or drink I kept thinking is this what these children with Leukemia, Lymphoma or Myeloma feel like? Is this even part of the pain they experience when there is poison in their body as the blood cancer take over. The big difference is I knew as painful it seemed for me at the time we could get to the pharmacy walk in and get two extra strength migraine tablets and flush out the food poisoning with a ton of water.
And then we started thinking why couldn't it be that way for those with blood cancer why is there no easy fix? For me I knew I would be better in the morning which I am. But how about for those 900,000 battling there is no end in sight because there is no cure. But with your help we can change that with funding research and find that cure.
Just imagine let's fast forward to the future when another child or loved one is diagnosed with blood cancer and you can just run to the pharmacy and pick up two extra strength tablets or a shot or something as easy. And it would be all because of people like you who donated to this cause so in the next 10 minutes we won't lose another to this killer disease. Let's make that a reality together... http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Quick back story I was in Chicago visiting my daughter and soon to be son-in-law and so excited about going on the hunt for the perfect pair of bridal shoes for her first actual wedding dress fitting the next day. My daughter and I went out to eat the night before giggling and laughing catching up as we went to a couple of stores with no luck. But hey we had the next day and a plan after her Law School class we would rendezvous to find those perfect shoes.
So our day started and unfortunately I was feeling off I kept telling her it feels like I was slipped a Mickey. I was feeling dizzy and at times ready to pass out but I did not want to ruin this day we had a mission. As we were racing from one store to the next shopping for those shoes before our 6:30pm appointment dress fitting I got worse and very sick food poisoning ahhhhhh no! Not only do we think I had food poisoning and all that comes and goes with it but a massive migraine on top of it. But I was determined we would find the perfect shoes before I dropped which happily we did but sadly I was too ill for us to make it to the fitting. But the good news is that has been rescheduled.
As I laid their head pounding every noise amplified and sick to my stomach where I couldn't eat or drink I kept thinking is this what these children with Leukemia, Lymphoma or Myeloma feel like? Is this even part of the pain they experience when there is poison in their body as the blood cancer take over. The big difference is I knew as painful it seemed for me at the time we could get to the pharmacy walk in and get two extra strength migraine tablets and flush out the food poisoning with a ton of water.
And then we started thinking why couldn't it be that way for those with blood cancer why is there no easy fix? For me I knew I would be better in the morning which I am. But how about for those 900,000 battling there is no end in sight because there is no cure. But with your help we can change that with funding research and find that cure.
Just imagine let's fast forward to the future when another child or loved one is diagnosed with blood cancer and you can just run to the pharmacy and pick up two extra strength tablets or a shot or something as easy. And it would be all because of people like you who donated to this cause so in the next 10 minutes we won't lose another to this killer disease. Let's make that a reality together... http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Day 74 of...98 Days...Did you ever have...
Did you ever have in general just a bad day? A bad day where everything you touch seems to go wrong. Projects that are supposed to take no time to complete are problematic; tasks that are supposed to go smoothly are anything but. And everyone you talk to is in a kind of funk and the whole thing is overwhelming and you just want to throw up your hands and say enough is enough - I am outta here!!!
Then the work day mercifully winds down, people go home and the whole ordeal ends. Tomorrow will be a fresh start - a new day.
Not for those afflicted with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma and certainly not for those who dearly love them and are tasked with witnessing the pain and suffering that blood cancers inflect upon their precious sons and daughters. They will tell us that each bad day is followed by another one and another one and so on and on.
There is a cure. We just need to find it. Won't you help fund the research today to find it and stop the suffering of so many?
Please spread the word of this campaign and our plea for any contributions that can be comfortably given. Whether it is a single dollar or a thousand - every contribution gets us closer to a cure. http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Then the work day mercifully winds down, people go home and the whole ordeal ends. Tomorrow will be a fresh start - a new day.
Not for those afflicted with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma and certainly not for those who dearly love them and are tasked with witnessing the pain and suffering that blood cancers inflect upon their precious sons and daughters. They will tell us that each bad day is followed by another one and another one and so on and on.
There is a cure. We just need to find it. Won't you help fund the research today to find it and stop the suffering of so many?
Please spread the word of this campaign and our plea for any contributions that can be comfortably given. Whether it is a single dollar or a thousand - every contribution gets us closer to a cure. http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Day 73 of 98 Days...First Day of Passover
Today is the first day of Passover (Pesach).
All of us that are familiar with biblical teachings (or have seen the "Ten Commandments") know that in the book of Exodus, the children of Israel gathered in family homes and spread lamb's blood on doorways as a sign to the spirit of the Lord to bypass them as that spirit brought death upon the first born of Egypt for the sins of the Pharaoh and his ministers. Following days witnessed the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt and their freedom from bondage.
Wouldn't it be something if today we could similarly mark our homes with a symbol of healthy blood to ward off the misery and death of blood cancers; leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma? And wouldn't it be a welcome relief to gather as a community and simply walk away from the miseries of pain, discomfort, and disease?
Unfortunately that cannot be counted on to happen. But we do have an alternative path to defeat these fearsome foes. As did the victim's supporters of polio some fifty years ago, we can raise money for research and a cure from everyone whether it be a hundred dollars, a single dollar or in the case of the March of Dimes - dimes and lots of them. Because even the smallest contribution when multiplied by many thousands adds up to a tremendous sum and an invaluable gift to the researchers who are daily toiling to find the breakthrough that will end killer diseases like leukemia.
So today on this first day of Passover, when so many were spared death, won't you pass the word of this life-saving campaign to your friends and family? The gift you can give today is spreading the word of the mission from which will come the dollars for the cure.
May you have a healthy and peaceful Passover.
All of us that are familiar with biblical teachings (or have seen the "Ten Commandments") know that in the book of Exodus, the children of Israel gathered in family homes and spread lamb's blood on doorways as a sign to the spirit of the Lord to bypass them as that spirit brought death upon the first born of Egypt for the sins of the Pharaoh and his ministers. Following days witnessed the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt and their freedom from bondage.
Wouldn't it be something if today we could similarly mark our homes with a symbol of healthy blood to ward off the misery and death of blood cancers; leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma? And wouldn't it be a welcome relief to gather as a community and simply walk away from the miseries of pain, discomfort, and disease?
Unfortunately that cannot be counted on to happen. But we do have an alternative path to defeat these fearsome foes. As did the victim's supporters of polio some fifty years ago, we can raise money for research and a cure from everyone whether it be a hundred dollars, a single dollar or in the case of the March of Dimes - dimes and lots of them. Because even the smallest contribution when multiplied by many thousands adds up to a tremendous sum and an invaluable gift to the researchers who are daily toiling to find the breakthrough that will end killer diseases like leukemia.
So today on this first day of Passover, when so many were spared death, won't you pass the word of this life-saving campaign to your friends and family? The gift you can give today is spreading the word of the mission from which will come the dollars for the cure.
May you have a healthy and peaceful Passover.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Day 72 of...98 Days...The Onion
The onion is an interesting vegetable it has so many layers to it. And each time you peel away another layer you get to the center of it and it burns causing tears to flow. It parallels the human emotion. As you peel away another layer and get to the heart and soul of any matter you feel almost naked and filled with raw emotion and it does burn and tears do have a tendency to flow.
The first layer was accepting the nomination for the fund-raising campaign and spending a day reading about Tressa's unbelievable hard fought battle with leukemia at 21 and trying to comprehend the pain what is was to feel losing a child.
The second layer was launching Light The App iPhone and reading dedications come in everyday of loved ones praying for their children, parents, grandparents, cousins who have been recently diagnosed or have lost the fight.
The third layer was reaching out to family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, strangers asking over 2000 people for help so we can fund research and find a cure quickly learning not everyone shares the same passion that there are so many wonderful causes out there to support.
The forth layer was getting a phone call from a child who was diagnosed at 5 is now in remission and so thankful for absolutely anything I can do to raise money and find a cure. A cure so if it ever should ever come back he has a fighting chance.
The fifth layer was wishing and wondering why this isn't easier for people and questioning myself if I haven't explained the gravity of this devastating disease because every 10 minutes we lose someone to blood cancer.
The sixth layer was the tears I have shed for Tressa, for other children fighting and parents and families who are frightened because there are advanced therapies but there is no cure.
So I peeled all my layers away like an onion and at the heart of it I need help the team and me singularly we are nothing but with others we can make a difference. Every single dollar can quickly add up if we had volume so we can fund research and find a cure for blood cancer. These 900,000 and their families desperately need us won't you peel away the layers and take a close look at this with your heart and donate and tell others?
http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
The first layer was accepting the nomination for the fund-raising campaign and spending a day reading about Tressa's unbelievable hard fought battle with leukemia at 21 and trying to comprehend the pain what is was to feel losing a child.
The second layer was launching Light The App iPhone and reading dedications come in everyday of loved ones praying for their children, parents, grandparents, cousins who have been recently diagnosed or have lost the fight.
The third layer was reaching out to family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, strangers asking over 2000 people for help so we can fund research and find a cure quickly learning not everyone shares the same passion that there are so many wonderful causes out there to support.
The forth layer was getting a phone call from a child who was diagnosed at 5 is now in remission and so thankful for absolutely anything I can do to raise money and find a cure. A cure so if it ever should ever come back he has a fighting chance.
The fifth layer was wishing and wondering why this isn't easier for people and questioning myself if I haven't explained the gravity of this devastating disease because every 10 minutes we lose someone to blood cancer.
The sixth layer was the tears I have shed for Tressa, for other children fighting and parents and families who are frightened because there are advanced therapies but there is no cure.
So I peeled all my layers away like an onion and at the heart of it I need help the team and me singularly we are nothing but with others we can make a difference. Every single dollar can quickly add up if we had volume so we can fund research and find a cure for blood cancer. These 900,000 and their families desperately need us won't you peel away the layers and take a close look at this with your heart and donate and tell others?
http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Day 71 of...98 Days... A KISS
I am giving you a KISS today by reminding myself to keep it simple for yesterday I felt that I was too harsh. Everyone has their motive for joining a fight and reasons for the causes they want to support. I am learning the hard way that just because I am passionate about this fight doesn't mean others feel the same way. It's no reflection on them as a person they must have other battles in their lives that are as deadly as this one.
Today I am thinking if I share a few of these heartfelt dedications from all different people maybe others will begin to see and feel what I do. You would find them under ALL Lights in Light The App iPhone application we developed it's a free download for loved ones to leave a prayer, an inspiration of hope as they light their virtual candle and messages for those battling or have lost the battle to blood cancer.
Today I am thinking if I share a few of these heartfelt dedications from all different people maybe others will begin to see and feel what I do. You would find them under ALL Lights in Light The App iPhone application we developed it's a free download for loved ones to leave a prayer, an inspiration of hope as they light their virtual candle and messages for those battling or have lost the battle to blood cancer.
"My beautiful son. You keep fighting. I will always be by your side. Stay close to faith. I love you so much"
"At only two years old, you shouldn't have to go through this. Stay strong. Your family is behind you 100%!!! Even though you were only diagnosed today, we already believe you can beat this!
"I hope and pray that you will beat this, I wish there was something I could do to help you fight this. But for now I will train and run for LLS and hope the money we raise will find a cure."
"My handsome nephew, I love you so much. I know you're a tough little guy and you will make it through this. We will make it through this as a family. I love you more than anything."
"Live another day. Love you"
"You are fighting a good fight...I hold you in my prayer, little one!!!
"In memory of our sweet angel"
"In loving memory and Happy Birthday!"
"Dragonfly kisses to heaven for you"
"Forever in my heart"
"Sweet dreams my l'll ginger one"This devastating disease known as blood cancer transcends across all ages and it comes out of nowhere just like it did for Tressa but yet changes the family and loved ones forever. Here is my KISS for the day and I hope you will KISS us back with a donation so we can fund research and find a cure. http://www.in.llsevent.org/pam
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