Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Hi everyone, just a quick update on where I am at with my counts, and then I want to ask for your help on an exciting event coming up.

My white cell counts are still in the basement at the unreadable levels, but the good news is my platelets continue to rise. They have gone up every day for the past 6 days which is very promising. Again, this means my bone marrow is working, just hasn't started with the white cells yet. Hopefully any day now we'll see some movement there.

So here is where I could use your help. There is a very cool Leukemia charity walk coming up at Angel Stadium called The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light The Night Walk. Here is some info about the walk:

The Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide evening fundraising walk to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer. Funds raised support blood cancer research and patient services. Cancer survivors light the way with illuminated white balloons, supporters carry red balloons and teams walking in memory of a loved one carry a single gold balloon. Dedication banners designed to honor cancer survivors and the memory of those who lost their battles give participants a chance to personalize their efforts and pay tribute to a friend or loved one. Light The Night 2008 promises to be the biggest, brightest and best our counties have ever seen.

When: Saturday, September 20 2008

Where: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA

The name of my team is "Team Chrome Dome"...come on, you gotta love that. I think we're up to 15 people who have shaved their heads so it was only fitting. There are two ways to participate, walk or donate:

1. If you walk, click on or cut and paste the following link http://teams.lightthenight.org/ChromeDome, and follow the instructions to become a participant by joining the team. If you become a participant, there is no donation requirement, but they ask that you bring in somewhere in the neighborhood of $200. Now this isn't your own $200.00. This money should come from donations from your family and friends in your name which would fall under team Chrome Dome. This is if you have signed up correctly. If you have people donate money in your name, they would follow the next set of instructions in number 2.

2. To donate to an existing team member or walker, click on or cut and paste the following link: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnSanta , and follow the instructions. You should be able to choose the team member you want and donate from there. Again, the goal is to have every team member bring in $200.00, so any help would be great. Any size donation toward their name will help and the website makes it really easy. If everyone just jumps on the website and donates 5-10 bucks or more, we should have no problem getting there. This is for a great cause and the fact that it is affiliated with the Angels makes it even better.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Van Skogkund at 714-553-0661 or email him at Van_Skoglund@Kingston.com He can walk you through the process which is very easy.

Thanks in advance everyone. I can tell from the outpouring of emotion and support over the past 6 weeks that this group should have no problem stepping up and making this a success. It will be a really fun and rewarding event so if you can make it for the walk, even better. I will be there condition permitting for sure. More updates on my blood levels to follow as I get them.