We did it!

We did it! The Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon was in San Francisco on Sunday! Emily and I ran (along with 25,000 others) a beautiful, inspiring, hard yet scenic distance! We finished in 2 hours and 20 minutes . . . a time that we are very proud of!
Look at the slide show pics . . . when photos say it all! I do want to say Thank You to all of you who sponsored the run and supported all of our training (Bob and Jon!). Erica, Luci and Lance were our little cheerleaders during the race (photos to come!). Thank you Tom and Chrissie for being there cheering . . . especially on that one big hill. And Mom and Tom, did you ever think that you'd still be getting up so early to watch a race this many years later? (inside joke!) Trim, Ambra and Reese, thank you for your support and for your warm home to come to after the race.

Erica inspires us every day, this is just one of the many ways that we will be able to show her the impact she has on our lives, our goals, our strength and our faith.

Emily, thank you for your dedication. Thank you for mapping our runs and keeping us on track with our training. Thank you for your great stories that made me forget that my legs were tired or that we were actually going up hill. Thank you for reminding me to be strong, in so many ways. You are a great friend and a great running buddy . . . 26.2????

1/2 Marathon

That's right . . . it's this weekend! The Nike Women's Marathon is this Sunday in San Francisco! I can't wait for the cool weather, the sites and sounds of the city and oh . . . . the HILLS! We're ready! I am running with my friend Emily and we have been training together for the last four months.

We are running in honor of Erica and Sammie and in memory of Trevor. I am also going to dedicate mile 11 to my friend, Alejandro, who used to be in the infusion room with us. He passed away last year. There are so many children, strong, brilliant warriors who fight cancer everyday . . . we run for them all!

If you are there . . . Emily and I will have a photo of Erica on our shirts, please say HI (and "keep up the good work") if you see us on the run.

Love and blessings to you.

Day at Apple Hill

No words necessary . . . we had a great day at Apple Hill!

Next Steps

Erica is doing well and her skin GVHD is looking much better. The GI track isn't improving as quickly but that was to be expected, I just hope it clears up soon. The stitches from her skin biopsy came out on Monday and she is very proud of her Dora band-aides.

Tomorrow we go in for a growth hormone test where her pituitary system will be tested. This test will include several medications, growth hormone and blood draws. The goal of the test is to determine the level of growth hormone output after she is actually given the hormone. It's not an even input vs. output. If her system is operating under the assumption that is has adequate levels then it will not adopt the levels that we give her . . . making the daily injections unnecessary. The testing will take about 4 hours and then we have been told that she will be a sleepy girl for the rest of the day.

Those are our next steps on this road to recovery. Erica looks good, puffy from the steroids, but active and happy! God Bess!