Merry Christmas Everyone!
I'm enjoying this Christmas with my two beautiful daughters, extended hawaiian family and my beloved wife, Wendy. Wendy was born on Christmas, so we also get to celebrate her 40th birthday today in beautiful Hawaii. It's hard to believe that just a year ago I completed my pre-stem cell transplant testing and was informed that I was approved for the stem cell procedure that gave me my life back in less than 1 year.
Well my first marathon is in the books. After five months of rigorous training, I completed the 39th Honolulu Marathon on December 11th with a time of 4:19:36. I placed 2428 out of 19,078 runners and the pain only lasted a couple days afterwards. It was a great personal experience that I know I'm truly blessed to complete after all I've been through this year. My training buddies and I also used the event as a fundraising opportunity and we were able to raise just over $1000 for the Scleroderma Foundation.
I continue to see improvement in my overall health and contribute that to the stem cell transplant along with diet, exercise and plenty of rest. My annual follow-up appointment at Northwestern is in March and I will be sure to keep you all posted on my results.
If you're battling scleroderma, I hope this blog has been helpful in answering some of your questions about the process. Remember, there is hope out there, so keep fighting and pressing your medical team for answers to your questions.
As always, feel free to contact me at hawaiisclerodermanetwork@gmail.com if you have any further questions.
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