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Run Scared 10K, 5K and 2 Mile run/walk
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Seward Park
or Your Neighborhood (virtual option)
Benefiting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
About LLS
The Leukemia & Lymphoma society (LLS) is at the forefront of the fight to cure blood cancer. They are the largest nonprofit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers. Since 1949, LLS has invested more than $1.6 billion in groundbreaking research, pioneering many of today's most innovative approaches. LLS is a global leader in the fight against blood cancer. Learn more at WWW.LLS.ORG
This year's race dedicated to: Virginia
In Virginia's Words: "It feels odd at times to be telling my own story rather than those of the people I love who’ve had blood cancers. September 1, 2022 is seared into me. It’s the day my science nerdy self clicked open MyChart on my phone and saw the CT scan results that had just posted. Yeah, I was alone in my hospital room when I learned I had a blood cancer and it was already stage four. There were tumors in both lungs, my liver, and spleen. One word from the report felt like a knife in my heart. “Innumerable.” That’s what the doctor said about my liver, innumerable tumors. It took a few days before we knew exactly what we were going to be dealing with, double hit Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma that is Epstein Barr Virus positive. Which boils down to having the worst possible features to my tumors and it being both aggressive and very hard to kill. The first thing my oncologist said was, “We have one shot at this.” Which sounded so hopeful compared to all the rest of my care team that just kept saying, “I’m so sorry” and getting teary eyed.
I am now on my 11th straight week in the hospital. Chemo has been paused because I’ve been deemed too medically fragile right now and though I agree with my oncologist “watch and wait” scares the crap out of me. It will be a few more weeks before they check the status of the tumors, I’m praying every day that they won’t grow or spread. I do have some very odd conversations with my cancer cells. Nope not crazy!
Eleven weeks ago doctors were telling me I’d never leave the hospital and that I would die soon. I’d like to say I was defiant, or brave…I wasn’t. I accepted that prognosis, even had my best friend pick up all the things from my apartment that I’d already designated in my will to go to certain people and said goodbye to each person. Then I got bored, impatient, and emotionally rung out. I wanted to go run on a treadmill more than I wanted my next breath, that was always my escape. But the same same CT that found the cancer showed my bones to be so demineralized that I was told I’d never be able to run again. I cried harder about that than I did over learning about the cancer.
Lymphoma is curable! And it’s curable because people like you dedicate yourselves to raising the funds the keep researchers working and families afloat. Just knowing you are out there doing what I cannot makes me feel stronger and hopeful. You are my heroes, thank you for being out there for me."
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