Did anyone notice it was HOT today?

The Team Sarcoma bike tour is 26 days away!

Between Todd’s chemo side effects and the rain, we’re a bit (okay, a lot) behind schedule training for the tour. But as you can see from the photo, we got out on our bikes tonight (in the 93-degree humid weather no less!) and put in 8 miles together. Granted that’s not going to cut it on the big bike tour in July, but it’s a start. And for Todd to do 8 miles in this heat during chemo is pretty impressive if you ask me! Todd remains frustrated that he’s not progressing faster, but I think he’s doing great. Amazing, actually, with everything he’s been through. And besides, Scott (Todd’s dad) did a 30-mile bike ride yesterday, so technically, our team as a whole is right on course! :) I guess there’s no question who will be carrying Team Andrews on the 185-mile trek, eh?! Fortunately, this is not a race; the point of the bike tour is to raise awareness/funding for sarcomas and to have an incredible experience, and we can do that regardless of how many miles we bike.

We are grateful for the donations we have received in Todd’s honor to support our team, especially in this tough economy. Thank you!!! Sarcomas are rare, aggressive cancers that get very little funding, so your donation will definitely make a difference. If you donated but your name is not listed on this blog, please let me know – I do not have an updated list of the online donors yet, but hopefully I will soon! Your kindness and support means so much to us. We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

Love,
Karen

Training is Hard - But Scenic!

Hello everyone!

Our training for the bike tour continues, but unfortunately, it’s not going as well as we hoped. I would not recommend trying to train for a bike tour after 5 years of cancer treatment while currently on chemo 3 out of 4 weeks of every month!

As most of you know, Todd starts feeling pretty lousy from his second “on” week of chemo through the first few days of his “off” week. Since biking is not possible those days, he feels like he is losing a lot of valuable training time. Todd is disciplined about getting out on the bike every chance he gets when he’s feeling (somewhat) better, but he is frustrated that he is not seeing more progress. I think the maximum distance he’s gone so far is about 5 miles at a time (a couple times per week), and since even that is challenging, he’s worried about how he’ll fare on the tour. Surprisingly, he feels like his legs give out even before his lungs (my biggest concern, however, is his heart). But given all the chemo/radiation he’s had over the years, it’s amazing that he’s able to bike at all. Remember, it was not all that long ago that he required oxygen just to walk! I am just really proud of him for what he’s accomplished already -- whether he bikes 5 miles or 185 miles in July, he is my hero. And despite the challenge, we are enjoying our rides together around Lake Nokomis - as you can see, the scenery is lovely!

At this point, the big bike tour is only a little over five weeks away – where did the time go?! It’s going to be here in no time, and we’re getting very excited about it. Todd’s parents and our nephew came to visit us this weekend, and Todd and his dad spent some time in the garage fixing some issues with Todd’s bike. We also took a trip over to REI to invest in some new gear (we now have bike gloves and padded shorts to go with our new helmets!). Plus, we have booked our flights to Washington D.C. and our train tickets to Maryland, so it’s all starting to come together. This is definitely going to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

If you have the means to do so, we would really appreciate if you would send donations in honor of Todd to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, who organized the bike tour. Although the bike tour raises money and awareness of all types of sarcoma, they have done so much for osteosarcoma (Todd’s type of cancer) in particular. In fact, 97% of donations to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative go to promising peer-reviewed research, and at a time where osteosarcoma is getting virtually no attention or funding, the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative has given $200,000 to osteosarcoma research grants (not overhead costs) in just two years. We need to keep funding organizations like this if we are every going to find a cure for Todd and so many other young people like him. Sorry for the sales pitch, but obviously raising money to fight this awful disease is extremely close to my heart.

Thanks to those of you who are following our blog – we appreciate your support so much! I’ll keep you updated on our training progress.

- Karen