Lets begin at the beginning.

It all started with that little pamphlet I got in the mail. I ignored it the first couple of times it showed up, then it came a third time, and I read it. I tossed it away like the first couple that came, and then it showed up a 4th time, and only a couple of weeks after Tyler, my youngest, set off to college. So, I read it and I figured I could go to the meeting to find out more info. The pamphlet, was from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and it went on and on about being part of a team, and doing athletic events and that they would train me for said events.

Now, there are plenty of groups out there raising money for cancer research and to help patients, but leukemia has always been something that has been close to me. I can remember being a Med Tech intern in Rochester, NY and I can actually tell you the name of the young man (Gary) that showed up in the ER one day with a really (really, really) high WBC. He was in his young 30's (that seemed old from my perspective -- I was 22 at the time), he was a new dad, and he ended up being one of the first bone marrow aspirations that I assisted on. The years rolled by, and I became a 'seasoned' med tech. Day after day, smear after smear, I look at the blood cells from leukemia/lymphoma/myeloma patients and I think "Damn, here is another one". On one level, the science nerd in my loves looking at the cells. They can be so beautiful, big, dark, blue, smooth chromatin, but they also have a 'stormy' or 'angry' look to them, and that sets them apart from the normal cells we see. Every time I see a smear from a leukemia patient, I am taken back to the first patient diagnosed on 'my watch'. And, although treatments have improved and changed, things are still very much the same.

I am tired of it. Not tired of the work, I do love what I do, if I didn't I surely wouldn't have spent the last 30+ years doing it. I am tired of seeing the number of patients that are falling ill to this set of cancers. Adults, children, young, old, men, women etc... the list goes on. I have had friends, and family members affected. And, in all honestly, I am tired of looking at the cells and then moving on to the 'next slide'.

So, I am doing something about it. In November, I joined Team in Training, the largest fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am going to be riding in a Century Cycling event, in Lake Tahoe, NV. I have met some wonderful folks to train with, and some real Heroes who are inspiring me to keep pedaling. To date my fundraising has netted $5,150, and I am not quite done yet. My legs... have pedaled the first few of our training rides and there are many more to come.

Stay tuned for the many 'tales' there are sure to be from the rides!

Namaste!

Karen