A child can often say it better than an adult

This poem was recently sent to me by a friend. It was written by Dylan Coldiron, a fifth grader who recently lost a very dear friend to pancreatic cancer. Dylan had to write a poem for school about something he would like to change about the world we live in.

A change to better our world: Cure Cancer

Cancer is something that dogs, cats, and people have had,
it is something that makes people really, really sad,
it makes you weak it makes you down,
and this makes me upset to see people frown,
lots of times people who have it will die,
it is something that makes tough people cry,
it is not funny, its horrific and true,
I don’t want to see it, it makes me blue,
there’s not anything you can do because it happens so fast,
it takes people from the present and puts them in the past,
my wish to help the world is to make cancer go away
so that people stop dying from cancer today
I wish that I could find a cure to make them all healthy,
so they can drive, breathe, sing, and maybe get wealthy,
If I found a cure it would make me smile and be glad,
But it can’t take back the time that we could’ve had.

Wednesday, April 21 It's Clinic Day!

Wednesdays are quite possibly the best day of the week. Today was jumping in the ASK clinic. The treatment room was full, the patient rooms were full, the consult rooms were full and the waiting was full! I was so lucky to spend my lunch hour playing SORRY!, Memory, and with legos.

This week I also met Wilson. Wilson is two years old, recently diagnosed and an amazing child! He joined us and helped move my playing pieces while we played SORRY! I recently learned that the Reesestrong Foundation provided a new swing set for Wilson. With all of his amazing energy, he'll definitely make full use of it!

Saturday, April 17

Ah, another weekend of hill training. I hate it; however, my good friend who lives in San Diego said that I will appreciate the hill training when I finally get out there. Saturday's hill training consisted of a scenic run through Hollywood Cemetery.

My teammate Art and I were a bit scared of the hills that awaited us as we ran through the gates.

Charging up the FIRST hill.

Everyone always questioned why a polar bear showed up on the Island on LOST. How come no one has ever questioned a polar bear in Richmond?

Art still working on his Runner's World cover pose.

Friday, April 9 - Riverside Drive

So I've been slack about blogging. It all started out so well. Oh, well. 7 weeks until the race so I'll do my best to keep up until then!

Last week, Art and I tackled Riverside Drive for our 6 miles. You either love it or hate it because its all hell. I mean, hills. We had a great pace and ended up with a great time.

My teammate, Art, posing before we headed out. He's working on his pose for Runners World. We'll work on a better pose during this week's run.

We took a break and marveled at how far we had come since crossing the bridge!

Art's fancy camera caught me in mid-stride. I was going to so fast, I am amazed the image showed up!

Coming back across the bridge. Another mile and a half and we're done!

It's clinic day!

I walked into suite 210 of the Nelson Clinic and wondered if I was in the correct location. I could hear music, and clapping and singing and shouting. I checked the door - yep, there were the big letters ASK. I followed the chaotic sound back to the fishbowl (that's the treatment room) and found the source of the noise. Nurses were singing, parents were clapping and the kids were playing instruments and I was then informed that anyone who walks in had to dance a solo.

Um. Seriously?

Patient Buttercup took my hand and said "Yep. Dance." So I danced and clapped all the while we sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph. Perfect song selections for a 75 degree day in Richmond.

Buttercup was in for platelets. Patient Caspian was in for a transfusion as was Patient Tiana. But those IV poles didn't keep them down.

Patient Tiana and I discussed the difference between a Big Mac and a Whopper. Patient Caspian informed me that I have no rhythm and should go out to the play room or stop playing the tambourine and Patient Buttercup told me that I really suck at Mario Golf.

Before I knew it, my hour was up and I had to head back to work. Everyone should be so lucky as to have as much fun at lunch as I do on Wednesdays.

Monument Aveune 10K

Saturday, March 27

We interrupt this half marathon training report to bring you the Monument Avenue 10k.

When I woke up on Saturday mornig, there was frost on the ground. And it was 31 degrees. If it had been a regular training day, I would have gone back to bed and ran those 6 miles later in the day or would have gone to the gym and pounded the treadmill. But it was the day of the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K and my dear friend Becky was so excited that she could barely contain herself. First-timers are irritating like that.

I went back and forth for atleast 20 minutes about what to wear and finally settled on tights, l/s shirt, my hot pink ReeseStrong shirt and gloves. An impatient John was glaring at me, so I just shoved all of my race gear in a bag and went to get in the truck.

We picked up Becky and headed to VCU. Thank goodness John drove us. We would have never found a parking place and made it to wave in time. Cary Street was a parking lot itself and finally John turned down Harvie Street to get us there in time. But as it turns out, we didn’t make it to our wave in time. We stood in line for over 35 minutes in the VCU Bookstore to use the bathroom. We met a few characters along the way, such as the middle school teacher who it turns out is as grumpy as I am! 9:31 came and went, we missed our wave. 9:34 came and went, we missed another wave. We finally got started in wave UC, 5 waves after ours. But Becky was so excited to finally be at the start line.

And off we went! We zigged and zagged for the first miles and finally gave up trying to run and just settled in for a stroll and took in the sights. And boy, were there sights to behold! The Monument 10K definitely brings out the best and the worst of Richmond. But the weather was perfect and the crowds were great. A fabulous day to be outside in the River City.

We finished in Becky’s goal time of under 90 minutes. I was so proud of my girl! She’s never done anything like this before and she was a trooper through learning how to dress, how to consume liquid without spilling it at a water stop and how to get ready for that all important race photo. There will be other races for me to set a PR but there will never be another first race for Becky.

And now, back to half marathon training.

Every day, a new discovery

Every day, a new discovery. That is the motto, tagline, marketing campaign of VCU Health Systems. I learned two things on Wednesday.

1) There are 17 species of penguins. Of those, 12 species live in warmer climates including the African penguin. And the Metro Richmond Zoo has African penguins living in Chesterfield County! Why and how do I know this? Carleigh and I (and Amy) are going to the zoo in a few weeks and I was on the website.

2) Do you know what hazardous antineoplastic drugs are? Chemotherapy. In clinic, I had to read the procedure for cleaning up a HANDs spill. Some of the procedures include: donning a gown with cuffs, a respiratory mask, two sets of gloves, and double bagging/boxing everything and cleaning the spill site with soap and water, not once - but three times. All of this for a spill, yet these are the drugs that are being injected into cancer patients' body and treating the disease with success. Amazing how something so extremely harmful, does some good.

In the pediatric clinic, children are faced with these drugs all the time. And their parents sit beside them, not know if the drugs are killing the cancer or doing other harm. But fortunately, statistics show that survival rates are on the upswing and rising. It is the look on the childrens's and parents' faces after a treatment or after receiving a popsicle or just after receiving a friendly smile and squeeze of the shoulder that make the fundraising aspect of TNT just a little less daunting (not much but a little....). The need for private funding is crucial and even though my family has been ravaged by cancer, it took spending time in the clinic for the slap of reality to hit me.

I've also learned that in addition to dollars, the clinics need time. Nurses and doctors are stretched to the max so volunteers sit with patients, insist that a parent take a break and get some air, and clean up treatment rooms. And, as I learned this week in clinic, volunteers often pick up and deliver chemo so that nurses can stay with patients and do their jobs and be with the patients.

Its amazing to see so much life and vibrance in the clinic. Today, one little boy was using his IV stand to skate down the hall. And another was looking through the snack basket looking for his favorite crackers. It is incredible that even by surrounded by so much illness, the kids are still just kids.

Saturday, March 20


Wow, it has been quite awhile since I blogged. I started out with the best intentions but we all know what they say about the path to hell....

Over the past few weeks, I have been completely overwhelmed by the gifts of individuals to my fundraising campaign. So many kind people given money that will support cancer research, patient services, patient financial aid, cancer educational services and the list continues. None of this would be possible without private funding. And believe it or not, a reseacher at MCV is a recent grant recipient and that is a great source of pride. I have achieved 80% of my fundraising goal and am excited to meet that goal soon.

Great weather for a training run! Faith, a lymphoma survivor, came out and shared her story as the mission moment, she has been in remission almost 1 year! We went through the usual Saturday morning announcements, stretches, etc. and we were off.

I had a horrible cold and each step reminded my sinuses that we should still be in bed. But the weather was just too nice to be inside and the scale was kind enough to show me that, despite what we believe and tell ourselves, Girl Scout cookies really are not calorie free. My goal for the day was to make it to the end of each mile without coughing up a lung and I thought I started off pretty well.


Until.


Until I felt something warm and wet hit my shirt and it was not the mucus dripping from my nose. It was black and gross. A bird must have mistaken my nice green running shirt for a nice green tree branch. It was a sign, I should have stayed in bed.


But after using most of the water in Art's water bottle to clean off my shirt and receiving from my "ew gross, this sucks" meltdown, we headed out for the miles of the morning.


After two miles, I had to make a choice between breathing, talking or running. I chose the breathing and turned around. Figured I would do 4 miles and call it 6. But once I got back to the park, I had visions of girl scout cookies and the bathroom scale in my mind so I did another mile around the lake while I waited for Art and Chuck to finish up their miles so we could head out to breakfast.


I wish I could say that Saturday was a life altering experience or that I had a great run or that I had experience some Divine motivation but it was just an average run on a great day to be outside.

Was that the sun?

Wow! What a great day for a 5 miler! The sun, that bright, beautiful, yellow ball of fire in the sky, was out today and it wasn't freezing cold. Hard to believe, but true.

Our training was small but mighty today. We started out with the mission moment from Blair, who was diagnosed in the early 1970's and taken to St. Jude for treatment, with little hope of survival. Her story resonated with me because Jennifer was diagnosed at the same time with the same chances. But Blair is a 35+ year survivor and Jennifer survived for over 25+ years before she passed away a few years ago. Now in 2010, if Blair or Jennifer walked into Massey, the chances of survival is over 90%. We've come so far in 30 odd years, it makes the fundraising less daunting. Well, no. I lie. The fundraising is still daunting, but it is more meaningful.

Our small but tiny team included my training bud, Art and one walker. None of the racehorse runners were there and probably for the one and only time EVER, we were the first ones out and the first ones back! :) While it was unfortunate that the rest of the team was not out for training, Art and I benefitted from individual coaching from the two coaches, Chuck and Walter. It was nice to have real time with the fast coaches! :) They both were cognizate of the times we needed to walk but they also pushed us to maintain a strong pace while running.

The 4 of us had a great 5 miles this morning. The time passed quickly and when we arrived back at the park, I was truly surprised at our pace. The day was warm and sunny, great conditions to finally be outside! And after training, I ran into a few other other former TEAM in Training participants so it was like a reunion run with TNT.

So the training run is over for this week and now its back to the business of fundraising for LLS. They always say to not be surprised by who gives and who doesn't. I have to admit, even though I shouldn't be, I am really surprised by the people who haven't.

The prick of a needle

It's shiny. It's thin. It's sharp. It's usually attached to a tube with a vial or a bag on the other end. It looks like it could be an interesting toy. But its not interesting at all. It pricks. It hurts. Getting a shot. Getting blood drawn. Getting poisonous chemicals injected into the body. It's a needle.

Today I went to employee health for my health screening in order to volunteer in the ASK pediatric oncology clinic. Due to suppressed immunity systems of the patients, they need to be sure that I am completely healthy and have no hidden health issues that could compromise the health and treatment of the patients. At first I thought that I would just have to live through a TB test. Nope, had to have a full range of blood work. When the phlebotomist said that, I must have gone white because she asked if I was going to faint. Because you see, I have very small veins. Difficult for even the most skilled phlebotomist or nurse to find and now the woman who just confessed that she only draws blood about 3-4 times a week is going to stick me?

As she took the shiny, thin, sharp object from the package she asked where I was volunteering because most volunteer health screenings do not require the extensive tests I was having. I shared with her about the ASK clinic, its work and its mission. She commended me for doing that.

Commended me. Hm. I was about to faint from giving blood because I knew she would never find the vein and I would end up with 3 or 4 sticks. Last time I was in the clinic there were 2 children with needles larger than mine stuck in their skin. On the other end of my needle was a vial to catch the blood. On the other end of their needle was poison meant to save their lives. They were the ones to be commended, not me.

So while the phlebotomist was attempting to find a vein, we talked about the clinic and we talked about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She switched arms. The left arm was not working for her. I told her about my fundraising and how I wanted to be involved where the donation dollars are put to work. She found a vein on my right arm. It was small and the needle hurt like hell. I could feel it in the vein. The blood flowed out at an exceptionally slow pace because of the size of the vein. I told her that I was amazed. She got it on the second try, usually the third time was the charm. Then she said that she could tell how important this was to me and she was going to make it work.

Every now and then, the human race surprises me with surprised compassion. Nah, I am not to be commended. The phlebotomist who only draws blood 4 times a week but managed to get my blood on the second try is to be commended today.

Tour of the Pediatric Oncology clinic

Since rejoining TNT, I've been struggling with the fundraising side of the coin. In our fundraising guides, we are provided with the buzz words - advocacy, educational opportunities, patient services, research, clinical trials and on and on. We speak these works, we ask you,our friends, coworkers, and family to give your dollars in support of these words but what exactly do they MEAN.

So, I've embarked on a quest to learn about these words. I contacted ASK - a non profit organization whose mission has remained the same: Making Life Better for Children with Cancer - to inquire about volunteering in the clinic. ASK provides funding for the pediatric oncology clinic at MCV so the proximity to my office is perfect.

Even though my fundraising efforts directly support, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, their mission and focus is the same as ASK. So over the next few months, I'll be able to learn and experience just what those words - advocacy, educational opportunities, patient services, research, clinical trials - mean.

Today I toured the pediatric oncology clinic and spoke with educational specialist and boy was I surprised. The clinic is bright and colorful but what surprised me is the size. It is extremely small and they (the staff, the patients, the parents) are all on top of one another. But despite that challenge, everyone was extremely friendly.

Katie, the educational specialist, is a jack of all trades. She is the gopher,the volunteer coordinator, the child entertainer, and the spokesperson for ASK. During the brief time I spent with her, it was obvious how much she enjoys her job and working with kids and ASK. What a special person.

There were several kids receiving treatments and most were playing on the computer. Katie indicated my job as a volunteer will be to keep them entertained. Me vs. the computer. Hm. The computer will probably win but we'll see how it goes!

First Day back with TNT

Saturday, February, 6

It was cold. REALLY cold. I thought I had officially lost my mind. I was nervous about joining TNT again and doing the fundraising but this bitter wind coming off the Fountain Lake pond really had me second guessing my decision to do this. The air was unforgiving and there was no where to hide. I just wanted to get start just to get warmed up. So much for a lovely run through the snow, it was just too cold. I should have done the mileage on the treadmill at Burkwood.

It was nice meeting new people and just being a participant with TNT. For so many years, I was mentor, recruiter, coach and now here I was Lelia the participant. I was worried when people started introducing themselves -they were all really fast runners. And I am a really slow slogger. Fortunately, Art, a patient honoree and current participant, was in the same boat as I so we paired up and headed out. Only 4 miles were scheduled for the day. Easy stuff. Or so I thought.

Easy stuff until we hit Floyd Avenue which still had snow and ice on the ground. Sometimes we jigged when we should have jagged and sped up when we should have slowed down and I thought at one point my lungs were going to explode because it had been so long since I had run outside. But we were just happy to be outside and not couped up inside because of another Richmond snowstorm. It was nice to be talking to a live person while doing this miles. Art was able to make the time pass quickly. Usually, I am mentally trying to calculate the minutes I've been out by how many songs I've listened to on iPod.

We somehow made it back to the park - oh, I remember, we made it back so fast because we were talking about the Food and Wine Festival at Disney and I got so excited talking about that event, that we picked speed. Food, wine, Florida. Ah, I can almost feel my fingers just thinking about it.

So far, I have reached 8% of my fundraising goal of $3000. I can't wait until I reach 100%, that will be a great day!