It was a normal weekday in the spring of 2012 when my cheerful mother called me to invite me to an information session for “some kind of run and fundraising thing” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). Not wanting to disappoint my mom, but secretly dreading what ‘adventure’ she was trying to get us into, I agreed to meet her at a running store later that day to learn more about the LLSC’s Team in Training. My mother on the other hand almost never shied away from the unknown or from a new challenge.
Rewind a year before this spring date and my mother found herself facing one of the biggest challenges of her (and our family’s) life. After receiving a post-operative routine biopsy, doctors were surprised to discover cancer; it was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I know that mom must have be terrified but in her way she chose to arm herself with information instead of dread. She learned that the life expectancy for those people diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is about ten years. She chose to use that time to its fullest and one year later I somehow found myself recruited by her (as well as my partner and aunt) to run a half marathon in San Francisco and participate in fundraising for the LLSC.
Despite my trepidations, training with and fundraising for the LLSC’s Team in Training is one of the best experiences I have had the honour of sharing with my mother. Our team of four raised close to $24,000. The LLSC is a transparent organization that uses donations directly for research and services such as:
• vital research to develop cures and better treatments for blood cancers
• patient services to provide support guidance and improve the quality of life for patients and their families in communities across Canada
• educational programs to strengthen decision-making and coping skills for patients and their families caregivers and healthcare professionals
• advocacy programs that give patients a voice in urging more government support for cancer research and patient programs as well as access to and coverage for the best possible treatments- (http://www.llscanada.org/#/waystohelp/donate/)

This last August, almost one year after completing the Nike Women’s Marathon, my family learned that after numerous rounds of chemotherapy the cancer in mom’s body was not responding to treatment. I lost my beautiful mother in November 2013, but not before she left me armed with her values and wonderful zest for life. So again, despite my trepidations, I am facing a new challenge with the excitement and gusto I know mom would. In honour of my wonderful mom, my fiancée and I have pledged to run the Amsterdam Marathon (42.2kms!) in October 2014, and raise over $20,000 for research that will one day stop blood cancers.
Please make a donation towards my event and help LLSC achieve its mission. Thank you!