Great News on the Cancer Treatment Front!

Hello from Art’s Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, with update number 3!

First, thanks to the many generous donors who have contributed to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on behalf of my efforts with Team in Training in the Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon this coming October. This includes several anonymous donors, who I can’t thank in person – since I don’t know who you are.

If you want to make a donation, read about what I am doing, or see my list of honorees, the place to start is my TNT web site:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/crwlncrb13/afritter

If you want to donate, but don’t wish to use the secure on-line donation, simply contact me about how to get LLS a check for your donation.

On the fundraising front, things are going well, and I have attained 32% of my goal. If I reach that goal by the time of the race, I will celebrate by dying my hair purple once again for the race. This time, I will use a different technique than the one I used in Seattle three years ago (nearly to the day).

Cancer is a tough, tough foe. I am very lucky to be here, much less healthy enough to do a half marathon – run, walk, or crawl like a crab. There are many cancer survivors, but there are also very large number of people who face very difficult odds. So, when I saw the news of a breakthrough last week, I was really encouraged. Did you read about it? A new drug called ibrutinib has shown extremely promising results in two extremely difficult to treat blood cancers: chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma. This is an oral drug that is not only very effective against these cancers, but has minimal side-effects when compared to traditional chemotherapy. News like this always gets me fired up! Will I see all cancers being treatable in my lifetime? Every dollar raised is a little step closer to this ultimate goal. I know two people with CLL, and I pray that this news means longer and healthier lives for both of them, and that there will be more similar news coming.

On the training front, I continue to walk a lot and do physical therapy and stretching for the knee pain, with the goal of running at least some of the half marathon. I’ve also figured out, with the application of mathematics, that I will set the world record in the men’s marathon in 2024! Skeptical? Well, like I said, I have the proof, and I'll share it with you:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2013/06/im-going-for-marathon-world-record.html

That’s all from my campaign at this time, where I may be crabby about cancer, but happy as a clam about the ibrutinib news. Google it! It truly is an amazing thing!

Thank you,
Art