Catherine Salussolia's Team In Training Page
Together we can find a cure!
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
Update 9/20: On the eve before I leave for Flordia, I want to thank each and everyone of you for your love, support and encouragement. You have helped me surpass my fundraising goal and I will think of you all as I race towards the cure! Thank you!!!
Update: I'm officially a triathlete!!! Competing with the Team today in the TOBAY sprint triathlon in Oyster Bay, NY was AMAZING! It was so inspiring to be competing with such a great bunch of people who cheered each other along the entire course and who are all committed to the race for a cure!
Currently I just finished my first year of medical school at Stony Brook University. It's been an exciting, sometimes overwhelming, yet amazing experience thus far and I love every minute of it. As most of you know I am in the dual degree program working towards a MD/PhD degree. Translational medical research is vital to the future of medicine. As a MD/PhD student, I know first hand how basic science research can lead to therapeutic advances and cures to various medical diseases. Because of this, Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is near and dear to my heart.
I have wanted to compete in a triathlon for the past two years, but I didn't know where to start. So when I saw that the Long Island TNT chapter was having an informational meeting at my local library, I thought why not? There's no time like the present. And an even bigger bonus, one of my college teammates, Katie Stockhammer is a member of the LI chapter and will be there to help me reach my goal and cheer me on in Disney when I compete.
I will be racing in honor of my late neighbor and childhood friend Jesse Michota. Jesse was so strong in her fight against leukemia. Her smile was contagious and I will draw on her strength as I complete an olympic distance triathlon (1mile swim, 36mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in Disney this coming September in an effort to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and help further their efforts in a race for a cure.
All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. Not only am I competing in the Disney Triathlon in honor of my late neighbor Jesse who died of leukemia, but also in honor of all of the individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a 100% tax-deductible donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission either online or you can make a check out to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and mail it to me by August 1, 2007. Remember every little bit helps and that cancer is something we must come together and join in the fight for a cure!
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!
Please let me know if any of your friends or family are battling cancer or have lost their struggle with cancer and I will carry their name as I complete the Disney Triathlon .
Where Does Your Donation Go?
$25 could pay for the cost of a patient’s chemotherapy drug prescription co-payment.
$50 could register one person to be a bone marrow donor.
$75 could provide HLA (bone marrow) typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia.
$150 provides 10 patients access to a web-conference to learn about their specific blood cancer.
$300 will train 25 peer volunteers who can provide emotional support to newly diagnosed patients.
$500 allows the Patient Financial Aid program to reimburse up to $500 per year to help cover the costs of transportation, drugs and various treatments not covered by insurance.
$1000 allows patients to meet with health care specialists to design and discuss their disease, treatment plan and prepare them with the information they will need during the treatment process.
$2000 provides patients with a one month supply of Gleevac. ____________________________________________________________________________
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Goals The aim of treatment is to bring about a complete remission by finding new therapies and cures. Complete remission means that there is no evidence of the disease and the patient returns to good health with normal blood and marrow cells.
The Good News!
The relative five-year survival rate has more than tripled in the past 46 years for patients with leukemia. Treatment centers report increasing numbers of patients with leukemia who are in complete remission at least five years after diagnosis of their disease.
Let's continue this positive trend by supporting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Race for a Cure!
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Training updates
Training has been great so far- definitely challenging, but it's worth it everytime I think of Jesse and all of those affected by blood cancers. They give me the strength to wake up each morning and swim, run, and ride my way through my workouts.
My first time swimming in the Long Island Sound was an experience. It was also my first time swimming in a wetsuit. But I've beceome better at open water swimming and I'm looking forward to competing in the Tobay Triathlon on Aug. 19th as part of my training.
Keep checking back to read more about my progress!
