Date: 2009-02-02
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Miles today: 0.0

I have dreamed about hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) for over 20 years and almost four years ago I was lucky enough to start a hike of the entire trail. As I was preparing for my 2005 hike, I knew I wanted to do it as a fundraiser and although I had been active with the breast cancer cause in the past I knew t was time to find a new cause. Unfortunately, I didn¢t find the right group to support and started hiking with no charity in mind. From day one of my hike, I knew I could walk all the way to Maine, however, I knew I wasn¢t suppose to complete it at that time. Little did I know that by the time my adventure was coming to a close in the fall of 2005, I would have the first reason for my 2009 Georgia to Maine for the Brain hike.My best friend¢s mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and other than being concerned for her and the family, I didn¢t give it much thought. She came though the surgery well and has been back to her normal life pre-brain tumor. Then in the fall of 2006 I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful woman who has been fighting a brain tumor most of her life. After the softball sized tumor was removed from the frontal lobe of her brain she has chosen to fight the re-growth by a variety of non-surgical methods.And I thought wow, that¢s two amazing and strong women who have been battling brain tumors, that strange. Little did I know at that time, these two women were just the beginning... In the spring of 2007 I started a new class at school, and had the pleasure of meeting a woman, not much older than myself, and was shocked and saddened to hear of the brain tumor she has been battling for 10 years. Outwardly I never would have guessed of her struggles. However her struggles have been great, including 3 major brain surgeries, seizures that come all too often and no real hope of ever being tumor free.   Then came the summer of 2007, when a close friend and former co-worker was diagnosed. She was very fortunate for her doctors to have found her tumor early on, before it had attached to her brain, and today, she doesn¢t even like to call her self a brain tumor survivor because of how little it has affected her life today. At this point I made the decision to hike for the National Brain Tumor Society. Four amazing women; who I call friends; all deeply affected by brain tumors. It made me feel like I needed to do something. But wait¢¦ the story doesn¢t end there because in the fall of 2007 I learn about one more¢¦I was informed by a friend that she might not be able to participate in our annual fall event due to an upcoming brain surgery her husband was about to have. This was to be his 2nd of 3 surgeries he had in just over a year. I long for the days in 2005 leading up to my hike when I was trying to find a cause to hike for, because today it all to painfully clear what I need to do. As many you know I have been active with breast cancer fundraising for the last 8 years, but I have now made a switch. In 2007 it became painfully clear breast cancer does not need my help any longer when I attended two 5K walks in one weekend. The first was Angel Adventure, sponsored by the National Brain Tumor Society, and the second was the Race for the Cure sponsored by Susan G Komen. There was roughly 910 to 1 walking for the breast cancer 5K as to the brain tumor 5K. Who needs my voice? You guessed it. So I have teamed up with this amazing group to raise my voice to anyone who will listen about the story of my friends and their battles. The thing that scares me most is all five of my friends grew up in different areas of the country and all of them have different types of tumors in different locations of the brain. It¢s not like they all drank the same contaminated water as kids and lawsuits can be filed against a big company to pay for the damages. We don¢t know why they developed tumors¢¦and to me, that¢s the scary part. My friends are the lucky ones, as they are all survivors, however they are in the minority. Brain tumors are indiscriminate in who they attack, and they are the number one killer of children. Will you please help me reach my fundraising and awareness goal? I will be hiking just over 2100 miles along the Appalachian Trail, I have decided to set a fundraising goal of $21,000 per friend with a brain tumor¢¦ yes you read that right¢¦ per friend. I have never taken on such a big task before, but I figure to make a difference you must dream big. So $105,000 here I come.