Not to be left out

I also have the link for Dianne's Determine Dreamers page for Relay for Life.
They will be Relaying on June 24th in Watertown South Dakota if you'd like to join them - if you'd like to donate click HERE!!!

Go Dreamers Go!

Let the Fundraising Begin!

Dear Family and Friends,

Mom has had a great year, and continues to fight her Cancer; hard. Her Two year mark is on June 11th and with summer just around the corner and it’s almost time for the American Cancer Society’s Highline Relay for Life. You may remember hearing from me the past couple summers, as I became passionately involved in this event to honor my Mom by raising money and awareness to help make a difference in the fight against cancer. Thanks to all of your generous support our team The Hope Corps was able to raise $4,500 in 2010!!!

This year I am volunteering on the committee that plans the relay as well as participating as a team captian for the Hope Corps Team to participate in the 18 hour relay on June 11th. My fundraising goal of $1,000 for this year’s Relay is even greater than my goal last year, and I really need your help to meet this challenge.

Being 1,500 miles away from my Mom is hard, and my way to help is to Relay in her honor.
I fight for my Mom and with my Mom by raising money for the American Cancer Society!

I can’t reach my goal without you!
I am asking you to please consider a donation to help me reach my fundraising goal for Relay for Life. If you’re able to donate $1 or $100; every penny counts!
The online donation page can be found here
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11GW?px=18759155&pg=personal&fr_id=33977

If you have a loved one who has or is fighting cancer, please send me thier name and what type of cancer - I would love nothing more than to light a luminaria on the track for their memory or honor.

Thank you so much for your continued love and support, You are the best!Love, Abby

Remember, Celebrate & Fight Back!

Thursday is the "Big" Meet and Greet with my Fellow Chair people for Highline Relay For Life.

I registered for the Relay Rumble Summit on the 23rd and now I wait in anticipation.

Speaking of anticipation... we still haven't heard much from the Doctor's after Mom's visit at the Mayo Clinic. We're hoping this week we'll get something... Mom decided she'll call the doctor and "Rattle some cages" to see if she can get them motivated... Go Momma Go!

Happy Trails,

A

Diannes Determine Dreamers

I am snagging pictures from Julie left and right off of Facebbok recently. However, I feel this one REALLY needed to be posted! What a GREAT looking group of people!

GO TEAM!

Down with Chemo!

We wish we could cure Mom's cancer with hugs... not Drugs... but she's going in on Friday for her last round of maintenance chemotherapy before her next PET scan.
We're hoping the Chemo doesn't make her super sick like it did last time, and really hoping that the pneumonia holds off all together.

In Relay news... Mom had 2 teams walking to support her and they both made "BRONZE" fundraising status! I recieved an e-mail today from the ACS letting us know that The Hope Corps "Final" total fundraising was $3,653.16! Way to Rock the fundraising! Thank you all so much for your support for BOTH teams! We're so blessed!

-a

Relay for Life 2010

(a close up of Mom's survivor Metal)

To sum up Relay for Life 2010 in 1 sentance; Dr. Gordy Klatt would be proud.

Dr. Gordy Klatt started Relay for Life 26 years ago by asking people to support him in his fundrasing efforts for the American Cancer Society and then by walking for 24 hours at a track in Tacoma, Washington.

The Hope Corps had a member of our team on the track the entire Relay; and we raised $3,628 for cancer research for the American Cancer Society. We were one of 3 teams (maybe) who had someone on the track for the entire event!

On with the photos;

Here's Mom infront of our campsite! We did not win the "best decorated" award, but we were the best decorated campsite there, I don't care what anyone says.

Here's me and my Momma at Relay!

And here's our AMAZING bake sale - we raised $97 between selling our goodies and selling a few sets of lap beads to walkers. We initally set up to do lap beads for our team alone, but then people wanted to buy them... so we sold them! We might have to consider this as a fundraiser next year; It was much less labor intensive than the bake sale was!

After a very legnthy opening ceremony, Mom, Brenda, Kathy and I took the track to walk the survivor lap together. It was a pretty emotional lap, a couple of us were fighting back tears and a couple of us let them flow. A year ago when Mom was diagnosed she set the goal to walk in the survivor lap at Relay with me the following year. It was so great to walk beside her, it was the reward for all that she (we) has accomplished this year!

These two are my favorite pictures of the day... One from infront and one from behind, walking hand in hand with my Mom and Aunts during the survivor lap is not something I will forget soon.

The more laps we walked, the less the tears flowed.

After the survivor lap I stayed on the track for a mile or so till someone else was ready for the take over.

After Mom's first Mile I took a few photos of her in her beautiful Purple shirt and her amazing survivor metal! I love that they celebrate survivors in that way!

We weren't really sure she would be able to rock the first lap... but she ended up walking 5 miles over Saturday and Sunday!

Here's Brenda and Kathy taking over walking. They were getting their lap beads ready to go!

And then Becky and Kerri.

And Jerry, Kat, Tim and MaryJane.

My Boss stopped by for a lap and brought cookies for the bake sale too! I have such an amazing team of support out here, I couldn't ask for more!

Mom rested her feet a little bit, and of course enjoyed the sunshine a little bit! It was her vacation after all!

The Bodle Gals stopped by in the evening so we could all eat some dinner while they walked 4 miles or so - relief walkers are life savers!

Mom and Kathy turned on all the electric candles for the luminaria lap.

This is Mom's Luminaria.

We had over 50 Luminaria for our team!

The Luminaria actually were weighed down by cans of food that we donated to the White Center food bank. Highline Relay donated over 600 cans of food!

Then the Bodle gals turned the reigns back over to us for the evening!

We did attend the luminaria ceremony... LONGEST CEREMONY EVER.

I think my imput will be best used to keep all the ceremonial things "short and sweet"

But all the luminarias remembering our loved ones were so pretty lined up around the track.

As tradition... They spelt out HOPE and CURE in luminaria bags.

I didn't get a good picture of Megan and I walking together, but we took over for the next couple hours till Alex and Lindsey showed up and Tacy woke up. They took over from 2am till about 5am - relief walkers save your life!

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Then I took over for the next two hours or so and pounded out some laps.

Brenda, Kathy and Mom walked the last few laps with me... here I am... finishing the last lap of mile #20! My body hurts so bad, but I didn't have any blisters this year!

And here's Mom finishing her last lap of Mile #5... She rocked it!

Brenda walked 10... Kathy walked 11.... We had some dedicated walkers this year for sure!

They decided it was a pretty great way to celebrate their birthdays!

Mom celebrated her birthday with Brenda (her birthday too) by walking in Relay and then that evening we went out to dinner at the Space Needle!

My heart is swelled as much as my ankles are... with pride though, not fluid.

I am exhausted, but happy and ready to go again next year where my Mom will walk in the survivor lap again!

Because of Relay we have research because of research we have chemo, because of chemo we have loved ones who beat this nasty disease!

All my Love, Abby

Statistics!

I just wanted to share a few Statistics of the Hope Corps for you...

There are 14 teammembers

We've (so far) Raised $2,415!

We've had 45 different people donate to our cause.

I'm so impressed.

5 Days... and counting!

Our fundraising goal [of $1,000] has been reached, surpassed and actually left in the dust all together. We currently sit at #3 in the top 5 fundraisers for Highline Relay at $2,040! We’re only $40 behind #2 !

Oh and I have to mention that our very own Becky Marchitto is #2 overall in the fundraising list trailing the leader by only $30!

Here’s the Schedule for Relay
Set up Beings at 1pm.
I will be there at 1pm.
The Relay beings at 3pm with a survivor lap.
You are welcome to arrive anywhere between 1pm and 10pm.

The last and most important thing I will leave you with… Directions to Highline Stadium…
The “official” address is 430 156th St Burien, WA 98148 so if you wish to Google map it from your location… please do… but here’s some general directions.

-On Hwy 99 {509} to Burien take the S 160th Exit
- Turn Right at 160th St
-Turn Right at 1st Ave S
-Take the first Right onto S 156th Street
- Take the second Left onto 4th Ave S.
- Destination will be on the Left

I imagine there will be signs pointing to Relay once you get close!

Call me if you need direction to the campsite when you get there!

If I get more information at the meeting I will dispatch it to you!
See you Saturday!
Abby
** PS: Don’t wear purple unless you’re a survivor or people will assume you’re a survivor… Just a heads up !

PPS: More importantly... only 3 days till my Mom and Aunts get here!!!!!!

Survivors Wanted

If you've ever heard the words... "You Have Cancer" you're a Survivor!

Relay for Life is about many things, but most importantly it's about celebrating the lives of the people who have fought the battle against Cancer, both young and old.

My Mom is gearing up to proudly walk the survivor lap, wearing her purple shirt and walking around the track with others who have walked a similar path. She will be applauded as she walks, and I'm sure between Brenda, Kathy & Myself there won't be a dry eye on Team Hope Corps.

It's a touching moment... and we want to celebrate you!

If you're a survivor in the Highline/Burien/Seattle/Des Moines area Please, let me know... I would love to get you involved and celebrate you!

All my Love,

Abby

The Origin...

I was thinking about the origin of Relay for Life and realized that I don’t even really know how Relay got it’s start.
So like the 21st Century woman I am… I Googled it!
I found this article on the American Cancer Society Website and it made me smile, how wonderful that one man started all of this. Thanks Gordy Klatt – for showing us how to be hopeful, and how to make a difference!

“One person can make a difference. Nowhere is that more evident than with the story of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, which began in Tacoma, Washington, as the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer.
In the mid-1980s, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, wanted to enhance the income of his local American Cancer Society office. He decided to personally raise money for the fight by doing something he enjoyed—running marathons.
In May 1985, Dr. Klatt spent a grueling 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for more than 83 miles. Throughout the night, friends paid $25 to run or walk 30 minutes with him. He raised $27,000 to fight cancer. That first year, nearly 300 of Dr. Klatt's friends, family, and patients watched as he ran and walked the course.
While he circled the track those 24 hours, he thought about how others could take part. He envisioned a 24-hour team relay event that could raise more money to fight cancer. Months later he pulled together a small committee to plan the first team relay event known as the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer.
In 1986, 19 teams took part in the first team relay event on the track at the colorful, historical Stadium Bowl and raised $33,000. An indescribable spirit prevailed at the track and in the tents that dotted the infield.”

Hope on the Slopes: The Exhausted Edition

This weekend was Hope on the Slopes at Stevens Pass. I volunteered to work hospitality for my co-worker's team "Hosts for HotS". I was really excited to try something new and have a new way to support my Mom in her battle.

Friday night Eric dropped me off at Mindy & Phil's house so I could spend the night. Saturday Morning we woke at 5am and with a fruit smoothie in our tummy we left the house by 6:10am to make our way to Stevens Pass. We arrived at the pass around 7:50am. Above is a look at the walk up to Stevens Pass lodging. It was a bit of a hike to and from the car but thankfully we did not have to go back and forth much.

Here's the gates walking up to the Lodging area. I was pretty excited to see all that SNOW! I haven't seen a single flake all year, and I got my fill this weekend.
These are what I would call the stairs to heaven or the stairs of Hell. After being up all night, and snow shoeing, snowboarding or skiing I can't imagine how you can get up and down these without pain.

Once we got up those stairs we checked in at the Pacific Crest Lodge. We claimed stake on a table near the men's restroom and set up camp. Hope on the Slopes or HotS as most people around the lodge called it, was under weigh after a short opening ceremony from the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The team that I ran hospitality for was the Hosts that are employed by Stevens Pass who do it as a weekend gig or as a full time job. They are a bunch of really outgoing, helpful people who know their way around the place. Beth (Head of Hosts) got me all set up to make coffee for the participants and then after a couple of hours learning the ropes and getting our teammates checked in and loaded with snacks Phil and I settled in for a long day of sitting and helping where we could.

Mindy came in and handed me a brochure for this...
Yep, those are snow shoes. I decided to go for a couple hours but the details of that adventure can be found on my Blog - let's get back to HotS.
Mindy skied like a champion. She ended up with a grand total of over 50,000 vertical feet and raised $1,200 for ACS Research. We were both there to Honor our mothers.

Hey Mindy show me your poles! Yah I'm sure she loves this picture but it kind of makes me giggle, and I know her husband Phil will be posting a less flattering one of me waking up from my 2 hours of sleep I got last night...

Sorry, that was kind of NonSequitor; Here's the mountains they were running on all evening.

And... here they are in the evening... wish I would have had my other camera with me; but this is the best you get.

About 10pm the runs were shut down for grooming and everyone came in for a spaghetti supper provided by the 59'er Diner. After a delicious meal and some music the runs were limited for the participants and they kept going all night long. I took the first shift of watching the table and Phil took the second. I was more than ready for a nap come 4am; so ready that I dozed off sitting up.

Team Hosts for HotS 2010.

L to R: Mac, James, Julian, Mindy, Phil, Wade, Debbie, Ginevive, Mark, Joan, Cindy and Me in the front. There's a couple people not pictured but we hadn't seen much of the rest of the team this morning. Oh and we lost three guys early in the day. One of our Guys' sons' wiped out and dislocated his shoulder, so the three of them had to take him to the hospital.

It was a long night of keeping people full of protein and snacks, energy drinks and a short nap on the lodge floor which is harder than it sounds actually.

The team worked hard, and sleep deprived we were all really happy to see these three put on the CLOSING Ceremony which was actually an hour later than planned so a lot of people had left.

The ACS Banners The Three guys that were putting on the closing ceremony's where we learned that as an event $167,000 and skied countless vertical feet (the top three teams were in the MILLIONS). There were top prizes given, but out of the 860 participants the prizes were pretty much spread out over three or four teams which were top fundraisers and top vertical feet! And a very tired Abigail ready to go home.

So glad I could be there to support my friends and make new friends and try something new, even more glad that I could support my Mom who continually told me that she was proud of me; as I explained to Eric, it's about feeling like I can do something to help, and if being there makes my Mom feel even 1% better, being sleep deprived and cold for the past 24 hours was worth it 100x's over again.

I'm going to go take a nap now... or hold out and go to bed at 6:00. Happy Trails!

Love, Abby

Looking Good.. Feeling Better

I had a nice long talk on the phone with Mom tonight. We talked about a lot of things, but mostly she wanted to report that the Doctor said he's really happy with her progress today. Mom and I both agreed that "if Doc's happy... we're happy". The lymph nodes have shrunk about 2/3rds and the mass in her lung is continuously going down. This morning she said she woke up on her Left side and that was such a huge leap because she hasn't been able to be comfortable and sleep well on her left side in months.

The treatments continue and the end of radiation is in sight! We're all very thankful for that. Mom also spoke with the social worker at the Cancer Center in Watertown and she hooked Mom up with the 'Look Good Feel Better' program that the American Cancer Society offers for cancer patients. If you click on the link it will give you a better idea of what their goals are as a group, but basically Mom gets a free facial and takes home some make up and skin care products to freshen up and look like a goddess as she continues to kick cancer's ass.

She was pretty excited for the opportunity; she mentioned that the chemotherapy treatments make her feel so toxic that she's thankful to have a break from that.

Just wanted to update you all while it was fresh in my mind.

Thank you for the continued prayers and thoughts,

All the Love in the Universe, Abby

PS: a little honorable mention here for Tacy Cass who's been sending mail my Mom's way and making her giggle like a little girl. It's much appreciated for sure!