game on, cancer.

wow. marathon weekend is here! i'm overwhelmed and my heart is full with gratitude. i'm so grateful for my friends and family who have supported me these past few months. i'm so grateful for the wonderful people i've met and the stories i've heard about strong fighters of this disease. i'm in awe of the courage, determination and pure guts of cancer patients and i am humbled and oh-so honored to be running on sunday for them and for the lance armstrong foundation. i am not a good writer. but even if i was, words would not be able to accurately express what this experience has meant to me. it has been worth every early saturday morning, every pop of an advil, every.single.step.

my ipod playlist is set. my nails are painted black (i always paint my nails black before a race...shows i'm tough :P). my bright yellow liveSTRONG tutu is made. the training is done and all that's left to do is go out there sunday morning and pick a fight with cancer. those austin hills will bleed yellow.

game on, cancer.

LIVESTRONG at the Y

Another great program that the LIVESTRONG foundation participates in...

In 2007, LIVESTRONG and YMCA of the USA joined forces to create LIVESTRONG at the YMCA, a program to support people affected by cancer reach their health and well-being goals. The YMCA is the perfect collaborator because of its national reach, commitment to meeting the needs of all community members, and history of program innovation in support of health and wellness. Throughout the four-year collaboration, LIVESTRONG at the YMCA will be integrated into YMCAs across the country, with the potential to impact tens of thousands of people affected by cancer.

Research has indicated that physical activity after cancer treatments helps to reduce fatigue, improve mood, and increase muscle strength and physical endurance. With 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States today, there is a great need to offer those living with, through and beyond cancer a safe and accommodating environment where they can engage in physical and social activities.

How are the YMCA and LIVESTRONG working together to improve the lives of people affected by cancer?
At LIVESTRONG, we hear from cancer survivors who were once physically active, but due to their cancer treatment have either quit engaging in physical activity completely or have a limited ability to be active. Cancer survivors are often unsure of the type of physical activity that is safe after completing treatment.

LIVESTRONG wants to support cancer survivors in their return to physical activity and we found the perfect collaborator—the YMCA. Collectively, the YMCA is one of the nation's largest, not-for-profit providers of health and well-being programs. Approximately 57 percent of U.S. households are within three miles of a YMCA, so whether you are a current member of your local YMCA, grew up going to the Y or have just heard of it, you likely are somehow connected to the Y either directly or indirectly.

To ensure that LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is safe and effective, we have worked with YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for YMCAs, and a group of expert advisors to gather best practices related to physical activity and cancer survivors. We have also identified the many ways YMCA staff can engage and support people affected by cancer in their communities and how they will provide a positive, learning environment to help survivors meet their personal health and well-being goals during treatment and beyond.

Here's a video:

The LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program is currently available in the following cities.

Ann Arbor, MI
Austin, TX
Basking Ridge, NJ
Boise, ID
Boston, MA
Burlington, NJ
Charlotte, NC
Dallas, TX
Des Moines, IA
Fairfield, OH
Fargo, ND
Franklin, MA
Lakeland, FL
Louisville, KY
Marysville, WA
Metuchen, NJ
Milwaukee, WI
Providence, RI
Rochester, NY
Seattle, WA
St. Louis, MO
Suncoast, FL (Clearwater/St. Petersburg)
Syracuse, NY
Tampa, FL

Each YMCA program looks a little different depending on the location. To give you an idea, here is a program description for the Austin, TX YMCA:

LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is a 12 week small group program designed for adult cancer survivors who have become de-conditioned or chronically fatigued from their treatment and/or disease. The program is offered without cost to the participants and YMCA membership is free to participants and their family for the full 12 weeks of the program.

The goal of the program is to help patients build muscle mass and muscle strength, increase flexibility and endurance, and improve functional ability. Additional goals include reducing the severity of therapy side effects, preventing unwanted weight changes, and improving energy levels and self esteem. A final goal is to assist participants in developing their own physical fitness program so they can continue to practice a healthy lifestyle, not only as part of their recovery, but as a way of life.

Certified YMCA fitness instructors give personal individualized instruction to the participants. The instructors are trained in the elements of cancer, post rehab exercise and supportive cancer care.

Cool, right?

On a related note, I came across this article in Fitness Magazine this morning:
Healing Force: Kathryn Schmitz, PhD
By Lisa Haney


For cancer patients the medical advice about exercise used to be: Rest. Don't push yourself. Now, thanks to an international team of experts led by Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has issued guidelines strongly endorsing exercise for cancer patients and survivors and begun certifying specialized cancer exercise trainers. A pioneer who has been researching the benefits of strength training for breast cancer survivors for more than a decade, Schmitz, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, says exercise improves quality of life and empowers women to reconnect with their bodies. "We're seeing physiological changes," she says, including improved strength and fitness, stronger bones, and decreased fatigue. Still, many oncologists are too focused on treating cancer to prescribe exercise. "The only way that cancer patients are going to get it is by demanding that their physicians give them access to it," Schmitz says. "The ACSM recommendations are a key first step in providing doctors with guidance and support."

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/real-plans/stay-fit/2011-champions-of-health-and-fitness/?page=6

Numbers

A while back I received an email from a woman named Amy. A mutual friend of ours had shared this blog with her because Amy's husband, Chris (who goes by "Butch") has been fighting Ocular Melanoma for two years now.

Amy shared with me some facts about Ocular Melanoma(OM). OM is the most common form of eye cancer in adults but is still considered rare (affecting 6 people per million each year in the US). Half of the people who are diagnosed with OM develop metastasis, which is always fatal. Fortunately, Butch remains free of metastasis. He was treated with a radiation plaque which was implanted into his eye for a week and is now almost completely blind in his affected eye.

The medical terms and the statistics are scary but what really moves me are the other details and numbers that Amy shared...She and Butch have been married for 14 years. Amy describes Butch as her best friend for over 15 years and a wonderful father to their 2 children, ages 9 and 12. Those are the numbers that matter. She says that they live in fear that his next scan will show that his cancer has spread and that she is desperate for more awareness, funding and research for her husband and for her children. It is gut-wrenching to think of Amy and her wonderful family having to live in fear and desperation. I pray for them every day and am honored to run for families like this.


28 million people are living with cancer today. 28 million! People just like Butch who have families and friends who love them and who are fighting with them against this horrible disease.

LIVESTRONG at School

Each month I get an email from Tom Whiteside at LIVESTRONG with updates about fundraising efforts, race information and (my favorite) programs & partnerships that LIVESTRONG participates in to accomplish their mission of "improving the lives of people affected by cancer".

The program hilighted this month is LIVESTRONG at School

In my email, Mr. Whiteside states, "With one in three people in the U.S. facing a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, children in classrooms everywhere are likely to be dealing with cancer right now—with a grandparent, parent, family member, friend or teacher. Research shows that 25 percent of cancer survivors in the U.S. have school-aged children. Also, siblings of children with cancer report that the support they receive at school is just as important as the support they receive at home.
The LIVESTRONG at School curriculum offers online lessons for grades K–12 to help you teach your students about cancer in a way that is age-appropriate, inspiring and empowering. You can review and make use of the free LIVESTRONG at School Curriculum at any time."

The lessons provided online include:
national standards
clear learning objectives
engaging videos
extension activities
a check for understanding
ways that students can get involved in the fight against cancer

What a great program to help ease some of the worry and fear caused by cancer in the hearts of our children by offering them an opportunity to learn and understand more about the disease. Keep up the good work, LIVESTRONG!

1st Request! (yes....ALREADY!)

First and foremost, it is important for me to focus on WHY I am doing this. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am running in memory and honor of my loved ones who have fought cancer. But I also want to make this about YOU and your loved ones who have fought as well. If you feel comfortable sending me the name (& a photo if you'd like) of someone (or many someones) in your life who I can run in memory or honor of, please send those to me via email (kerith.stanton@gmail.com). If you'd like, tell me about them...who they are & what they mean to you - that stuff is so important and if you'd like to share that with me I'd be truly honored.

The more names the better! In addition to praying for your loved ones and thinking of them during my training (trust me...four hours of running - I'll have PLENTY of time to think of them!) I'd like to be able to include the names in a future blog post and also would like to post them on a board to take with me to fundraising events. I think it's so important to have those specific names so that people are aware that this disease affects us ALL.

I'm so excited to be part of something that is "bigger than me"...thank you for your support in doing this.

-Kerith