It is that time of year again when I ask all of you to donate for a great cause-The Childrens Tumor Foundation. You can read more about Neurofibromatosis or NF at www.ctf.org

So you may be asking yourself why does Lisa always ask me to sponsor her for her marathon that she does every Labor Day weekend. First let me tell you that this is the 4th time that I will be doing the Virginia Beach Marathon and this year for the second time in a row I am the team captain.

Let me tell you a little bit about my beautiful angel Meadow who is now 7 years old. Meadow was diagnosed with NF when she was 15 months old. When I was pregnant with Meadow she was having trouble. She was born a month early. By the age on 18 months she had her first feeding tube which went threw her nose 6 weeks later she had surgery to have a G-tube put in. In December of 2005 she had a G-J tube put it. She has to have this tube changed every 3 months. This is a horrible. She is tube fed 16 hours a day and has to have her tube flushed every two hours which means I don't get much sleep. Meadow also has a plexiform tumor in the left cartoid space which starts at her brain stem and goes down to C3. This tumor while it is stable now is attached to her airway and jugular vein and is very unpredictable. Meadow also has learning disabilities, ADD, a plexiform tumor on her stomach tumors on three parts of her brain, tumors on her scalp, she also receives speech and OT. Meadow has also lost the hearing in her left ear from her tumor. In October she had a 5 hour surgery where they took her ear off and took all the bones out to improve her hearing and this did not work. Meadow will most likely need to get a hearing aid. We travel 3 hours one way to Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia. Usually about every two weeks but lately in has been averaging 1-2 times a week. She does not enjoy going there and she is at the age where she is asking a lot of questions about her disorder.

Let me tell you what Meadow's favorite things are: She LOVES Linkin Park-this girl can rock out, she loves pugs especially Mug and Pug who come to every appointment she had, she loves Care Bears and Star Wars R2D2 is her favorite she loves her two cats Melman and Tanner and most of all she loves her big sister and best friend Ashley. This summer Meadow joined cheerleading and she is doing a great job.

The Childrens Tumor Foundation is working hard to get those puzzle peices together and hopefully in Meadows lifetime there could be a drug therapy to could help reduce or stop tumor growth. These tumors are unpredictable and can grow very quickly at anytime. NF is a genetic disoder that effects 1 in 3000. NF can cause blindness, deafness, curvature of the spine, learning disabilities, tumors to grow anywhere in the body and high blood pressure.

Pleae donate today. Help us get those puzzle pieces together for a cure. If you choose to donate by mail please send it to Childrens Tumor Foundation
95 Pine Street 16th Floor
New York, NY 10269

Make your check payable to the Childrens Tumor Foundation and incluse my marathon number on the check VB-1216_07

Meadow and I thank you so much for your help and for supporting us. God Bless!!!

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