Answering the Burning Questions

This was the note sent tonight to potential donors as a campaign update...

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Hello Again,

Eight years ago, the burning questions for me were: what kind of cancer do I have? Will I live to the end of the year? What is chemotherapy going to be like? Will I survive five years? (Answers: Hodgkin lymphoma, yes, not fun, yes). But now, with my 13.1 mile race in Seattle just 19 days away, I have a different set of questions to find the answers to.

First, a quick update: people have generously donated nearly $7,900 so far to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my campaign. I am only a few hundred dollars away from running with purple hair. If you want to see how I am doing, make a donation, read campaign updates, or view my honoree list, the place to start is with my TNT page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Now, I know that the suspense is killing you, so let’s get to today’s burning questions.

(Q) Will your hair be purple come race day? (A) While I cannot be certain, I am so close to my goal now that I cannot imagine not hitting my objective of $8,500. A goal that seemed tenuous just a few months ago now seems very likely. Thanks everyone! You can check up on me by reviewing my “Purpleometer:”

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-purpleometer.html

(Q) How will you turn your hair purple? (A) I am looking for the right dye, one that I can apply easily the early morning of the race, without causing the hotel’s smoke alarms to go off or resulting in a hazardous waste alert. It has to be very temporary, since I really don’t want to come into work a few days later with purple hair. But it can’t be too temporary, because I will be sweating a lot during the run, and don’t want it to bleed out down my face and into my eyes.

(Q) What happens if the purple doesn’t come out? (A) Assuming multiple shampoos won’t fade it, I probably can’t miss work and go on disability for this reason, so I would guess I will just get a really short hair cut. And I’ll keep washing it. Or I could dye it red and become a carrot-top for a while.

(Q) What’s this about a leg injury? (A) I’d had a nasty cold, and didn’t run for nine days. When I did run again, it was just a 1.5 mile run barefoot on the beach, which seemed simple enough, but at the very end, I suffered a slight tear in my left calf muscle. After another week of doing nothing, I started short two mile walks yesterday. Running is still painful.

(Q) Do you think this injury is due to your age? (A) Absolutely not! Both my legs are exactly the same age, and only one of them is injured, so no way!

(Q) So can you still do the race? (A) I intend to, even if it means walking most of it. I’ve made great progress. A week ago, I could barely walk and it was painful. I tried taking a walk and a big snail sneered at me as he zipped by. His laughter cut me to the quick, and I yelled “You laugh now, but when I catch you, you’ll be escargot in garlic butter!” “Catch me?” he said, taunting me. “You couldn’t catch a cold!” I tried pursuing him for a while, slipping and sliding in his slime trail, but eventually he got too far ahead and I lost him. But this morning, I walked 2 miles in 28 minutes – much better. Hopefully, I can get in some running in a few days, and try to get back to race condition. Since a nine mile run on May 21, I have run a total of 1.5 miles, injuring myself in the process. So I definitely have some catching up to do.

(Q) Any big surprises this time around? (A) Not really, but I continue to be amazed at people’s generosity as we continue to slowly climb out of this recession. I think enough people realize that cancer is not in recession – not even close - and we have to keep making progress in the fight against it. Every ten minutes in this country, a cure arrives too late for one more person with blood cancers. Your generous donations are going to ultimately improve the odds and lead to more cures, and to more support of cancer patients.

Thanks again from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, “Survivor in Seattle.”
Art