3.16.2008

Relay For Life 2008

I fixed the Link to me Relay For Life page.
The Link to my page is:
The Link to Perseverance is:
The Link to Perseverance Too is:

3.14.2008

Anniversary

THREE YEARS AND STILL ALIVE!!!!!
We did the annual survivorship skinny dip at 12:05am this morning to commemorate the day!!!! Brrrr!
What am I thankful for?! I am thankful that the pond wasn't frozen! =)

3.12.2008

Relay For Life 2008

COMMITMENT
"The biggest and hardest single thing that you will be required to do in the entire battle is to make up your mind to really fight it.
You must, on your own, make the commitment that you will do everything in your power to fight the disease.
No exceptions. No halfway. Nothing for the sake of ease or convenience.
Everything! Nothing short of it.
When you have done this, you have accomplished the most difficult thing you will have to accomplish throughout your entire treatment."
Richard and Anne Bloch, A Tribute to Life, Cancer Survivors Plaza, Dallas TX

It is the 2008 Relay for Life season, and this year, teams "Perseverance" and "Perseverance Too" have commited to CELEBRATE, REMEMBER, and FIGHT BACK!
We are celebrating those who are surviving cancer and celebrating the lives of those that are no long with us.
We are remembering those that we have lost, and all that we loved about them.
We are fighting back in honor of those that we have loved and lost, we are fighting back in honor of us that are still fighting our battles, and we are fighting back so that some day cancer will be just a very bad memory.

Last year team Perseverance raised $21000! We acheived state recognition for our fundraising efforts, and we celebrated how much we were able to do when we put our hearts into what we were doing...well, guess what! Our hearts grew 3 sizes over the holidays!

This year we have branched into two teams because of the number of people we have helping us towards our goal. Team Perseverance will be captained by myself, and Lori and Michelle have graciously accepted the responsibilities of being co-captains. Our other team will be called Perseverance Too (which is not really another team at all)! We are all one in our efforts. P Too will be captained by Skye! He is very proud of his new responsibilities!

This year our goal is to raise $35,000 by team Perseverance and $5,000 by Perseverance Too! And WHEN we accomplish this next goal we have set for ourselves, I (and my co-captains, so they say) will get my head shaved! I have to admit, I have started to have a few panic feelings about the head shaving (I like my hair, and I have really big ears) but when I think about all that I have lost to cancer in the last 3 years, I am reminded that a head shaving is NOTHING compared to the losses that I have felt. I have gone through difficult treatments and permanent body alterating surgeries, I have cried with friends who have been diagnosed with difficult cancers, I have listened to friends who have lost family members to the disease, I have spoken to hundreds of people about my story and about how the American Cancer Society is keeping me alive and I have vowed to do everything I can to help them in their efforts, I have attended the funerals of beloved friends, and I have looked into the teary eyes of my children and I have promised them that I will do everything in my power be here with them as long as I possibly can.

So...if shaving my head, gets some people excited, then I am going to do it! I will tell every newspaper and TV station in the state about our goals, and WE will get this done! I do this for my children, my parents, my husband, and my family and friends. I do this in memory of Christopher, Dr. Larson, Ginni, Mrs. Trindle, and Kim. I do this for the love of my survivor friends that I have met through the RELAY, HEROES OF HOPE, LIFESPRING, METHODIST AND MIDWEST CANCER CENTERS, and LIFE. I do this for my friends who have lost parents, siblings, neices, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. And, I do this for me, I am not done here!

If you want to do this too, then please, go to my website and make a donation:
To make a donation online and to track our progress, visit http://main.acsevents.org/goto/tracy.harnly
To send a donation, make all checks payable to: American Cancer Society
5733 S 34th Ste 500 Lincoln, Nebraska 68516
(Indicate Relay team: Tracy Harnly-Team Perseverance)

You can also help by forwarding this information on to others that you think might be with us in our fight! You will be affecting the lives of millions!

HOPE and LOVE to you!
What am I thankful for?! All the friends/family that have joined my team, all the people that are considering helping us out this year, and I am thankful that I have hair....today! =)

3.08.2008

Thanks for looking out for me!

According to the comments on my last blog there are at least a couple people that are looking out for me and wondering what is going on. One of the comments said I have looked sad at work and have been missing a lot of days.
Well, let me tell ya...Cancer sucks, and I have a few friends in the thick of it right now, and that just frustrates me and breaks my heart! One has been fighting for 2 years and is the most amazingly strong and sometimes painfully independent woman. One is newly diagnosed with a young family and stage four disease. He is stubborn and has a kick ass attitude, which will take him a long way. And the third has been doing this for 6 years I believe...he has the power to move mountains and despite several doctors visits and hospital stays lately, he will pull it out in the end. All three are survivors of a disease that no one should have to experience.
So, that might be why I have looked sad lately.
As for missing a lot of work, I had treatment on Monday and my MUGA to check my heart functioning. My MUGA scan was good. And treatment was uneventful. I had lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks, so I was a little worried about that, but I had blood work and exams done, and they don't see any cause for alarm, so I guess we willl just chalk that up to an unanswered prayer finally answered, because God knows I haven't done anything to work that weight off!
As for the rest of the days I have been gone- Wednesday night I got the stomach flu, so I was on my bathroom floor on Thursday and Friday! Good times!
What am I up to now? Well, I am working on my RELAY teams and hoping to get some fundraising started! And, I am (sort of) training for the Lincoln 1/2 marathon.
Never a dull day! I do my Hope thing in Alma NE tomorrow and was in Seward NE speaking at their Relay Kick Off last week! My dad and my Aunt Ruthie went to that, so that was a nice surprise!
What am I thankful for?! I am thankful that I am no longer throwing up! I am thankful for my husband who took over 100% while I was out of commission. I am thankful for all the movies I had DVRed prior to getting sick! Have you seen Under the Tuscan Sun? Great movie!