Walking for Lymphoma
Casual readers of this blog may not know it, but I am a three year cancer survivor. In the fall of 2006 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I actually chronicled my diagnosis and treatment at a previous blog, Big O versus the Big C. Many times people think of cancer as an “older person’s disease.” However, some forms of cancer tend to strike younger people much more often–Hodgkin’s is one of them. It used to be a near fatal disease–however, due to huge advances in treatment and follow up care, the current five year freedom from progression rate is about 90%. However, this has created its own set of problems, as young survivors have the whole world in front of them yet face their own limitations brought on by both treatment and the disease. Some of us face problems that people our age aren’t used to–like continued pain, clotting issues, fatigue, and memory issues.
One organization going a long way to help on both the research front as well as the survivorship front is the Lymphoma Research Foundation. In the past I have supported ACS and LLS, but lately I’ve moved towards LRF because they have a very efficient fundraising operation (over 85% of their fundraising goes back into programs). Additionally, they support my oncologist at UVA, Dr. John Densmore, through grant money.
To help support their programs and mark three cancer free years, I will be completing a 5k walk in Rock Creek Park, Maryland on May 16th. I know that times are tough, but your small donation can go a long way to help fight this disease and provide much needed support to an under-served part of the survivor community.
5k is that daunting, but as I said the disease has presented some issues for me, as well as my car accident back in September, so I plan on doing some training to be able to complete the walk problem free (and make sure I don’t have terrible blisters from unprepared shoes). You’ll be able to track my progress here at the blog–however, if you’d like to support me financially, click here to donate.
Thanks for taking a moment to read about this endeavor close to my heart. We’ll return to our regular political coverage shortly, so don’t go into withdrawals on me 
