I was just sent this article... a good read!
McNair, wife to donate $100 million to medical school
Associated Press
Updated: September 12, 2007, 1:31 PM ET
HOUSTON -- Houston Texans owner Robert McNair and his wife are giving $100 million to the Baylor College of Medicine, according to a newspaper report.
The gift equals the largest donation ever made to the school, the Houston Chronicle reported in Wednesday editions.
The funds, made through the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, will fund research into breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, juvenile diabetes and the neurosciences.
"We're pleased to be able to do this," McNair, a Baylor trustee, said Tuesday. "I hope it has a significant impact on not just Baylor and researchers throughout the Texas Medical Center but people in Houston and everywhere who suffer from these diseases."
Baylor officials were scheduled to announce the gift Wednesday.
The donation comes about a year and a half after Baylor trustee and energy magnate Dan Duncan gave Baylor $100 million for its cancer center. The two gifts are the largest ever given to facilities in Houston's Texas Medical Center.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Showing posts with label cancer stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer stories. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007
Luciano Pavarotti died this past week. It’s been all over the news. He was a legend in music world having a celebrated tenor voice. It has taken me a little while to be able to write about this mainly because he died of pancreatic cancer, and if anyone has been paying attention to my blog, pancreatic cancer is a bit of a tough subject for me to discuss. I wish really that the news programs would have concentrated more on his life in music then on the fact that he died of this disease. I’m sure many would have rather listened to him sing rather then listening to a reporter repeat statistics of how many people a year die of pancreatic cancer, or how horrible a cancer it is to treat and live with. Most do not survive this cancer. Pavorotti lasted 14 months after diagnosis, he did well relatively speaking. Mom lasted 3 ½ weeks. In my hotel room last Thursday morning watching CNN report on the death of Pavarotti, I was once again smacked in the face with a reminder of what happened to my mother. Reminded of what I lost, what my family lost, what so many people are dealing with on a daily basis.
Pancreatic cancer statistics are not anything that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not a good blog topic normally, but after all, this is one of the reasons I’m doing this blog. Sometimes the hard, disturbing truths about cancer are needed to remind us that it affects everyone, everyday and it needs to be dealt with urgently. Pancreatic cancer, or adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is diagnosed each year more then 30,000 times alone in the US. Most of the people who are diagnosed will lose their lives within the first year. The survival rate, if left untreated, is on average about 3 ½ months; and with treatment is approximately 6 months. This is a difficult cancer to catch early. Symptoms are loss of appetite, nausea, pain and discomfort in the abdomen, and weight loss, all of which are not feelings that would ordinarily make you think you have a cancer. People might just feel as if they are coming down with a stomach virus. I know my mother complained for a few weeks of stomach discomfort, but she wrote it off to working too much and not eating properly. She had always had a history of stomach problems anyway. Yellowing of the skin or jaundice is probably the most common physical sign of pancreatic cancer. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women, and most likely has the worst median survival period of any cancer. It’s painful too; very, very painful. I have said this before to some of my close friends, in a way, I’m happy that my mother did not have to endure the chemotherapy. I didn’t want her to have to suffer not only the pain from the cancer, but the horrible effects of the drugs being pumped through her system. Those drugs, in all likelihood would have only prolonged her life a few months.
I guess this is enough for one entry. I’m still having issues thinking about what has happened. I would much rather think about what can be done to help find a cure, or be a part of a support system to someone who has survived cancer. I would rather write about a success story. Maybe by being a part of this fundraiser, I’ll be a part of someone’s.
Pancreatic cancer statistics are not anything that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not a good blog topic normally, but after all, this is one of the reasons I’m doing this blog. Sometimes the hard, disturbing truths about cancer are needed to remind us that it affects everyone, everyday and it needs to be dealt with urgently. Pancreatic cancer, or adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is diagnosed each year more then 30,000 times alone in the US. Most of the people who are diagnosed will lose their lives within the first year. The survival rate, if left untreated, is on average about 3 ½ months; and with treatment is approximately 6 months. This is a difficult cancer to catch early. Symptoms are loss of appetite, nausea, pain and discomfort in the abdomen, and weight loss, all of which are not feelings that would ordinarily make you think you have a cancer. People might just feel as if they are coming down with a stomach virus. I know my mother complained for a few weeks of stomach discomfort, but she wrote it off to working too much and not eating properly. She had always had a history of stomach problems anyway. Yellowing of the skin or jaundice is probably the most common physical sign of pancreatic cancer. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women, and most likely has the worst median survival period of any cancer. It’s painful too; very, very painful. I have said this before to some of my close friends, in a way, I’m happy that my mother did not have to endure the chemotherapy. I didn’t want her to have to suffer not only the pain from the cancer, but the horrible effects of the drugs being pumped through her system. Those drugs, in all likelihood would have only prolonged her life a few months.
I guess this is enough for one entry. I’m still having issues thinking about what has happened. I would much rather think about what can be done to help find a cure, or be a part of a support system to someone who has survived cancer. I would rather write about a success story. Maybe by being a part of this fundraiser, I’ll be a part of someone’s.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Another great story...
I received another link today from my friend Chris. I have posted the Houston Chronicle article in its entirety, but go to the link below to read the rest of the story and see the pictures that have been posted.... Definitely a tear jerker, but its so nice to see people coming together to battle cancer. All the little things really do help!
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum2/HTML/014506.shtml
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: Sun 08/05/2007
Section: Star
Page: 1Edition: 2 STAR
A NEIGHBORHOOD COMES TOGETHER / A COMMUNITY RUNNING ON HOPE
By JEANNIE KEVER Staff
STEPHANIE Johnson has the slim body of a long-distance runner, but that's deceptive. She's no athlete.
When she runs, it's often with her 7-year-old daughter trailing on a scooter. She swims the backstroke so she doesn't have to put her face in the water.
She even rides a Huffy, the ultimate mom-around-the-'hood bike.
But Johnson has inspired her neighbors and, along the way, she's given herself a bit of hope.
Right now, though, she's doing a slow jog on the sidewalks around her house in Spring, daughter Briannah trotting alongside as they talk about the family's new puppy, a 9-week-old chewing machine named Toby.
It hardly seems the stuff from which legacies are made, but that, too, is deceptive.
The Stephanie Johnson Triathlon will involve the entire family: Husband Greg is producing the race, and he'll compete, too, as will Stephanie and their three children: Greyson, 11; Spencer, 9, and Briannah.
They are creating a memory that, in all likelihood, will outlive Stephanie.
"It's been good for us to do something that's bigger than us," Greg Johnson says.
Triathlons have boomed in popularity during the 33 years since the sport began, and the Johnsons' has become something of a neighborhood cause in Gleannloch Farms, a stylish master-planned community off Spring-Cypress Road, designed around baseball fields, parks, swimming pools, a golf course and even an elementary school.
About 70 percent of the people competing in the Aug. 26 race are first-timers.
"You can see people out riding their bikes, and you know that's what they're doing it for," says Connie Santiago, a friend who will do her first triathlon in order to be at Stephanie's side. "People wouldn't be doing this if they didn't know the Johnsons."
But they do know the Johnsons, and they also know the story behind the triathlon.
A jolt of reality
"We were just very normal. Very average," Stephanie Johnson says of the days when it seemed that normality would last forever. "Kids. Work."
They had busy lives in a Dallas suburb - Greg had started his own company with two partners, and Stephanie had launched a business as a personal organizer - but both were careful planners, and things were unfolding just as they intended.
That changed in February 2004, when Stephanie began to have trouble swallowing. Her doctor suspected gastric reflux but ran more tests just to be sure.
Ten days later, the Johnsons had an answer.
Stephanie had stomach cancer, a disease most commonly diagnosed in people older than 65. She was 35.
Within a month, she was recovering from surgery to remove her stomach and part of her esophagus, along with 19 lymph nodes. She had four months of chemotherapy and radiation, treatments so debilitating that she spent most of her time in bed.
By the end of the year, her cancer was in remission and she was once more able to spend time with her husband and children, although she had to give up her business.
The Johnsons lived in Frisco; their earlier plans to move near Greg's business partners in Houston had been put on hold while she was treated at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. But when doctors there said they would refer her to Houston's University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center if the disease recurred - M.D. Anderson enrolls more patients in clinical trials than any other cancer program in the United States - the family headed south.
They arrived in Spring in March 2005, while Johnson's cancer remained in remission.
A routine scan five months later detected spots on her lung, and doctors later confirmed a recurrence, classified an incurable Stage IV cancer.
Johnson has exhausted conventional treatments, and doctors now hope to prolong her life and keep her symptoms from disrupting daily activities, says Jaffer Ajani, professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology at M.D. Anderson.
She is enrolled in her fourth clinical trial - one drug seemed to work for about nine months; two others apparently did not - and will find out later this month whether the latest, a drug made by Merck Pharmaceuticals known as MK-2461, has helped.
Ajani says it is "not impossible" that an experimental drug will prolong her life significantly. The odds, however, aren't good. The American Cancer Society says the five-year survival rate for people with Stage IV stomach cancer is just 3 percent.
"I think she's surpassed the odds anyway," Ajani says. "In that way, she has benefited from the previous therapy, but that is not enough."
Until the late 1930s, stomach cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, but the number of diagnosed cases dropped dramatically over the next 70 years. Researchers link the drop to people eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer salted and smoked foods, along with the increased use of antibiotics, which can kill the Helicobacter pylori bacteria suspected as another cause.
Current research focuses on turning the cancer into a chronic illness that can be managed much as diabetes or high blood pressure is, Ajani says.
Through all of these treatments, the Johnsons, who met at Louisiana Tech University and married after graduation in 1990, have been sure of a couple of things.
First, cancer drew them closer as a couple and taught them to be spontaneous. "We try to treasure everything we're doing," says Johnson, who is now 38.
She updated the family scrapbooks and considered making a video in case she doesn't live to see her children grow up.
That wasn't her style, but she didn't want the milestones - a 16th birthday, prom night, graduation - to pass without her. Instead, she has written letters to each child, filled with her memories of their early lives and her hopes and advice for their futures.
The children know cancer can kill, but for now the Johnsons try not to dwell on her prognosis.
"Nobody knows when their time is," she tells her children.
The second thing the Johnsons knew was, they were not jocks.
A cause to rally around
At least, they didn't used to be.
But life in limbo is almost unbearably stressful, and a friend suggested Greg Johnson join him at a triathlon last year just for fun.
He loved it.
Triathlons give weekend athletes a tremendous sense of accomplishment, says Andy Stewart, owner of Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land.
"In the beginning, people see it as almost undoable," he says. Would-be triathletes think of the Ironman - a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run - and not the more-common shorter distances.
"When first-timers come across the finish line, they're generally hooked." Stewart says.
He sponsors the Try Andy's Tri in October, drawing 750 people to Sugar Land, but says the shorter distances of the Stephanie Johnson Triathlon - a 200-yard swim, six-mile bike ride and two-mile run - make it a perfect introduction to the sport.
Most participants will be first-timers, and more than half will be women. That mirrors the surging number of women triathletes of the past decade, something Stewart attributes in part to women-only events such as the Danskin series, which launched in 1990.
"The camaraderie of the women's events takes away the fear factor," he says. "They really encourage each other."
The Johnson triathlon is all about encouragement, drawing people through personal connection and support for the cause.
Greg Johnson says they hope to raise $40,000, to be given to M.D. Anderson for research and as stipends to cover incidental expenses for six families battling cancer.
"I figure if Stephanie can do it, I can do it," says Santiago, a stay-at-home mom whose husband, Jerry, also will participate.
Santiago is no athlete - at one point, she considered trying to swim using only her arms, in order to save her leg strength for the cycling and running portions.
Needless to say, she does not expect to win.
"My goal is to not come in last."
Rebecca McGarr is more ambitious.
She runs regularly and has ridden in the MS 150, although this is her first triathlon.
"I wanted to do something with my husband, so I signed us up," she says. "I didn't even ask him."
McGarr, 33, says her only concern is the swimming.
"That's harder to train for, particularly with all the rain," she says. "But I'm a tall person, so if worst comes to worst, I'm just going to put my feet down and walk."
After all, there's a dinner riding on it: McGarr, who works in human resources for Shell Oil Co., challenged friends who also live in Gleannloch Farms to "a neighborly duel."
She doesn't know the Johnsons, but she thought the triathlon would be a fun way to support a worthy cause.
For Johnson's closest friends, the race is more personal.
"Every time I'm exerting myself, I feel like not only am I helping with cancer research, but my body is getting stronger," says Alice Vance, who met Johnson when their sons became friends. "Watching Stephanie go through her treatments, I knew I needed to do everything I could to keep myself healthy."
Vance's husband, Mark, will volunteer at the race, and her children, Maverick, who is 11, Grayson, 10 and Nicole, 8, will compete.
Vance, 35 and a stay-at-home mom, feels changed by the challenge. More than that, she has seen Johnson change.
"I noticed about nine months ago that she started not having as much hope," Vance says. "And since this triathlon, her head's been higher. She feels stronger. You can tell there's a difference in her spirit."
A means to achieve a goal
Johnson herself is reserved, reluctant to share her most personal secrets with strangers. But she agrees that the training has given her a goal.
Eating is a struggle, and Johnson can consume only small amounts of food at a time. Fearful of burning too many calories, she had tried to avoid aerobic activities.
Now she's running, biking and swimming, determined to enjoy this period of relatively good health while the growths on her lung have not affected her breathing.
Her husband, meanwhile, is working out more than ever, preparing not only for this race but a half-Ironman in October.
"Training is my sanity," he says.
For Stephanie, it may be even more important.
"She sees that this may be the ticket," he says. "It's given her a lot of hope, getting healthier, getting physically stronger."
The triathlon is about hope, as well as making memories.
"If the doctors are right and she's got another year, we're going to cherish this," Greg Johnson says. "And even if she has more time, we're still going to cherish it."
STEPHANIE JOHNSON TRIATHLON
When: 7 a.m. Aug. 26
Where: Gleannloch Farms Competition Pool, 19828 Gleannbury Pointe Drive, Spring
Main sponsor: Tomball Cancer Hospital
Volunteer: Registration for athletes is complete, but volunteers are needed
Proceeds: University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for research and individual grants to families fighting cancer
More information: www.signmeup.com/57370
Also check out: www.youngcancerspouses.org, an on-line support group for people whose spouses have been diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Greg Johnson is a board member.
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum2/HTML/014506.shtml
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: Sun 08/05/2007
Section: Star
Page: 1Edition: 2 STAR
A NEIGHBORHOOD COMES TOGETHER / A COMMUNITY RUNNING ON HOPE
By JEANNIE KEVER Staff
STEPHANIE Johnson has the slim body of a long-distance runner, but that's deceptive. She's no athlete.
When she runs, it's often with her 7-year-old daughter trailing on a scooter. She swims the backstroke so she doesn't have to put her face in the water.
She even rides a Huffy, the ultimate mom-around-the-'hood bike.
But Johnson has inspired her neighbors and, along the way, she's given herself a bit of hope.
Right now, though, she's doing a slow jog on the sidewalks around her house in Spring, daughter Briannah trotting alongside as they talk about the family's new puppy, a 9-week-old chewing machine named Toby.
It hardly seems the stuff from which legacies are made, but that, too, is deceptive.
The Stephanie Johnson Triathlon will involve the entire family: Husband Greg is producing the race, and he'll compete, too, as will Stephanie and their three children: Greyson, 11; Spencer, 9, and Briannah.
They are creating a memory that, in all likelihood, will outlive Stephanie.
"It's been good for us to do something that's bigger than us," Greg Johnson says.
Triathlons have boomed in popularity during the 33 years since the sport began, and the Johnsons' has become something of a neighborhood cause in Gleannloch Farms, a stylish master-planned community off Spring-Cypress Road, designed around baseball fields, parks, swimming pools, a golf course and even an elementary school.
About 70 percent of the people competing in the Aug. 26 race are first-timers.
"You can see people out riding their bikes, and you know that's what they're doing it for," says Connie Santiago, a friend who will do her first triathlon in order to be at Stephanie's side. "People wouldn't be doing this if they didn't know the Johnsons."
But they do know the Johnsons, and they also know the story behind the triathlon.
A jolt of reality
"We were just very normal. Very average," Stephanie Johnson says of the days when it seemed that normality would last forever. "Kids. Work."
They had busy lives in a Dallas suburb - Greg had started his own company with two partners, and Stephanie had launched a business as a personal organizer - but both were careful planners, and things were unfolding just as they intended.
That changed in February 2004, when Stephanie began to have trouble swallowing. Her doctor suspected gastric reflux but ran more tests just to be sure.
Ten days later, the Johnsons had an answer.
Stephanie had stomach cancer, a disease most commonly diagnosed in people older than 65. She was 35.
Within a month, she was recovering from surgery to remove her stomach and part of her esophagus, along with 19 lymph nodes. She had four months of chemotherapy and radiation, treatments so debilitating that she spent most of her time in bed.
By the end of the year, her cancer was in remission and she was once more able to spend time with her husband and children, although she had to give up her business.
The Johnsons lived in Frisco; their earlier plans to move near Greg's business partners in Houston had been put on hold while she was treated at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. But when doctors there said they would refer her to Houston's University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center if the disease recurred - M.D. Anderson enrolls more patients in clinical trials than any other cancer program in the United States - the family headed south.
They arrived in Spring in March 2005, while Johnson's cancer remained in remission.
A routine scan five months later detected spots on her lung, and doctors later confirmed a recurrence, classified an incurable Stage IV cancer.
Johnson has exhausted conventional treatments, and doctors now hope to prolong her life and keep her symptoms from disrupting daily activities, says Jaffer Ajani, professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology at M.D. Anderson.
She is enrolled in her fourth clinical trial - one drug seemed to work for about nine months; two others apparently did not - and will find out later this month whether the latest, a drug made by Merck Pharmaceuticals known as MK-2461, has helped.
Ajani says it is "not impossible" that an experimental drug will prolong her life significantly. The odds, however, aren't good. The American Cancer Society says the five-year survival rate for people with Stage IV stomach cancer is just 3 percent.
"I think she's surpassed the odds anyway," Ajani says. "In that way, she has benefited from the previous therapy, but that is not enough."
Until the late 1930s, stomach cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, but the number of diagnosed cases dropped dramatically over the next 70 years. Researchers link the drop to people eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer salted and smoked foods, along with the increased use of antibiotics, which can kill the Helicobacter pylori bacteria suspected as another cause.
Current research focuses on turning the cancer into a chronic illness that can be managed much as diabetes or high blood pressure is, Ajani says.
Through all of these treatments, the Johnsons, who met at Louisiana Tech University and married after graduation in 1990, have been sure of a couple of things.
First, cancer drew them closer as a couple and taught them to be spontaneous. "We try to treasure everything we're doing," says Johnson, who is now 38.
She updated the family scrapbooks and considered making a video in case she doesn't live to see her children grow up.
That wasn't her style, but she didn't want the milestones - a 16th birthday, prom night, graduation - to pass without her. Instead, she has written letters to each child, filled with her memories of their early lives and her hopes and advice for their futures.
The children know cancer can kill, but for now the Johnsons try not to dwell on her prognosis.
"Nobody knows when their time is," she tells her children.
The second thing the Johnsons knew was, they were not jocks.
A cause to rally around
At least, they didn't used to be.
But life in limbo is almost unbearably stressful, and a friend suggested Greg Johnson join him at a triathlon last year just for fun.
He loved it.
Triathlons give weekend athletes a tremendous sense of accomplishment, says Andy Stewart, owner of Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land.
"In the beginning, people see it as almost undoable," he says. Would-be triathletes think of the Ironman - a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run - and not the more-common shorter distances.
"When first-timers come across the finish line, they're generally hooked." Stewart says.
He sponsors the Try Andy's Tri in October, drawing 750 people to Sugar Land, but says the shorter distances of the Stephanie Johnson Triathlon - a 200-yard swim, six-mile bike ride and two-mile run - make it a perfect introduction to the sport.
Most participants will be first-timers, and more than half will be women. That mirrors the surging number of women triathletes of the past decade, something Stewart attributes in part to women-only events such as the Danskin series, which launched in 1990.
"The camaraderie of the women's events takes away the fear factor," he says. "They really encourage each other."
The Johnson triathlon is all about encouragement, drawing people through personal connection and support for the cause.
Greg Johnson says they hope to raise $40,000, to be given to M.D. Anderson for research and as stipends to cover incidental expenses for six families battling cancer.
"I figure if Stephanie can do it, I can do it," says Santiago, a stay-at-home mom whose husband, Jerry, also will participate.
Santiago is no athlete - at one point, she considered trying to swim using only her arms, in order to save her leg strength for the cycling and running portions.
Needless to say, she does not expect to win.
"My goal is to not come in last."
Rebecca McGarr is more ambitious.
She runs regularly and has ridden in the MS 150, although this is her first triathlon.
"I wanted to do something with my husband, so I signed us up," she says. "I didn't even ask him."
McGarr, 33, says her only concern is the swimming.
"That's harder to train for, particularly with all the rain," she says. "But I'm a tall person, so if worst comes to worst, I'm just going to put my feet down and walk."
After all, there's a dinner riding on it: McGarr, who works in human resources for Shell Oil Co., challenged friends who also live in Gleannloch Farms to "a neighborly duel."
She doesn't know the Johnsons, but she thought the triathlon would be a fun way to support a worthy cause.
For Johnson's closest friends, the race is more personal.
"Every time I'm exerting myself, I feel like not only am I helping with cancer research, but my body is getting stronger," says Alice Vance, who met Johnson when their sons became friends. "Watching Stephanie go through her treatments, I knew I needed to do everything I could to keep myself healthy."
Vance's husband, Mark, will volunteer at the race, and her children, Maverick, who is 11, Grayson, 10 and Nicole, 8, will compete.
Vance, 35 and a stay-at-home mom, feels changed by the challenge. More than that, she has seen Johnson change.
"I noticed about nine months ago that she started not having as much hope," Vance says. "And since this triathlon, her head's been higher. She feels stronger. You can tell there's a difference in her spirit."
A means to achieve a goal
Johnson herself is reserved, reluctant to share her most personal secrets with strangers. But she agrees that the training has given her a goal.
Eating is a struggle, and Johnson can consume only small amounts of food at a time. Fearful of burning too many calories, she had tried to avoid aerobic activities.
Now she's running, biking and swimming, determined to enjoy this period of relatively good health while the growths on her lung have not affected her breathing.
Her husband, meanwhile, is working out more than ever, preparing not only for this race but a half-Ironman in October.
"Training is my sanity," he says.
For Stephanie, it may be even more important.
"She sees that this may be the ticket," he says. "It's given her a lot of hope, getting healthier, getting physically stronger."
The triathlon is about hope, as well as making memories.
"If the doctors are right and she's got another year, we're going to cherish this," Greg Johnson says. "And even if she has more time, we're still going to cherish it."
STEPHANIE JOHNSON TRIATHLON
When: 7 a.m. Aug. 26
Where: Gleannloch Farms Competition Pool, 19828 Gleannbury Pointe Drive, Spring
Main sponsor: Tomball Cancer Hospital
Volunteer: Registration for athletes is complete, but volunteers are needed
Proceeds: University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for research and individual grants to families fighting cancer
More information: www.signmeup.com/57370
Also check out: www.youngcancerspouses.org, an on-line support group for people whose spouses have been diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Greg Johnson is a board member.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Remembering Terry Fox; an inspirational cancer story
I received this very inspirational link from a friend this morning... wanted to share with you all!
Enjoy the read...
Ironmanlife: Remembering Terry Fox
Kevin Mackinnon remembers a Canadian Hero
Kevin Mackinnon remembers a Canadian Hero
There is nothing quite like the north shore of Lake Superior. During the drive along the Trans Canada Highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa (no, that wasn’t a typo), Ontario, you get to enjoy some of the most beautiful vistas this planet can offer.Those beautiful views come at the top of some major climbs with grades that stop the occasional cyclists you see in their tracks. Those cyclists have it easy, though, compared to a Canadian hero who ran along this highway more than 25 years ago … struggling through the Marathon of Hope. His name was Terry Fox and last week we paused during our long drive just outside of Thunder Bay to see the monument that remembers his amazing achievement.
Terry Fox was 18 years old when he had to have his right leg amputated six inches above the knee because of bone cancer. While in the hospital he decided that he would do something to raise awareness and money for cancer research. He decided he would run across Canada. He did more than 3,000 miles of training before he dipped his prosthesis in the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 and started running. He had one friend along with him to grab a picture.
Each day he ran a marathon. He ran through the Atlantic Provinces and Quebec. It wasn’t until he hit Ontario that he started to garner any real attention, though. By the time he got to northern Ontario he had become a household name in Canada. There were regular reports on his progress in the newspapers and on television, and the money being raised started to grow. He hit the hills here along the north shore of Lake Superior in the heat of summer. With temperatures banging on 100 degrees Fahrenheit, he did his trademark run/ hop/ skip along the highway each and ever day for 42 km, or 26.2 miles.
I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult his journey was. Grant Darby, a close friend with a similar amputation to Fox’s, was used as a stand in for a recent movie on the Canadian hero. Darby is one of the toughest people I know and it’s hard enough for him to run 10 km in a triathlon (he’s a World Short Course Champion). How Fox ran a marathon day after day for almost six months is a mystery to me.
To give you an idea of how popular Fox became, one day, just outside of where I’m writing this column in Sault Ste. Marie, a spring snapped in Fox’s artificial leg. The local radio station reported on the mishap, and within minutes a welder was on his way along the highway to fix the prosthesis. A few days later people lined the highway to watch him take on the three km hill just outside of Wawa.
There was a huge crowd on hand to see him make another climb outside of Thunder Bay a few weeks later. As they cheered him on, though, those people didn’t know what the doctors in Sault Ste. Marie had tried to tell Fox before he ventured along the beautiful, scenic highway … there was a good chance that his cancer had progressed to his lungs.
A camera crew was waiting along the route, completely unaware that they were getting footage of the last mile of his run. On September 1, 1980, after 143 days and 3,339 miles (5,373 km), Terry Fox had to stop running. Less than a year later he was dead.
Terry Fox probably didn’t even notice how beautiful the scenery he was running through was. A lot like most of us as we fly along the Queen K on our bikes, or scream down to Keene during Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid. There are more than a few Ironman athletes who have raised lots of money through their endeavors (the Janus Charity Challenge has helped raise millions over the last few years). A few minutes at the Terry Fox monument outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, served as a very poignant reminder of what one person can do to make a difference.
Terry Fox started his Marathon of Hope in anonymity. He raised $22 million during his run and since he passed away more than $400 million has been raised in his name through the annual Terry Fox runs that take place across Canada every year.
You can reach Kevin Mackinnon at kevin@ironman.com
Thursday, August 9, 2007
It's Time for Answers
I have posted these before, so here we go again. Another email from the LAF and how they are and you can get politically active in the fight against cancer....
How is the next commander-in-chief going to fight the number one killer of Americans under 85?
Dear Andrea,
I am no longer content to let the cancer question go unanswered.
That is why the Lance Armstrong Foundation is hosting the first-ever LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum to make sure our next President knows that Americans across the country expect cancer to be a national priority. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on August 27 and 28, we will ask Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to go on the record with their plans to fight cancer.
As a member of the LIVESTRONG Army—and a leader in the fight against cancer—I need you to be part of the LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum, demanding answers to the cancer question. Here’s how you can get involved:
Get your tickets. The LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum is open to the public, and tickets are free. Quantities are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Submit your questions. Lance Armstrong and MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews will ask candidates questions from the public.
Spread the word. Ask friends and colleagues to sign the LIVESTRONG Army petition to make it clear that our next President must be prepared to answer the cancer question.
As of this week, Democratic candidates Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards and Governor Bill Richardson have confirmed their participation for the Democratic LIVESTRONG Presidential Candidate Forum on August 27. Republican candidates Senator Sam Brownback, Governor Mike Huckabee and Governor Tommy Thompson have confirmed their participation in the Republican LIVESTRONG Presidential Candidate Forum on August 28.
The goal is to get rid of this disease forever. The LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum gives all Americans the opportunity to ask the candidates “What's your plan? And where does cancer fit into your policies?"
Together, as the LIVESTRONG Army, we can put an end to cancer.
LIVESTRONG,
How is the next commander-in-chief going to fight the number one killer of Americans under 85?
Dear Andrea,
I am no longer content to let the cancer question go unanswered.
That is why the Lance Armstrong Foundation is hosting the first-ever LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum to make sure our next President knows that Americans across the country expect cancer to be a national priority. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on August 27 and 28, we will ask Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to go on the record with their plans to fight cancer.
As a member of the LIVESTRONG Army—and a leader in the fight against cancer—I need you to be part of the LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum, demanding answers to the cancer question. Here’s how you can get involved:
Get your tickets. The LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum is open to the public, and tickets are free. Quantities are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Submit your questions. Lance Armstrong and MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews will ask candidates questions from the public.
Spread the word. Ask friends and colleagues to sign the LIVESTRONG Army petition to make it clear that our next President must be prepared to answer the cancer question.
As of this week, Democratic candidates Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards and Governor Bill Richardson have confirmed their participation for the Democratic LIVESTRONG Presidential Candidate Forum on August 27. Republican candidates Senator Sam Brownback, Governor Mike Huckabee and Governor Tommy Thompson have confirmed their participation in the Republican LIVESTRONG Presidential Candidate Forum on August 28.
The goal is to get rid of this disease forever. The LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum gives all Americans the opportunity to ask the candidates “What's your plan? And where does cancer fit into your policies?"
Together, as the LIVESTRONG Army, we can put an end to cancer.
LIVESTRONG,
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
oh by the way....
Oh forgot to mention... I have finally reached the halfway mark to my fundraising goal of $10,000! YIPPEE!!! Another big thanks to those of you who have contributed! I only have $4650 left to raise.
Also, I'll be riding with the boys again this sunday. Looks like we have all decided on riding a very hilly 40 mile route starting in Chappel Hill, Texas at 0730! So, if any one is reading this and wants to join, we'll be out there. Be sure to bring plenty of fluids and goodies to replenish those calories being burned.....
I got an update from Joy Hild last week about how she's doing following her surgery. I'm happy to report that she's doing well after having to go and have an additional surgery on July 20th. The first surgery didn't quite get all the cancer, but the second one had great results. She's now in for some more physical therapy as she continues to recover to her normal self. Her doctor has given her a goal to reach in October, just like I have a goal to reach in that month as well. If you're reading this Joy, thank you for the update and kind words. I'll be thinking about you; you are such and inspiration!
Also, I'll be riding with the boys again this sunday. Looks like we have all decided on riding a very hilly 40 mile route starting in Chappel Hill, Texas at 0730! So, if any one is reading this and wants to join, we'll be out there. Be sure to bring plenty of fluids and goodies to replenish those calories being burned.....
I got an update from Joy Hild last week about how she's doing following her surgery. I'm happy to report that she's doing well after having to go and have an additional surgery on July 20th. The first surgery didn't quite get all the cancer, but the second one had great results. She's now in for some more physical therapy as she continues to recover to her normal self. Her doctor has given her a goal to reach in October, just like I have a goal to reach in that month as well. If you're reading this Joy, thank you for the update and kind words. I'll be thinking about you; you are such and inspiration!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Yet another reason to ride....
I received a bizarre email last week. It was from one of my Mom's former customers, Joy Hild. She was wondering how to get a hold of my mom. I know, seems odd considering she was a regular customer of my mothers and my mother passed away some time ago. I was in some what of a shock reading the email when it first appeared, but rather then responding with the full story in an email, I asked for her phone number and called instead. It was difficult to actually say it out loud that Mom had died. It was even harder to hear her response when she told me that she too was suffering from cancer. The reason she hasn't been able to go to see my mom for over a year is well, no hair from chemotherapy treatments. That can put a hold on frequent visits to the beauty shop and my Mom's superb hair cuts. Joy was looking to have a quick trim of her new hair before having a mastectomy. On the phone I was reminded of the same strength my mom had when she found out she had cancer. Joy sounded sure and confident and ready to face the next step toward getting better and being cancer free! I hope her surgery has gone well, I do believe she said it was supposed to be yesterday. I will give another update on her progress when I have a chance to speak with her again.
LIVESTONG, Joy!! You are yet another reason for me to ride!
LIVESTONG, Joy!! You are yet another reason for me to ride!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
More Inspirational reading
My friend Chris sent me this link today about a woman who won a lottery spot to do the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. She started doing triathlons for her youngest son with Leukemia. Of course... I cried after reading it, but its a "feel good" story. Read on....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)