Off to New Places

So sorry for the gap in updates!! Justin recently moved out to Denver because his brother's job was relocated. For those of you who don't know, Denver Children's is a fantastic hospital and it sounds like Justin has been well taken care of there. He is currently completing one last round of chemo... and his doctors have found him a donor for a bone marrow transplant!! In the meantime, on Sunday, June 3rd, our team ran full and half marathons in San Diego in Justin's honor! I completed my first marathon in 4 hours and 23 minutes! With your support, our Boston Team in Training raised almost $103K for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. All together, at this single event, over 2500 TNT participants raised over $7.3 MILLION -- talk about an awesome group effort!

He's Baaaaack!

Justin was readmitted on Wednesday to Children's Hospital for another round of chemo. This will most likely be a 4-week stay, giving him time for a course of treatment and monitoring of his recovery. This is mostly good news -- it means that his body has recovered sufficiently from the last round and is ready to start the fight again.

Having just gotten a bone marrow biopsy and a port put in for his chemo, Justin is understandbly sore, so let's try to plan a visit for sometime next week.

Hang in there Justin! We're all thinking of you.

Headed Home

Justin was discharged from the hospital last Thursday!! His blood cell counts looked good after the last dose of chemo a week ago and he is now back home on the Cape with his brother and will be following up weekly at the oncology clinic to monitor his counts. I will try to keep everyone updated with his progress as much as possible!

I know he's glad to be home although I'll miss visiting with him! The pictures above is of our last team visit. We were all in the yellow gowns because his whole floor was on contact precautions, there has been a nasty norovirus going around! Also there but not pictured were Ali, Gaby and Myldred.

Memorable moments from my last few visits:
- Going out to the garden with a Nerf gun to get some fresh air. A couple volunteers and I put paper cups upside down on our heads and had Justin shoot them off. He was an awesome shot! Although he got us in the back off the head a few times... not sure if that was accidental ;)

- Playing Speed (an awesome card game if you don't know), our rounds got consecutively faster and more competitive, I'm now addicted to this game!

- Playing Call of Duty (Justin's fave video game)... this didn't last long, Justin is a pro and killed my character 5 times within the first 10 min!

First team visit!

Exciting News! Boston's Team in Training has picked Justin to be our team's Honored Hero. Justin now has over 20 people who will be running half and full marathons this summer in Providence and San Diego in his honor!!

This past Sunday, we organized our first team visit to Justin. We all brought snacks and goodies (everything from fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies to gummy bears and oreos, I wish I took a photo of the overstuffed bag of treats!). One of our team members, Amanda, brought Catchphrase (so fun!) and we played for over an hour, really getting into the spirit and causing quite a ruckus on the normally quiet oncology floor. :) Justin is so polite and serious, getting some smiles out of him was priceless!!

We had a wonderful time and hope to make this a weekly Sunday occurence while Justin is in the hospital.

I'm also on my way to visit him in a couple hours to play some card games. One of Justin's amazing nurses, Lynne, has been making him homemade food and bringing it in. Justin told me that today she's bringing tacos, maybe I'll get to try one!

As always, if you'd like to leave a message for Justin, just click "comments" at the bottom of this post!

If you're complled to help patients like Justin battle blood cancers, PLEASE consider donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I am training daily for my first marathon (ran 6 miles in the rain last Saturday!) because I am very committed to this cause!! However, I am still far from my fundraising goal and I need your support. Thank you!!

Click Here to View My Fundraising Page

Love,
Lina

Meet Justin

Justin is one of the strongest guys I've met. He has already beat cancer once, and now he's bravely battling it again. Justin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2007 and underwent 3 years of challenging therapy. This January, only 1 year after completing therapy, Justin was readmitted to the hospital and found that his leukemia had relapsed. Justin is once again undergoing chemo and living in the hospital. His closest family live over an hour away and while they visit when they can, this is often only every 1-2 weeks.

In June, I will run the San Diego Marathon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Justin. This will be my first marathon, and while I know that training will be hard, it is nothing in comparison to what Justin will be doing.

Please support Justin with your comments and messages of hope. Please subscribe to stay updated on Justin's progress.

Also, please consider supporting research for developing better treatments for this disease by donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and sponsoring me as I train for my first marathon! Help me reach my goal of raising $3,000 in honor of all those who are battling blood cancers.

Thank you!!

Best regards,
Lina