My friend Rhonda's been clear of her AML Leukemia for over 60 months, and consequently she's made it her mission to serve others with Leukemia by raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For Rhonda, I believe she's chosen the only challenge with enough challenge in it for her substantial will. Rhonda raises money by asking for pledges from friends, colleagues, and family and entering and running marathons. This spring she's running two. Rhonda also speaks about stem cell transplant to groups and physicians around the country and in general has become the poster girl for cord-blood transplant.
Quite simply, the trajectory of Rhonda's life has been altered in ways she never would have imagined by her battle with AML Leukemia. A battle which began on December 28, 2001. Rhonda's passage, enduring the rigors of chemotherapy and her decision to undergo the 38th double cord-blood transplant ever performed on an adult in the U.S., thrust her into the stratosphere of the treatment of diseases like we have. Decisions like this, to take your life to the limits of its tolerance, to the very limits of what defines life itself, are actually about that point when your body and mind are taken over by will. It's an unconscious, primal decision, not a pragmatic one. I believe survival is primal and choosing, as Rhonda did, to try an unknown and new treatment is as primal as decisions get. It's an emergence of a will we didn't even know we had.
Ultimately, its seen as bravery by the outside world: our will to be, to continue to live, to try anything, to set aside the pain you know is waiting, to suspend belief and just do; to show up every day and deal with what is dealt from the disease, from our attitude, from the twists and turns in our blood and the physical changes wrought by the disease and its unique treatment methodology.
But this passage, the emotional challenges, the unknown outcomes, the pain, the pure monotony and grinding boredom -- of, first, survival, and later, recovery -- are not about bravery. It's about uncharted will, the humanity we all possess but only tap in times of the extreme convergence of hope and statistical improbability. It is then we rise on the swelling tide of our will to be more than we ever imagined we could or would be.
So, why this story?
Rhonda is running for me this year. It is my honor that she's chosen me to inspire her to train, engage in and finish these most grueling of personal/physical/emotional challenges. But that's who she is: fearless, willful, challenging herself to limits she never imagined she had, much less, would have to surpass. Quite the opposite of me being her hero and inspiration in these challenges, she's been my hero for the last 5 years, long before I could imagine I'd ever need the kind of will that could be seen by her or others as courageous.
So please take a moment to peruse her website by clicking here. I'd love it if you would consider contributing towards Rhonda's goal of raising $6,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Run, Rhonda, Run!
Arnie
2 comments:
Arnie:
One of my favorite Team In Training t-shirts says "If you think running a marathon is hard, try chemotherapy."
Thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us. I know we are all learning a lot about ourselves, about facing challenges head on, and having the will to see it through.
Love,
Rhonda
Hey Arnie,
I miss you! Thank you for sharing Rhonda with those of us not in the club.
love to you,
Nancy
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