Cycling to Save Lives - Fund Raising - Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Started by Monster Dave, February 23, 2010, 12:46:56 PM

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Monster Dave

This weekend Team In Training is hosting an "Honored Hero" picnic to honor the close loved ones for whom we are working so hard to raise money for the treatment of Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Hodgkin's diseases. This event will give us (as members of LLS and TNT) the chance to really "show" our hero(s) just how much we are doing to honor them, to fight for them, and to give them every chance that they deserve at winning the battle against cancer. Maureen and I were fortunate enough to learn recently that our hero was granted a brief reprieve from his chemotherapy and will be able to attend along with his family.

We'll be posting pictures from the event early next week. Hopefully the weather will hold and and it will be a beautiful day!

Just an update on our fund raising efforts, both of us are sitting at just over $400 earned and still have a long way to go to get to the $4400 totals that we must each earn. If anyone is interested in helping us, we encourage you to visit our pages for more detailed information.

Thanks for following out thread. We'll continue to update as we go.

David and Maureen.  

Charlief

My company is just finishing up a 50k shirt run for the Cancer Society. Below is a sample if what we've been doing.



SheMonster

46 miles today through rolling hills (my personal best), AND no crashing!!

I WILL be ready for the 100 miles at elevation around Tahoe when the time comes  :D




SheMonster's Page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/ambbr10/mzagel

Monster Dave's Page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/ambbr10/dhelmink

Monster Dave

This past weekend was a big weekend for us. As Maureen said, we did just under 50 miles training which was really great. Our fellow teammates are all very enthusiastic about reaching our goals really making a difference in the lives of those for whom we are fighting this battle.

Here's our team:


Saturday afternoon TNT hosted an Honored Heroes Pick Nick at a local park. It gave us all a chance to spend time with the people that we're cycling for provided they were able to make it. Our honor went to our friend Ron and his family. We were really fortunate that he was granted a reprieve from chemo last week so that he and his family could make it out for the event. It was a picture perfect day - the weather was great, and everyone who was able to attend had a great time.

Here are some pictures from the event:





We found out ahead of time that Ron really loves cupcakes, so we hunted down the nicest ones that we could find to surprise him!



Ron has so much to live for; this next picture doesn't even come close to showing just how much he loves his grand daughter and how amazing and supportive his family is:





We also put together a Team In Training surprise basket for him and his family to share in. It contained TNT hats, 4 TNT beanie-bears, 2 coffee cups, and some deluxe M&Ms in TNT colors!



It was a very happy day and one that we were very honored to be a part of. As Rons treatment continues, we sincerely hope that events like these go a long way to giving he and his family some strength - sometimes just knowing that people care can make a huge difference in your day to day outlook when facing a challenge.






Monster Dave

Hey everyone,

We just wanted to remind everyone that we still need your help. To reach or goal to reach $4,400 each we need your support - any sponsorship contribution would be sincerely appreciated. We each are required to have $1,100 by the 24th of this month in order to remain a part of Team In Training. That's not much time, 7 days from the date of this post, and we really don't want to let Ron and his family down. It's not to late to contribute to the work that we're doing and to really make a difference in the life of Ron and his family.

Thanks so much for your support.

Here are the links to our respective pages:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/ambbr10/dhelmink

http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/ambbr10/mzagel

Don't forget that any contribution no matter how big or small will make a difference - they all add up and are 100% tax deductible.

David and Maureen.

Randimus Maximus


Monster Dave

Hey Randy, thanks for the bump!

Time for an update and let me start out by saying that we got some VERY good news today!

So last we posted Ron was due to go in for his second round of chemo on a protocol that's one of the most aggressive available. Needless to say, we were all quite concerned about how well he'd fare. Maureen made a visit to see him just 2 days into his treatment and that was the last that we actually saw of him because he had to be in relative isolation (since the chemo was so hard on his system they couldn't risk anything!).

At the same time, we had been training regularly with Team In Training and working as hard as we could to continue our fund raising efforts.

The within a few short weeks, we got word that Ron had made it through this round of treatment, and was going to be released from Chemo so that he'd be home for Easter and the week to follow! His family invited us over for Easter dinner and we were very happy to see that Ron's happy spirit and vitality were completely intact. We had a wonderful Easter with he and his family. There were 5 generations of family all together for their Easter!

Ron told us many times that one of the strongest resources that he has used to help him get through the toughest times has been the love of his family and his friends - we were honored when he and his family expressed to us that we had become a part of that wonderful family.  :)

Ron was scheduled to have a PET scan yesterday to check on the status of the cancerous tumors. We received word today that the tumors in his lungs and stomach are completely gone and the ones found in his lymphnodes have shrunk considerably! Needless to say were are ecstatic at the progress that he's made. He still has a long way to go, but he is making amazing strides in the direction of remission.

For anyone interested, we are still very much in need of the fund raising support and have hit a bit of a wall. We're working on some things that will help, but we too still have a long way to go to reach our goal. If you feel so inclined, please feel free to use the links at the top of the thread to help us reach our goal of $4,400.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been so kind to help us! More updates to come soon!

bryant8

How's the training and the fund raising going?  I just signed up for the Moab Century Tour this September with TNT... 2nd event this year! 

I'm sure your base mileage has increased quite a bit by now.  You guys will do great!
2008 848
Mods: Full Termignoni Race Exhaust/ECU Tuned by AMS, Ducati Performance Dry Clutch Slipper Clutch, Öhlins steering damper
Next: Öhlins TTX shock and Öhlins fork internals, track body work
26.2 done 12/5/2010
70.3 by 10/12/2011
140.6 by 12/31/2012

Monster Dave

Training is going very well! We're riding some long climbs to help prepare for Tahoe and the distances are gradually increasing. Last weekend we rode 52 miles and more than 1/2 were long climbs of 2-4 miles. The only down side to the training is that when we train with the team, we're training earlier and earlier and we have nearly an hour drive just to get to the start location - so our Saturday morning's start around 4:30am.  :-\

The fundraising has been really challenging. We've got several fund raisers coming up and high hopes for them to pull in some sponsorship. It just seems like it's hard for people to contribute; perhaps it's the economic times.

However no matter what we're still pushing ahead and are focused on reaching our goals.

Thanks so much for asking and it's great to hear that you signed up for MOAB. I considered it but my target is set on rocking the Cochise Classic which is 159 miles (normally 252 but construction has curbed the route distance) in early October.

[thumbsup]

Ron is entering round 3 of Chemo this week and has been resting and enjoying the time he's had out of the hospital by being with family and friends. We wish him the best and lots of strength to get him through this 3rd treatment.   

bryant8

Ouch yeah the travel time to a training ride can be a drag.  But look at this way, you'll already be used to the early start time by the time Tahoe rolls around.  I have to eat 3 hours before a century ride which means waking up to eat at 3am then go back to sleep for an hour or so then get ready to ride by 6am.

If you need some ideas for more fund raising send me a PM.  3 of my mentees for Solvang were the top three fund raisers for the 4 TNT chapters.  Not that it was because of me, but because they had some good ideas.  Those 3 raised over 6500 a piece with more still coming in as we were riding the century.

A friend of mine just did a brevet challenge ~200miles in 24hours. No thank you sir [bow_down] 

I'm glad to hear your Honored Hero is doing well, one of ours from last season is in remission now and is coaching the Tuscon Team that he missed out on last year.  I hope to hear more good news from you and yours. 
2008 848
Mods: Full Termignoni Race Exhaust/ECU Tuned by AMS, Ducati Performance Dry Clutch Slipper Clutch, Öhlins steering damper
Next: Öhlins TTX shock and Öhlins fork internals, track body work
26.2 done 12/5/2010
70.3 by 10/12/2011
140.6 by 12/31/2012

Monster Dave

Hey everyone,

Time for an update! To start right off, we learned this past weekend that Ron is doing very well - if all goes according to plan, he'll be nearly done with chemo very soon! Talk about a relief! His tumors are shrinking and his prognosis is getting better as he makes it through each round of treatments.  [thumbsup]

We've been working very hard and had a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this past weekend and earned an amazing $1,500! It was a really fun and exciting event! I'll post up pics this evening!

We're closing the gap on our fund raising goals, but we still have a bit to go! Out of our combined total of $8,800 we've got just about $1,300 left to go in the next 30 days!

If you've been thinking about making a supporting contribution, we'd really appreciate any help that you can offer!

Thanks so much for following this thread and sharing in our efforts!


 

Randimus Maximus

That's great news, Dave!  [thumbsup]

Good job with the fundraising.  You guys will get there.

Ride is five weeks from yesterday.

See you guys there.  [thumbsup]

Monster Dave

It's hard to belive that we're already down to the wire (so to speak), but we are looking forward to the event!  [thumbsup]

bryant8

You guys have a great time in Tahoe this weekend and I look forward to seeing pics from the ride!

Moab Training is coming along nicely!
2008 848
Mods: Full Termignoni Race Exhaust/ECU Tuned by AMS, Ducati Performance Dry Clutch Slipper Clutch, Öhlins steering damper
Next: Öhlins TTX shock and Öhlins fork internals, track body work
26.2 done 12/5/2010
70.3 by 10/12/2011
140.6 by 12/31/2012