*** Kyle's Getting a Little Better Every Day! ***
Dear Family and Friends –
It’s been a while since most of you have heard from me, and I thought you might like to know how things are going. First and most importantly, Kyle is finishing up his first year of chemotherapy just the way he started – a strong, happy young man who inspires all he comes in contact with. And as the “Patient Hero” for many of my Team in Training teammates, this inspiration has been called upon many times! We did have a couple of rough patches, but he came through them all relatively unscathed. He even kept up with his school work (despite missing nearly 15 weeks), so he'll be moving onto 5th grade with his classmates. He's now through the most intense phases of his protocol, but with 2 years to go, there's still a lot of chemo left. Yet, with the intensity diminishing over time, we feel like we're getting closer to that light at the end of the tunnel. The good news is that we're now sure that light isn't the train coming the other way! :-)
As you know, I have been a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT) program since shortly after Kyle’s diagnosis. My first race with TNT was the Hartford Half-Marathon last October, followed by the Walt Disney World Marathon in January (incidentally, people are still talking about how much money we raised for that race…so thanx again!). What you might not know is that I recently added the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA, to my running résumé. While the first 26.1 miles of the race were great, the last .1 mile was by far the best because that’s where I spotted Kyle and pulled him onto the racecourse so we could finish the race together. The race announcer actually announced our arrival ("Here comes Bob Hilborn from West Hartford, CT, and a very special friend"). Kyle accompanied me through the post-race chutes, and after the race official draped my medal across my neck, she asked Kyle if he had run the race. Kyle responded proudly that he had completed the last .1 mile; she said that that was deserving of a finisher's medal, and draped one over his head, too. He beamed (I cried). It was great. Even greater, though, was that the TNT runners raised over $10 million! That’s an average of $400,000 per mile, all going to fight Leukemia and other blood-related diseases.
So, what’s next, you ask? Well, while I still enjoy running, I thought that it would be nice to be able to coast once in a while. With that in mind, I will be competing in a 100-mile bicycle race called the Seacoast Century on September 23. But my fundraising definitely isn’t coasting – I need your help! Please click on the "Donate" link on the side of this page and follow the instructions to submit your 100% tax-deductible contribution. Your donations, and those of thousands of others over the past 13 years, have enabled research that has given Kyle such a bright outlook for the future. We’ve come far, but there’s still so much to do. Please help – remember, every donation will bring us that much closer to the cure.
On behalf of Kyle and the others battling blood-borne diseases, Thank You.
Love and Peace,
Bob
It’s been a while since most of you have heard from me, and I thought you might like to know how things are going. First and most importantly, Kyle is finishing up his first year of chemotherapy just the way he started – a strong, happy young man who inspires all he comes in contact with. And as the “Patient Hero” for many of my Team in Training teammates, this inspiration has been called upon many times! We did have a couple of rough patches, but he came through them all relatively unscathed. He even kept up with his school work (despite missing nearly 15 weeks), so he'll be moving onto 5th grade with his classmates. He's now through the most intense phases of his protocol, but with 2 years to go, there's still a lot of chemo left. Yet, with the intensity diminishing over time, we feel like we're getting closer to that light at the end of the tunnel. The good news is that we're now sure that light isn't the train coming the other way! :-)
As you know, I have been a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT) program since shortly after Kyle’s diagnosis. My first race with TNT was the Hartford Half-Marathon last October, followed by the Walt Disney World Marathon in January (incidentally, people are still talking about how much money we raised for that race…so thanx again!). What you might not know is that I recently added the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, CA, to my running résumé. While the first 26.1 miles of the race were great, the last .1 mile was by far the best because that’s where I spotted Kyle and pulled him onto the racecourse so we could finish the race together. The race announcer actually announced our arrival ("Here comes Bob Hilborn from West Hartford, CT, and a very special friend"). Kyle accompanied me through the post-race chutes, and after the race official draped my medal across my neck, she asked Kyle if he had run the race. Kyle responded proudly that he had completed the last .1 mile; she said that that was deserving of a finisher's medal, and draped one over his head, too. He beamed (I cried). It was great. Even greater, though, was that the TNT runners raised over $10 million! That’s an average of $400,000 per mile, all going to fight Leukemia and other blood-related diseases.
So, what’s next, you ask? Well, while I still enjoy running, I thought that it would be nice to be able to coast once in a while. With that in mind, I will be competing in a 100-mile bicycle race called the Seacoast Century on September 23. But my fundraising definitely isn’t coasting – I need your help! Please click on the "Donate" link on the side of this page and follow the instructions to submit your 100% tax-deductible contribution. Your donations, and those of thousands of others over the past 13 years, have enabled research that has given Kyle such a bright outlook for the future. We’ve come far, but there’s still so much to do. Please help – remember, every donation will bring us that much closer to the cure.
On behalf of Kyle and the others battling blood-borne diseases, Thank You.
Love and Peace,
Bob