Shine Bright Ronan.....

I have been away for awhile....mostly for lack of time but this has been a rough week to say the least.  Have you ever felt so connected to someone you have never met before?  I had not until about 9 months ago when I heard that the son of a classmate of mine from Sunnyslope had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma.  This is an aggressive childhood cancer that has no cure and the treatments are pretty aggressive themselves.  That is when I met Ronan and Maya Thompson.  Everyday, I was checking my email for updates on the blog to see where they were at or how his treatment was going.  Every day and every night, I would check in to see if there was an update.  Monday morning, there was no update.  My heart sank and I hoped that it was because it had been Mother's Day and Maya was having a nice day with her family.  I wish I could say that was why.  Rockstar Ronan lost his battle early Monday morning.....the day after Mother's Day, days before he was to turn 4 years old, and less than a year from when he was diagnosed.  I was so sad and angry all at the same time.  How is it that we have all this technology and we don't have a cure for these diseases?  It reaffirms why I am involved with Team in Training fighting for a cure for blood cancers.  I am connected to this cause because I lost my Grandma to leukemia but with all the research, finding cures in one form of cancer can lead to progress in another.  While cancer sucks for everyone, seeing someone who had such a life ahead of him lose it at such a young age made me sick to my stomach.  Seeing these little kids who are bald from chemo and think that needles and ports are normal is not okay.  


I write Mission emails to my teammates every week as Mission Captain and here is my letter for this week:

Hello TEAM Arizona!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and all the Mom's out there had a great Mother's Day!!

Normally, I send out my mission emails towards the end of the week but today is different. Today I am reminded of why I continue to get up early on Saturdays and why I ask people for money until they ignore my emails for awhile....it is for people like Ronan, the little guy we have been talking about more for the past week or so.

Sadly, Ronan lost his battle this morning with cancer, an ugly childhood cancer that is so aggressive that it took his little life 9 months after he was diagnosed, the day after Mother's Day, and 3 days before he was to turn 4 years old. Why? That is one question I will never understand but one that make me fight even harder.

www.rockstarronan.com - if you need inspiration, there it is. In the form of the most beautiful blue eyes that are now looking down on all of us from above. So many tears shed today across the country for this little boy; tears of sadness and anger. Disgust that there is not a cure for these cancers.

I know that I sleep better at night knowing that I am doing what I can to make a difference and that people are helped because of the money I raise and you should all feel the same way. Your hard work and dedication to this cause makes a difference in many lives and for that, you should be very proud. I am...proud of all of you for sticking with this goal you set months ago. Not only are you completing an endurance event, which not many people can say they have done. You are doing so for a cause, which makes the experience a much sweeter one in the end. Thank you for being here and for fighting for those who are currently fighting, who have fought and won, and for those who fought the good fight and did not win.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and a great practice this weekend...whether you are running, walking, or hiking. You are inspiring to those around you.

In honor of Ronan, a huge fan of Star Wars, I leave you with a quote from Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try." Thank you for going above and beyond trying and just doing what you are with TNT for all those affected by a blood cancer.

May the Force be with you as we approach all of our events.

Go TEAM!

Joy Gaeraths
Mission Captain


LLS Mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Helping to fund research to find a cure for blood cancers.....one step at a time in memory of my Grandma - http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/anchor11/nautweety - Thanks for your support!!

Ronan - take care of your amazing family - Mama Maya, Woody, Liam, and Quinn need you to get through this.  You have touched so many people all over the world.....thank you.  Now, you can be our Yoda and show us the way....May the Force be with you, Ronan.

Las Vegas Half Marathon - 2010

So, I am too busy and lazy to add the pictures of the marathon here.  I am gearing up for another half marathon here in Phoenix in a little over a week, so follow this link to my pictures on Facebook of LV.  I don't believe you have to have a Facebook account to view them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223245&id=27705154&l=db479e043a

So, think of me as I do another 13.1 miles on January 16th in memory of my Grandma, in memory of Leonard, in honor of Ronan, Drew, Tommy, Melissa, and Heather.  Cancer can suck it.

Have a nice night and stay tuned as I attempt to keep this updated more often.....

Adding another race to my belt this coming weekend....

Hello my few friends who follow my sometimes updated  blog!

Just thought I would check in here and get ready to blog another race weekend!  A few friends from TNT and my friend from work and I are headed to LV for the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon this coming weekend courtesy of our driver, Ed.  We leave Friday, so check back for some updates of our adventures.  Should be a fun one, even if it's going to be really cold!!

Stay Tuned.......

Joy's Alaskan Adventure!

Yes, I am crazy and short on time today.  To make a long story short....I have signed up with Team in Training to do the Mayor's Half Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in June 2011.  So, I am hard core fundraising again.....visit my site!  I will update more later.......so excited!!




Visit my Fundraising Site for Alaska!

Lots going on in this head lately.....

Hello strangers!  Yes, I have neglected this poor blog since I returned from San Diego.  So, I have decided to try and post more here.....

So, I have been involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for a few years now....the first few were just walking in the Light the Night walk with my family and then more recently, with Team in Training starting in 2009.  My reason for getting involved was to walk in memory of my Grandma, who had Leukemia.  She was diagnosed in her 80's and was pretty much told that there was not much they could do because of her age and the side effects of the treatment.  So, my inspiration has been to help raise money to fund research that will hopefully find less toxic treatment for all cancer patients, but the elderly in particular.  My Grandma passed away in 2006.  I have always hated this dumb disease but recently, I have had way too much exposure to it.

One of my Team in Training teammates lost her dad to Leukemia a few weeks before we went to San Diego for the marathon.  That was rough to see as he was one of her biggest supporters when it came to her running and marathons.  I never met him but you could see it in his eyes in pictures.  We rallied around her and conquered our long run on the canal behind Sunnyslope with his name on our jerseys.

Last month, a guy I went to high school with found out that his 4 year old has Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, which is a common childhood cancer, but can be aggressive.  I have not really had any contact with Woody over the years and then everyone joined the facebook bandwagon, so that is about it for a connection but that doesn't matter when you take one look at Ronan.  Strangers have taken to his story because his beautiful eyes just pull you in, whether you like it or not. He has begun a journey that is not going to be easy but all you have to do is read his Mom's blog and you will see that he will be just fine.  I don't know her but her personality and determination is very evident in her writing.  The Thompson family will get through this and I can't help but follow their story and keep them in my thoughts and prayers.  Follow his story at www.rockstarronan.com

Two weeks ago, I read an update from a friend of mine that just set the waterworks off.  I am sure you get tired of hearing me talk about how much I love Team in Training and how great of an experience it is.  All of that is true about both seasons that I have completed but there was something about our San Diego/Seattle group that was different.  We clicked instantly and spent every Saturday on the canals/mountains and smelling up either Einstein's or IHOP, depending on the week. We invaded the track at Andersen Jr. High every Tuesday and did so with smiles on our faces and determination to raise money and awareness about blood cancers.  In the end, everyone was raising money for each other to make sure everyone met their goals.  I had not seen that happen in my previous season, which just said a lot about the friendships that had formed during this training season.  No matter how fast or slow you were, we were all together at the end of practice and either ate together or continued on our merry way each Saturday.

We headed to San Diego and I went by myself, so I needed a roommate.  I just indicated on my paperwork that if there was anyone from the East Valley group that didn't have a roommate, I would rather room with them over someone from another location.  So, I looked at the name on my envelope at our send off party and found that Heather would have to put up with me for a weekend.  We all had so much fun and she was the best roommate ever!  So, when her little announcement to us was, "I have cancer," I was shocked.  So now, she is one of our heroes.  Her positive attitude as well as all the support she has is going to pull her through being diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 years old.  She heads into surgery tomorrow and we will all be there for her whenever she needs anything.  In only a few hours, we filled up a spread sheet of people who love her and will provide dinners for her and her Mom over the next few weeks while she recovers and then heads into her chemo treatments.  That is what a TEAM does.  Heather - kick cancer's ass!

Thanks for being my free therapy this evening.  I have had so much running through my head dealing with this horrible disease called cancer and how it's affecting everyone from small innocent little boys to women too young to have to decide on what kind of surgery to have, and everyone in between.  Hopefully, with all the research going on out there, we can find a cure and not have to deal with all this garbage.  Seeing all of this over the past month or so has put things in perspective for me personally.  I may have issues going on right now that are stressing me out but it's nothing compared to what Ronan and Heather are going through.

So, find a cause that you are passionate about and get involved.  Every little bit helps....

Yes, I am doing this again.....

So, I have signed up for the next Team in Training event, which is the PF Chang's Half Marathon in Phoenix!  I am a Mission Captain again but this time, I am working with all three marathon groups, not just my East Valley training group.  It's going to be exciting to do a home race with Team in Training.  Anyone else interested?  Let me know!  Visit my fundraising site as well!


http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/pfchangs11/NauTweety

Stay tuned!!


Go TEAM!!

Monday, June 7th, 2010 - Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

So, we decided not to take our assigned shuttle to get to the airport because we had to get on it at 11am for a 4pm flight.  That was simply not acceptable, so we stuck around the hotel and enjoyed the beautiful weather a bit longer.  We hit up the deli for lunch and sat outside knowing that we would not be able to do that when we got home…..the first piece of news I paid attention to was the excessive heat advisory that we were under at home.  YUCK!

We headed to the airport and proceeded to celebrate our victories as well as my roomie, Heather’s birthday.  We made some noise in the airport and stimulated the economy in the bar and talked about how much fun we had, despite the blisters and sore muscles.

It was pretty funny to see us all maneuver around.  We boarded the plane and headed home….back to reality I suppose.  I was not too sad though…..my LMT sister was picking me up from the airport and taking me to her place where her massage table was ready to go!!  I got my post race massage, which was awesome!  The greatest thing about this race experience was that the only thing that really hurt after this was my back.  No shin pain, no pain in my feet.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  My close friends and family will remember that I was in some pretty horrible pain after Seattle because I let my feet go untreated.  I was worried about my shins because of some horrible pain I had a few weeks prior to the race.  I was not going to put all this training and hard work with my TEAM and then not be able to go myself!  Luckily, I had nothing but my back, which bothers me on a regular basis anyway.  Hopefully, the next race, I will just have the normal aches and pains associated with 13.1 miles of fun!  Thanks to my favorite people at Alpha Chiropractic for taking care of me and making sure I was ready to get out on that course and finish.  If you have any need for a sports therapist, chiropractor, or anything of the sort, I highly recommend this office.  Not only do they know what they are doing, it’s a fun time in the process.  I won’t lie and say I enjoy going there all the time, because it is not pain free for me, but it hurts less when you are laughing in the process.  You can tell them I sent you….at your own risk.  J  My walking peeps are also treated there, so we took this picture post race to thank them for taking great care of us:

Another race in the books for me and I am already signed up for PF Chang’s with Team in Training in January as the Mission Captain for all the marathon teams.  I am excited because most of my team is also signed up, so we can continue to motivate new people and have a good time doing it.  I am telling you, if I can be a morning person on the weekend just to put in the miles and can raise money for such a great cause, anyone can.  Ask me and I will put you in touch with the right people to get you signed up! 

And so, I leave you with another GO TEAM!!  TEAM ARIZONA & EAST VALLEY ROCKS!!

Stay tuned for my next adventures, whatever they may be……