We are all one phone call away....

...from being brought to our knees. Matt Kearny sings these lyrics in Closer to Love. When I first heard this song...I thought how true the words are.

Today I come back to my home base blog to vent again. I know, seriously, when will I just stop venting??? Well, today I am venting with a purpose. Imagine that you are in the prime of your life, strong, fit, young...32 young, living lots of  "life is good" moments. You start feeling a little "off" so ultimately head to the doc, after a series of tests, even a surgery, you get the phone call that brings you to your knees. You have stage three Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Seriously? Yes, seriously. The next six months will be filled with MRI's, biopsies, CT Scans...with Barrium (yum), and Chemotherapy. Six months of Chemotherapy. Six Months. The good news, 83.9% five year survival rate, a statistic I know my friend will beat and he will be chasing his grandkids, and great grandkids as an old, old man.

Along with the chemo treatment comes lots of prescriptions, tests, injections - the co-pays add up, quickly. I know from experience, and was blessed enough to have fantastic insurance, understanding management, and a support system that can't be beat. My friend is not so lucky. He is new to his job, just poured his savings into buying a home, and is a single dad (split-custody).

I am writing today to see if you can help, even just $5.00. Yep, back to the $5.00, just $5.00 from 100 people would off-set $500 worth of co-pays, co-insurance. Every little bit helps.

In Eric's honor, I will donate, and I am running the Landsdowne Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. What do the two have in common you say? Well, for every $5.00 donated by my friends, I will run one mile of training in your honor using the MapMyRun app (so you can see my progress). Perhaps you don't care, or maybe this is a stupid idea, but let's see how many torturous miles I have to run in Eric's honor thanks to your donations. This is the best I could come up with for today. And you know what? I am thrilled to be alive and able to run, even better if my running helps a friend in need.

To donate to Eric's cause, click here: http://gabrielacopeland.chipin.com/eric-copelands-cancer-treatment Gabby, his friend and the mother of his child, graciously set this page up, God Bless you Gabby!

Lord help me, I hate running, but I hate cancer even more, and even more than that, I hate to see my loved ones suffer through this disease.

XOXO,
Amanda

P.S. To listen to the song, Closer to Love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A0Ju6Gor1g

Comments

Mona said…
I will donate and i am signed up to race too! didnt know you were doing it. funny how we are blocks away from eachother and get together on wednesdays and i didnt know!!!. anyway, good luck with the race and staw well best friend. you are an inspriation to so many. love ya - mona
Unknown said…
Got you covered. I wish Eric all the best. Advice from a cancer survivor: get started with Reiki, which is energy medicine that will help him tolerate treatment better. It is part of the standard of care at Sloan-Kettering, and is available free of charge through the Life with Cancer Center affiliated with Inova Fairfax Hospital, and also via other Inova Hospitals. It will make a huge difference.

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