Help Carry the Light of Hope

9/17 Update The Walk was a major success. We haven't got a final tally, but it looks like we made our goal of $3000. We have to add in a couple corporate matching gifts and stuff, but it looks good.

We had 15 people plus 5 babies. Nicholas led the way most of the time. He felt it was his responsibility, since it was "his team." We had a good time and did some good for victims of Leukemia and Lymphoma.

I have a big "Thank you" to all of you who made a donation. I hope someday soon we find a cure, and no one will have to go through what Nicholas did. I keep saying it, but I am truly amazed at your generosity. I have done a good job of putting Nicholas illness out of my mind. He has been in remission for a year and a half now, and those long months of his chemotherapy seem another lifetime ago. But there are times, like tonight, where I am reminded of that experience. It is hard, but I also am reminded of what wonderful friends and family we have, and how lucky we are that you come through for us when we need it. Thank you so much.

Welcome to the Light the Night Walk home page for Nick's Squad. The Light the Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide evening walk to raise awareness and funds to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

If you are coming to this site, then you probably know about Nicholas Hawk and his fight with lymphoma. He was diagnosed in July of 2003 at the age of 5. After 8 long months of treatment and follow ups, he was declared in remission, and has been cancer-free since. We chronicled our experiences at http://mhawk.home.gowebway.com/cancer.html.

During Nicholas' treatment, we grew very close to an old friend, Michael Wolberg, who was battling lymphoma himself. Michael is also in remission, but still suffers debilitating side effects from the disease and the treatment. You can read about Michael and his family at http://michaelwolbergupdate.blogspot.com/. Michael's wife Kirsten was a tremendous help to us during Nicholas' illness, giving us lot's of advice from her hard won experience and invaluable moral support.

We will be walking in the Light the Night Walk in honor of Nicholas, Michael and all the others who are battling blood cancers.

The experience of watching our little boy battle cancer was one of the most difficult challenges of our lives, yet it was also a revelation. It was amazing how many people reached out to our family and to our son to give whatever help they could. The Light the Night walk is another opportunity for people to reach out and show they care.

This will be our third year participating in the walk. In 2003, Nicholas couldn't attend because he was in Children's Hospital getting treatment. In 2004, he walked with us carrying his survivor balloon, and this year he will do it again. Last year we raised over $2000 for Leukemia and Lymphoma research, and we hope to surpass that total this year.

Here are some of the sobering statistics:

• Every five minutes, someone in this country is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every nine minutes, someone dies.
• Leukemia is the leading cause of disease-related death among children under age 15.
• Lymphomas are the most common blood cancers.
• The myeloma survival rate is only 30 percent.