Team: BTHO Brain Cancer's First Trip to Brain Power 5k

Success.

That is the one word I would use to describe this weekend's run in Cedar Park, Texas. To say I encourage each of you to attend the 'Brain Power 5k' and/or the 'Run For The Rose' next year would be an understatement, I think each of you absolutely NEED to attend! 

(Side Note: Run For The Rose will be Sunday, April 12, 2015!)

These runs put everything into perspective. As the survivors walked by before the run, a friend of mine looked at me and said, "Some of them are so young." And she's right. Brain Cancer does not discriminate. Brain Cancer does not just impact the old. Brain Cancer impacts us all. 

As I started in on my 5k, I looked at a little kid right in front of me and I read the back of his shirt: "In Memory of My Daddy." My heart sank. 

I was watching a 7 year old little boy run for his Daddy, his Daddy who was no longer here. I immediately realized that I could be running in memory of my Dad, but instead I was running in honor of him. And what an honor that was!

I also saw some familiar faces from the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, a foundation that has gone above and beyond for my family, and for all those in the cancer community. We talked about my Dad, we talked about our frustration with Brain Cancer funding and shared a hug- a hug with someone who knows EXACTLY what my family is going through. This upcoming 'Run For The Rose' will be the 13th annual run for the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, and in the last 12 runs, the foundation has raised over $4 million dollars towards Brain Cancer research. I talked with Dr. Marnie Rose's mother, who created the foundation, and Dr. Marnie Rose's dear friend, Sallye, who is the Executive Director of the foundation. We talked about how far the treatment options have come for brain cancer, and we also talked about how much more still needs to be done to catch up to other types of cancer treatments. These ladies are true inspirations to me. They were able to take something as terrible as brain cancer, and turn it into a foundation which is impacting so many on a daily basis. And for that, I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

I was so happy that my friend was able to see the face of brain cancer in so many types of people, a little child, a young mother/father, and a grandparent- she was able to see that brain cancer impacts so many and the impact can be so devastating. She was also able to see how the brain cancer community comes to together in such a wonderful way, she was able to see that strangers can become great friends because of brain cancer, and she was able to see that something so "small" as a 5k can make such a BIG impact. 

Our fight continues. Our fight will never stop to beat brain cancer, and my fight will never stop in helping to find a cure, so that no family has to fight like my family fights each day. It's not easy, some days are difficult, frustrating and discouraging, but this last week has been one of the best weeks Dad has had since October 5, 2013. For the first time, Dad wanted to go out to his shop and refinish some furniture he started on prior to his diagnosis, and for the first time things seemed even more normal than before. As I told Mrs. Rose at the Brain Power 5k, if this is as good as it gets, if Dad's speech, strength, and attitude is as good as it gets- I'm more than ok with it all.

Another round of chemo starts soon, and we continue to pray for the chemo to continue working and for Dad to continue to feel well! 

Keep praying, and we will keep fighting to BTHO Brain Cancer!