Sammy's Cancer

I remember the first time I saw Samantha in the midst of her battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was Christmas Eve and I wasn't at all prepared for what I had witnessed. The Sammy I knew, was not the Sammy I saw that night. Her hair was gone, she was weak, and just seemed so drained from everything. I smiled as if nothing was wrong but it hurt me inside to see someone go from being happy and energetic to someone totally different. I knew it was the cancer and all the treatments. Sammy was too tired to stay up until midnight and had to leave. The minute she left, I started crying. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I felt so helpless. Months passed and we kept in touch to see how she was doing. I would invite her to eat but unfortunately each time we tried to meet, she would feel too tired or would have to rush to the hospital for treatment...

I am happy to say that my cousin Sammy is now cancer-free. Sammy was, and still is my inspiration to be a part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, and I will continue on my mission. We see people raising funds for charity all the time, but when someone in your family is directly affected by something, it makes the effort behind the fundraising so much more meaningful.

How It Started...

"You're doing what?!?!", "How many miles is that?", "Why?!?!"...these were some of the reactions I got when I decided to join the Disney Half Marathon. Up until then, the most I had ever ran was a 10K or 6 miles. Was I scared? Absolutely! I don't at all consider myself a "runner". I jog 3 miles a few times a week when I can fight being lazy. The thought of anything more than 3 miles was terrifying. So why would I sign up to run 13.1 miles? In the eyes of a runner, 13.1 miles is what they might do weekly. Now a full marathon, 26.2 miles on the other hand, that's something to brag about. I figured I'd start slow and work my way up. After all, I'd graduated from a 5K to a 10K so taking my time to transition into a half marathon, I felt, was much wiser a decision than jumping right in to a full. Ok, truth be told, I feared the distance! I'll admit it!

I'd always known I wanted to do something like this but how? That's when I heard of Team in Training, a training program through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where you train and raise money for the cause at the same time. At first I thought it would be great to help raise money to help fight cancer, then in December the news came. My cousin Adrian's daughter, Samantha was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. That's when I knew it was time to take the leap and sign up to do this. It was my motivation to finally stop saying I was gonna do something and finally do it the best way I knew I could---my approach to everything in life, one step at a time...

My donation page:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/disneyh10/jguevarqrw

Thanks for the support!






(Picture: Our Long Beach Team in Training)