A Canadian Hero - His Dream Lives On

On July 28, 1958, a young boy was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His name was Terry Fox and little did his parents know at that time that their son would leave his mark on the world.

Terry's parents moved to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia when Terry was still young. He attended Simon Fraser University and in 1976, was chosen to play junior varsity basketball. But after being on the team for only a year, Terry began to have excruitiating pain in his right knee. It turned out that Terry had osteogenic sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. His right leg was amputated to try to prevent the cancer from spreading.

While recuperating from the surgery, Terry read a magazine article about an amputee runner. He made up his mind that he would run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. After he fully recuperated Terry began to train for his run, which he called The Marathon of Hope. Two years after the amputation, Terry started to run at night when no one would see him. He was preparing himself to succeed in his goal.

On April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his articifical leg into the Atlantic Ocean in St. John's Newfoundland and then set off on his Marathon of Hope. He ran an average of 26 miles a day across six provinces.

Everywhere Terry went he was greeted by hundreds of people who lined roads and streets, cheering him on. But when he reached Thunder Bay, Ontario, disaster struck. Terry collapsed. The dreaded cancer had spread to his lungs.

Terry's parents flew in to Thunder Bay and took their son home but the Marathon of Hope was far from over. Isadore Sharp sent Terry a telegram the following day, stating that he would organize a run to raise funds for cancer research. It would be called, The Terry Fox Run.

Terry Fox succumbed to cancer on June 28, 1981. On September 21, 1981, the first Terry Fox Run was held at 760 sites across Canada and around the world. In 2008, the Terry Fox Run will be held on September 14th. The Terry Fox School Run Day will be held on September 26th. Jordan always participates.

For more information on the Terry Fox Run, or to make a donation, visit the website of the Terry Fox Foundation. Every dollar goes toward cancer research.

Note: My prayers are with all of those in the path of Hurricane Ike. Be sure to get in all the supplies you need and stay safe.

Please Pray for my Aunt

Some of you have been asking about Aunt May. I tried to call her a few days ago, but there was no answer. I figured that she must still be out of town where she goes for her radiation and chemo treatments. I left a message asking her to call me when she felt up to it. Sunday afternoon the phone rang and she and I had quite a lengthy chat about life and death.

Aunt May went through five days of radiation in the middle of June for the lump on her spine. Last week she had two rounds of chemo. Her doctors are treating her cancer aggressively, but since she has a rare blood condition, the treatments make her weak. A couple of weeks ago, she had to have iron intravenously to bring her blood count up because they would not give her chemo while it was so low. Now it is low once again, so she will have to have more iron. This is very hard on her and they are wanting her to have two transfusions as well.

Years ago Aunt May had a horrific reaction to a transfusion and the doctors at that time told her she could never have another. When she went into the hospital with her broken leg in April 2007, the doctor ordered a transfusion for her. It just happened that hubby and I went to visit just before it was started. She said she would be fine, but I could tell by her eyes that she was terrified. I told her we would stay with her and we did. Luckily, there were no adverse effects, but once again she is frightened to have these transfusions. I told her it was her choice and not to let them do anything to her that she didn't want them to do.

As we talked, she told me that the cancer is now in her head and her liver. She knows that she is dying and told me it's just a matter of time. This saddened me because she is my favorite aunt and because she has experienced many health problems her entire life.

We discussed different things and I told her that I hated to see anyone lie in bed in excruitiating pain for weeks or months. I said I would prefer they were taken home before that happened. She was quite honest with me and said, "I fear that is what the end will be like for me."

I answered, "I pray not."

Her reply was, "You better pray hard."

She also voiced her desire that she would like to pass quickly. I think that is something that we all desire, but that wish isn't always granted.

So I am asking each of you to ask God to have mercy upon my Aunt May and take her home before she has to experience such pain. Her life has been hard and she deserves to die with dignity. I will keep you updated on her condition from time to time. Thanks in advance for your prayers, love and support. ~Blessings, Mary~

A Hectic Day

Good Thursday morning.

Wednesday was a hectic day. Hubby and I both had errands to do in the afternoon. I got home first so I phoned for prices on carpet etc. Then we had to go and do some business and it took longer than we thought. By the time it was done, it was time to get something to eat. By this time we were both exhausted. Guess we are getting old. We can't do all the things in one day that we used to. So no physical work got done in the apartment today. However, we do know where we can get the best deals on some of the materials that we need.

Hope everyone has a good day. I will try to post a little update when I can.

In other news, they have called a halt to Aunt May's therapy for the time being. She went Tuesday to be marked for radiation on her spine. There is a lump of cancer there as big as a baseball. They feel it is more urgent to take care of that at the present time instead of chemo. Please continue to pray for her. She is in good spirits and is taking all of this in stride. She is a remarkable woman.

My blessings for this week:

1. May's positive attitude and inspiring motivation.

2. My MIL, who gave us an awesome gift to help with the renovations.

3. For Jack (and Melissa and Griffyn) who are lending us a hand with the renovations.

4. For all my wonderful blogging friends who prayed the tenant would move out without problems and who are still praying for us.

5. For songbirds that sing me awake in the morning.

6. For all of the blessings too numerous to mention here such as food on the table, a roof over our heads and all the other common things we often take for granted.

7. For the Power of Prayer.

Take care and have a wonderful day. ~Blessings, Mary~