Brian Johnson's Team In Training Page
Kings Trail Triathlon - Racing to Save Lives
Welcome! I am training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. Check back to see my progress. Thanks for your support!
Goal: Raise $4,800 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and finish the Kings Trail Olympic Distance Triathlon June 8th, 2008.
Race: Kings Trail Olympic distance triathlon - 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run.
Fundraising Dates:
March 14th: 50% goal
March 26th: Financial commitment deadline
April 4th: Corporate sponsor deadline
May 28th: Final fundraising deadline
June 8th: Race Day
Charity: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). They provide fund research and provide patient services people with blood cancer. LLS is a great organization. I use their services, benefit greatly from their prior research funding, and volunteer/give back whenever I can.
Why:
1) Give back to LLS
2) Because I can! Chemotherapy in 2007 was a very unpleasant. I'm alive in
2008 and you can bet I'm celebrating every minute.
3) Spend time bonding with my only sister Brenda and good friend Bill
Brian's Story: I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma December 11, 2006. My abdomen had been feeling odd, off and on, since October of 2006. I started Chemotherapy January 11, 2007 and finished 5 months later. In the photos to the right you can see that I had straight hair in January 2007, no hair in February, and curly hair in December. The chemo drugs are quite powerful and they literally do curl your hair from the inside out. Kind of scary.
Original Diagnosis: Non-Hodkin's lymphoma, Stage 3X Intermediate Grade Follicular. This is a slow growing lymphoma. It had spread throughout my lymph system. The main tumor was a hard mass about the size football, lodged in my gut and wrapped around my small bowel (see photo on right). I'm currently in a stable state. The disease is mostly gone and not progressing. I go in for maintenance monoclonal antibody (Rituxin) treatments and CT/PET scans every 3 months.
Follicular lymphoma is the most common indolent (slow growing, low grade) subtype, and it comprises approximately a quarter of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases overall. It is currently incurable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Hodgkin's_lymphoma
Act Now: Please take a moment and make a donation to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's mission. Remember that 75% goes directly to research, education and patient support, and it's tax deductible.
Company Match: Double your donation with a company match if you work at such a lovely company. Put the following note in your companies match contribution "For the benefit of Brian Johnson, Team In Training, Kings Trail Triathlon 6/8/2008".
Be sure to e-mail me with any questions. I can be reached at brian@lundjohnson.com
Thanks for caring!!!
Brian
Facts About Blood Cancers: Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are blood cancers. All three involve malignant changes to blood cells in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissues. These changes, which result in the rapid growth and accumulation of cancerous blood cells, interfere with the production of healthy blood cells, compromising the body’s ability to protect itself from infection. No one knows for sure what causes blood cancers, but they are believed to stem from an acquired genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell which then becomes malignant. Leukemia is the number one cancer killer of children and young adults under age 20. Eleven times as many adults as children are stricken with leukemia annually. Every 5 minutes, someone is diagnosed; every 10 minutes, someone dies from blood cancers. The likelihood of dying from all blood cancers decreased from 1992 to 2004.
About the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Founded in 1949, we are relentless in pursuit of our mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. The need is critical: More than 747,000 Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Every five minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies. In Northern California, the Society estimates that 14,000 people are living with blood cancers. The 66 chapters of the Society support four major efforts: research to find a cure; public and professional education about blood cancers; support programs for families of patients; and financial aid to blood cancer patients. In 2006 around 35,000 people from across the United States participated in Team In Training, raising $85 million. In Northern California, TNT raised $15 million last year.
