Gratitude from the Bledsoe Battle

As I reflect on the things I am grateful for, I realized that I wanted to thank you to each of you for your participation in this year’s Light the Night walk.  Team Firefly was again the top Friends and Family team for the Seattle walk.  This is the 4^th year in a row that we have claimed that honor and I thank each and every one of you for your help in raising over $22,000 to fight blood cancers.

We were the 2^nd place team overall, chasing the incredibly impressive Seattle Genetics team who raised over $49,000 with 157 team members.  As I talked to their team at the awards ceremony, each of them was incredibly impressed with all that our team has been able to do without the backing of any corporate sponsor. 

Did you know?  When LLS was founded in 1949, a blood cancer diagnosis was almost always fatal.  Thanks in part to innovative research funded by LLS, survival rates have improved dramatically. Today, an estimated 274,930 people are living with or are in remission from leukemia. 

FUNDRAISING CLUBS:

This is the first year that we have had 6 team members joining the Bright Lights club.  Do you think we can break that record again next year??

TEAM FIREFLY BRIGHT LIGHTS (Raised over $1000)

•    Christine Watson - $1691.46 
•    Carrie Numata - $1472.46
•    Ken Mock - $1121.46
•    Andrea Coughlin - $1079.51
•    Becky McLellan - $1053.71 

 

TEAM FIREFLY CHAMPIONS – THE 100 CLUB!

• Vivian Oehler - $936.71
• Ceci Rozendaal - $806.46
• Celeste McArthur - $521.46
• Bonnie Rydman - $506.46
• Carol Bonenko - $491.46
• Scott Bledsoe - $453.71
• Paul Giering - $426.46
• Thelma Westberg - $371.46
• Mackenzie Martin - $366.46
• Debbie Carroll - $252.46
• Erin Aten - $205.46
• Hans Loland - $203.71
• LeAnn Miller - $201.60
• Zea Carter - $123.71
• Dorothy Gorman - $106.46
• Benjamin Bonenko - $103.90 
• Aleksandra Bonenko - $103.71
• David Bonenko - $103.71 
• Jacque Bonenko - $103.71
• Laura Mitchell - $103.71
• Steve Mitchell - $103.71
• Jennifer Hugill - $103.71
• Libby Dermenstein - $103.71
• Bethanie Roddy – $103.71
• Amy Donlan - $103.71 
• Cynthia Loland - $103.71 
• Michele Bleser - $103.71
• Dave Carroll - $101.60
• Lauren Schepman - $100
• Lynn Roediger - $100

Thank you for all that you have done to help fight cancer.  I’m deeply touched by the fact that family and friends continue to join me each September in my current version of the Bledsoe Battle – my efforts to fund a cure for blood cancers.

Registration for next year’s walk begins in February.  I hope that you will consider joining Team Firefly again.  Invite your friends and neighbors and coworkers to join us in fundraising.  Let’s give those corporate teams a run for their (research) money again next year!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Mandy Bledsoe

http://bledsoebattle.com

Light the Night

We have only two weeks until this week's Light the Night walk and I'm excited to see friends and family there!  Team Firefly is currently in second place in the team fundraising, so we need to have a good push this week to catch up with Seattle Genetics.  I'd hate to have another team win the Tyler Bledsoe Memorial Award for the top fundraising team... :)

If you are coming to walk with us, you can register for Team Firefly (please note that a second team with a similar name signed up for the Seattle walk, so you will want to be careful to join the correct team).  The top team as of Wednesday 9/26 will be announced at the walk.  The top 10 teams at that time will be awarded a tent on the night of the walk and get to skip the check in lines, etc.  You can mail your donations in to the LLS office, or drop it off at their upcoming bank nights, or deposit it online at your website.

In the meantime, I have been keeping busy watching our online fundraising auction.  If you haven't checked out the wonderful items available for bidding, please visit the auction at http://www.facebook.com/events/266809260097392/ or our auction photo album at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.117076831774654&type=1.  I'm shocked to see that a guitar signed by Blake Shelton is only at $100...  Isn't a guitar alone worth at least that much?  You can also help us out by forwarding these links on to your other friends.

See you on walk night!

Light the Night Walk Update - 6 weeks to Go!

If you will be walking with us this September, please contact me to get signed up (or sign up online at http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL12/TeamFirefly).  We are up to 25 team members so far, but several other people have told me they plan to join us.

 

Walk Night Details
Seattle Walk   --  Saturday, September 29th, 2012
Green Lake Park, Seattle
 
5:00pm – Remembrance Ceremony
5:30pm – Check-in & Festivities
7:00pm – Walk
 

Upcoming Fundraisers
Let me know if you have an upcoming fundraiser and I am happy to share the information with team members.  Use this area to know how you can support our team, to spread the word about events, and to get some ideas on what you can do!  Contact me if you need more details about any of the events below.

- Tyler Memorial Golf Tournament, Marysville -- August 23rd

- Flea Market, Sequim – September 8th

- Bake Sale, Kent – September 15th
- Facebook Auction, Online
     - Everyone is encouraged to participate!  Call businesses you frequent to see if

       they will make a donation to support LLS – TAX ID number available…

- Women’s Clothing Swap, Lynnwood – October 20th
     - Contact Mandy for more information
 

Become a Champion For Cures
Every walker who raises $100 or more will become a Champion For Cures and recognized on the night of the Walk with the following benefits:
            - A Light The Night t-shirt
            - A Light The Night illuminated balloon
            - A wristband for food and refreshments
 
 Fundraising Tips
Here are two quick and simple fundraising ideas to help rake in the donations:
1. Game Night/Poker Night: Suggest a minimum donation to enter and/or a donation to compete in each game.
2. Food/Beverage Sales: Baked goods, donuts, bagels, breakfast burritos, popcorn, hot dogs, pizza, ice cream, smoothies, etc.

Top 5 Fundraising Teams   (As of August 16th)
  -->  We just lost our first place position, so it is a very good week to start your fundraising!

1.      Seattle Genetics                           $5,260 raised

2.      Team Firefly                                 $4,959 raised

3.      Team Nanchantress                     $3,750 raised

4.      Team Seattle Children’s              $3,410 raised

5.      Biff’s Beauties                             $2,300 raised

 
 

Light the Night Kickoff Event - July 21st

FUN for EVERYONE and  FREE to join!

·         Guest appearance from a Seattle Sounders player!  Meet and take your picture for unforgettable memory!

·         Free to attend for everyone - team members, family, friends, and coworkers

·         Carnival games, festivities, and prizes

·         Complimentary food and refreshments

·         Meet your local Honored Heroes

·        Learn fundraising tips from your LLS staff and past teams

Win a Light The Night/Sounders FC Scarf!
       Raise $100 by our Kickoff date AND attend our Kickoff to receive a special Light The Night/Sounders scarf*! 

*must be present to win/while supplies last.

When & Where?
     Saturday July 21st, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
      REI Flagship Store - 222 Yale Ave. North, Seattle, 98109

RSVP today!  Email LightTheNight_WAS@lls.org or call Lauren at 206.957.4592

Team Firefly takes its First Steps

On Wednesday morning, I participated in the first Executive Committee meeting for the 2012 Light the Night walk.  It is hard to believe that we are already getting started (and the LLS staff is well under way) planning for another amazing Light the Night event.  Since they have just forged a new partnership with the Sounders and Seahawks, I am DEFINITELY on board.

Seriously though, I am very excited about this year's walk and am thrilled to share that Team Firefly is signed up already!  If you want to join us for a stroll around Greenlake on September 29th, you can go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL12/TeamFirefly and click "Join" at the bottom of the page.  Since we have been the top fundraising team for the last two years (Go Team Firefly!), we are starting to get a reputation and may need to start fundraising early this year.

If you haven't joined us for a Light the Night event yet, come join us this year!  It is a wonderful event and great for the entire family.  The Remembrance Ceremony will start at 5pm, the kids' activities will start at 5:30, and the walk will officially start at 7.

Light the Night Awards ceremony

I was invited to a lovely evening at Theo Chocolates for the 2011 Light the Night awards ceremony.  Several members of Tyler's family were able to join me there, enjoying appetizers and wine and delicious chocolate.

After mingling for a while, they finally announced the individual and team totals for the year.  They started at the 10th place team and worked their way up to the top team for the year.

Drum roll please...

We won the first Tyler Bledsoe Memorial Award and will have our name forever engraved on a plaque honoring him.

 

Team Firefly had some amazing fundraising this year! We had double the next highest team with over $26,000 raised to fight cancer.   Thank you so much to everyone on the team that helped us capture this honor.  Despite the fact that Tyler wasn't there in person this year, I truly believe that a legacy has been created to honor him.

Way to go, from everyone who walked and helped with fundraising to the many donors that helped us get here! I certainly couldn't have done this on my own and I am so very thankful to everyone who helped me along the way.

Thank you all!!!

 

Light the Night 2011

This year's Light the Night walk was amazing!  We had approximately 100 team members there to honor Tyler and all of our honored heroes.

The Roddy kids made a sign that said Team Firefly and "We miss you Tyler"

Ceci, Erin (days before giving birth), and Mandy

Our Top Team tent

Team Check In with Becky, Debbie, and Charlotte

The Team Firefly tent with many of our team members waiting for the walk to start.

Hans, Alex, and Yanni  (There are 2 survivors in this picture!!!)

Hans, Yanni, and John

Bill, Charlotte, Debbie, and Loraine

Loraine and Bill

The walk start -- with my Tyler Tshirt

The walk start -- see those balloons already lighting things up?

Kate and Colleen

Our walk starting line and an abundance of balloons

One of the best parts of the walk is seeing the balloons parade around the block

My inspiration

Chris, Emily, Kate, and Sam

2 Weeks to the Light the Night walk!

It is hard to believe that we are less than 2 weeks away from this year's Light the Night walk.  As of this morning we had 71 team members on Team Firefly, which is SO exciting!  If you haven't gotten signed up yet, you can join the team at http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL11/mbledsoe_LTN and click on "Walk with Us" at the top of the screen.

Our team has already raised over $12,000 which is fast approaching our total for last year ($16,602).  If we can stay in the top position, we will be the first team to earn the Tyler Bledsoe award for the top fundraising team.  I wonder if we can break last year's barrier before walk night...?

To meet my own fundraising goals, I am hosting another clothing swap on October 2nd at 2:00pm.  This one will feature women's clothing and accessories.  If you would like to join us at the swap, just let me know.  I'll make sure you get all of the details!  Other ways to participate (if you can't join us for the fun):
- Donate your own clothing and accessories
- Make a Yummy Dessert to share
- Invite your Friends to join us
- Donate to our team at http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL11/mbledsoe_LTN

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Light the Night walk on Saturday, September 24th.  The remembrance ceremony will start at 5pm, so I plan to be there by then to honor Tyler's memory.  Will you join me?

Light the Night T-Shirt

This year at the Light the Night walk, we will be encouraging all team members to wear their bright green memorial t-shirts.  More details about how to contact Scott to order the t-shirts is available at the original post: http://bledsoebattle.blogspot.com/2011/03/finishing-strong.html

Thanks for your support of this project!

Light the Night Kick Off Cruise

Because Tyler is one of the honored patients this year, I was invited to share our story at the Light the Night kickoff cruise on Saturday, July 23rd.  It has been special to share our story with others who may not know the path we have taken, and hopefully my words have had an impact on someone and Tyler's spirit will continue to live on.

The cruise was scheduled for a day that turned out to be one of the most beautiful of the year!  We sailed around the Puget Sound on one of the Argosy ships.  I was joined by some other Team Firefly members who wanted to join in the fun and we all enjoyed the trip.

Our team was honored as the top fundraising team so far this year.  We've raised over $5000!  They actually read off the names of all of the Seattle area participants that have already raised over $100 and I was so thrilled to hear that 9 of our 45 team members have already become Champions for the Cure this year!  In fact, at dinner tonight, one of my friends said that she couldn't believe how easy it was to hit the $100 mark. She donated a little bit herself and then sent out one e-mail to a few friends.

Congratulations to our $100 Plus club members:
- Glenna and Jeff Stone: $377.98
- Charlotte Frank: $287.98
- Bonnie Rydman: $202.98
- Kirstine Whisler: $202.98
- Cabryn Taylor: $102.98
- Ceci Rozendaal: $102.98
- Pam Smith-Graham: $102.98
- Celeste McArthur: $102.98
- Kari Laib: $102.98
 
Thanks so much to each of you that have joined the team and started your fundraising!  I look forward to seeing as many people as I can at this year's walk.

Giving Back

Earlier this spring, I was invited to participate in the Light the Night Executive Committee for the Seattle walk.  I was very honored to be invited to join with the LLS team in making this year's walk the best yet!

To kick off the 2011 Light the Night season, I was asked to speak at a Light the Night breakfast that they sponsored last Thursday.  I shared a little bit about our story and the battle that Tyler fought, along with why I am passionate about walking again this year.  LLS uses the money we raise to fund the best and brightest researchers in the world to FIND A CURE TO CANCER, so this year I am walking in the hopes that I can save someone else from losing their husband to a blood cancer. 

If you haven't had the opportunity to join us at a Light the Night walk, I hope you will think about it this year.  The walk is a truly beautiful and uplifting event.  You see both survivors and supporters joining together to fight cancer and honor the battles that are being fought every day.  People of all ages have made it around Greenlake with us.  In fact, last year we had team members aged 1 - 91!

Mark your calendars now for September 24th!  Tyler's is one of this year's honored patients, so it will be an extra special walk for everyone on our team.  If we are one of the top fundraising teams again this year, we will have an even bigger tent for our team and other extra perks!

In addition, I have some exciting news to share that will make you want to help me in making Team Firefly the #1 team for the second year in a row.  I've got plenty of ideas for how to raise money through donations and events, and just need a few good people to help carry out the ideas!  Stay tuned for my exciting news in a future post...

To join our team, you can go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL11/mbledsoe_LTN and click on "Walk with Us" at the top of the page.  We had 29 team members at last count, so I am hoping that we get a few more friends and family members to join us.

Swap for a Cause

I'm going to continue my Swap for a Cause theme this year and wanted to encourage each of you to join in.  I'll be hosting 4 swaps, with the proceeds going to the Light the Night walk.  Mark your calendar and start gathering stuff for each of the dates below:

• May 1st: Home Decor (artwork, kitchen gadgets, table linens, candles, etc)
• June 12th: Crafts (supplies for scrapbooking, jewelry making, stamping, knitting, quilting, etc)
• August 21st: Kids clothing (bring any clothing that your kids have outgrown and look for new things in the next larger size)
• October 2nd: Women's clothing and accessories (clothing, jewelry, gloves, hats, lotions, etc)

The more people that we can get participating, the better the selections will be, so use your spring cleaning time to set aside items that you can donate to the swaps above! 

If the dates above don't work for you, but you think that you and your friends might enjoy a fundraising swap like this, contact me.  I might be able to assist you in hosting the same swap on another day.

Also, I would love to find a BIGGER venue to host the swaps, so I would love to hear from you if you know of a warehouse or restaurant or community center that might be willing to host one of our swaps.

Thanks to all who supported the swaps last year.

A Great Honor

I was recently asked if the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society could select Tyler to be an Honored Patient at this year's Light the Night walk.  The honored patient serves as the face of the mission and allows fundraisers and businesses to really understand the kinds of people that are touched by blood cancers.  Through my tears, I said that I would love to help Tyler inspire many more people to fight blood cancers!

More on this later, but I can't wait to see the walk brochure with his face on it!

We're #1! We're #1!

I recently attended an awards ceremony for the Light the Night walk.  It was bittersweet, as Tyler was in my thoughts all evening long, but I wanted to share some news with everyone who walked with us last year.

Team Firefly was the #1 team for 2010!  Thank you so much for all who walked, those who raised money to find a cure, and those who donated so generously.  Together we raised over $17,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to fulfill its mission of finding a cure for cancer.

Although we haven't found a cure for blood cancers yet, I believe that our efforts will help someone in the future be able to avoid the pain that we are all living with today.  In fact, the CML'ers I know that are on Gleevec and Ponatnib are doing well today because of the research dollars in past years.

In fiscal year 2010 approximately $72 million was invested in research, including funding for 103 new grants to researchers in academic institutions and $8 million in contracts through the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program. As of June 2010, LLS was supporting 347 research projects and 9 research contracts in the U.S., Canada, and 9 other countries.

Thanks for joining me in my efforts to find a cure.  I don't want any of us to feel the pain of losing a friend, a child, a parent, or a spouse to Leukemia ever again.

Ty-Fighters vs. Stormtroopers

Yesterday was a very good day for us! We were finally accepted into the Phase II trial in Houston. They were able to accept my liver function test from Seattle, and so we're off and running with a new drug to fight against my cancer. At the Bush International airport I took my first dose yesterday as we continued our whirlwind adventure from Seattle to Houston, and then home a day early re-directed from Houston to Chicago and finally home late last night around midnight. Mandy is a rock-star!! I cant imagine having a better caregiver. Not to take anything away from all my other caregivers which are all fantastic and always willing to be there for me, but she is so positive and so giving of herself. I always feel like we can accomplish anything when we are together!

Alright so you probably noticed my strange title for this entry. My geeky 80's side is coming out here, but I started thinking about the next phase of our battle. I know the tiefighters from Star Wars were actually flown by the stormtroopers, but in my battle the good side stole a Ty Fighter from the troopers and is turning against them. This new drug represents the Ty-Fighters battling against the evil empire (bad white blood cells-stormtroopers). Thus the geeky title.......well anyway it made sense in my head! As I write this the Ty-fighters have been attacking the evil empire for 2 days now and I can already feel the number of stormtroopers dwindling.

My energy is good. My appetite has continued improving since my hospital stay in May, and I have gained all my weight back that I lost that month (10 pounds). My brother gave me a new nickname (Belt Loop), because I had to punch a new hole in my belt a couple months ago. I would like to gain another 10 pounds, but hopefully with mostly muscle weight. I have to remind myself constantly to drink fluids, and it is very important to drink a glass of water with the drug. I have to have a two hour window on each side of taking the drug (4 hours without food), which is causing Mandy some nervous stress as she believes in 6 small meals a day. I think we can figure this out though. Im really excited to have this new ammunition by my side, and look forward to heading the right direction.

Thank you everyone that was able to attend the Light the Night walk, and we were proud to represent a very strong Team Firefly this year!! I will continue to let you all know how things are going and thank you for such Strong support!!

Tyler

Light the Night 2010

The 2010 Light the Night walk was AMAZING!  The weather was the best we've seen in our 4 years of participating with it being mild enough to be in a t-shirt the whole time.  We walked in honor of a great many people who have battled blood cancers: Tyler, Hans, Darren, Cathy, Jim, and Rose.



Team Firefly 2010



Team Tent

We had about 60 registered walkers for Team Firefly and raised over $10,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which made us the #1 Friends and Family team.  I think we still have a chance to pass up the corporate team in front of us for #1 team overall, but we will see how things fall out with the final donations being counted over the next month.  I think we were only about $500-1000 behind them and I know a few more donations came on the day of the walk.

I apologize that I didn't get more pictures of individuals, but I think I will have to designate a team photographer at next year's walk.  There are too many things to do and too many people to talk to at the walk!

My sister posted a few more photos on her blog too, if you want to see more photos from our evening.

Thank you so much to all of our walkers and all of our donors.  We are honored by your generosity in both time and money.  Come join us again next year for a lovely evening stroll that helps fight cancer!

Home Sweet Home!

It's a true pleasure to be home after several days away!

Just a quick update on Tyler's health...  While he didn't meet the trial qualification this week, we plan to try again next week.  We just need to get him a little bit lower, so the doctors are holding much of his medication over the weekend.  He will get a blood test next week and then we'll talk with Houston again (assuming his ALT gets under 140) and see when they can schedule us back in.

On another front, our team (Team Firefly) is currently leading the Seattle area for fundraising.  I'm so excited!  We are getting very close to our goal for this year ($10,000) and just need to pull in a few more dollars from our team.  I'm still a few hundred dollars short of my personal goal, so I will be hosting another fundraising event just after the walk.  It's not too late to join us, if you are free this Saturday!  We'll begin gathering at Greenlake about 5-5:30 pm or so.  Everyone on the team who raises (or donates to themselves) $100 gets a t-shirt and balloon.  You are still welcome to join us, even without hitting that mark, but getting just a few friends or coworkers to donate $10-25 can get you there pretty quickly.

Kicked out of Houston

After we had posted the previous message, we got a call from our PA telling us that the lab had run the wrong test on Tyler's blood this morning.  So we headed back upstairs for another blood draw and then decided to have some lunch and chill out in one of the common areas.

When the PA called back again, it was with the news that his ALT had climbed again, this time to 164.  He started 2 medications while here and one of them is likely the cause of the climb, so we are holding his medications over the weekend in the hopes that his liver can settle down a bit.  We'll test again next week and probably come back again as soon as the numbers are good.

We're flying out as soon as we can today, although a little bit behind schedule.  We hope to see as many friends and family as we can at the Light the Night walk on Saturday.

Light the Night with Team Firefly

I am delighted to share that I am 70% of the way to my goal of raising $5000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this year, thanks to generous friends and family members.  I have already raised more this year than I collected in the previous 3 years, but I am feeling ambitious.

If you can't join us in person, please consider donating at http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL10/MBledsoe and helping me to reach my goal of becoming a top fundraiser for the LLS this year.  Also, we can take advantage of matching funds, so please let me know if  you who have donated and are eligible for matching funds from your employer.  Let's double your money while we can!

If you are able to walk with us, we would love to have you come out to Greenlake on Saturday, September 25th. You can join out team by going to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL10/TeamFirefly and clicking on "Join" at the bottom of the page.

Thanks again for your continued support!

Light the Night

It's that time of year again!  We are planning to walk around Greenlake on the evening of Saturday, September 25th with as many friends and family members as we can convince to join us.  Our goal is to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and support their efforts to find new cures for blood cancers.

If you can join us for an evening stroll, please go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL10/TeamFirefly and click JOIN at the bottom of the page.

If you can't join us, please donate at http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL10/MBledsoe
Many thanks for your continued support!
 
Mandy and Tyler