Light the Night

Tyler and I are again raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the Light the Night walk. This year's walk is scheduled for Saturday, September 26th and is certain to be a fabulous event again. This will be our 3rd year of participating and I am hoping to make it our best year yet!

If you would like to join our team and walk with us, please go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL09/TeamFirefly and click Join at the bottom.

If you would like to donate to our team, please click http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL09/mbledsoe_LTN

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Fiesta in Chelan

My side of the family held a week long reunion at Lake Chelan, thanks to my grandparents' generosity. I wish I could have spent more time with my family, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute that I could steal away!

One family brought mustaches for us to wear during Mexican Fiesta night and Tyler and I are proudly modeling ours in the photo. I'm thinking we should both grow real mustaches after seeing how dashing we look with our taped on version. Actually, you can't see how much hair Tyler has grown over the past few months, but he is looking pretty sharp again.

There were 4 babies born into our family in the last year and it was a beautiful thing to get to see them becoming more like little kids and less like little babies. All of the kids (including the older Mia, Abbie, and James) inject so much life into family gatherings... I hadn't realized how boring I had gotten as an adult until I got to start playing with kids again.

Several months ago I posted a picture of me feeding my cousin's daughter, Audrie. You can see the original photo here.

Audrie today looks like this:



Isn't she adorable?? She was a charming little girl, filled with smiles! I think she could steal Tyler away from me, if she was just a year or two older!

As you can see from the lack of posts, life is incredibly good for us these days! Tyler is starting to do more exercise without his foot brace and notices increased movement in his foot. The photosensitivity in his eyes is much improved, so he finds it easier to be outside on sunny days again. He looks FANTASTIC and we are just so very thankful that we have come through this journey with his health coming back. Many thanks for traveling this road with us!!

Joining Two of our Passions

From the Sounders Blog:

The Sounders FC invites fans to take part in the Sounders FC Bone Marrow Drive. The Sounders FC have teamed up with defender Tyrone Marshall in an effort to support Marcia Williams’ battle with cancer. Marshall and some of his teammates will host the Sounders FC Bone Marrow Drive at Qwest Field on Aug. 18 from 4-7 p.m.

Marcia is the wife of Real Salt Lake’s Andy Williams, a close friend of Tyrone.

“I’ve known Marcia, Andy’s wife, since Miami in 2000/2001, so we have gone back awhile. It’s a tough feeling to know someone that close who is struggling with a life-threatening illness,” said Marshall.

Fans can help by attending the drive on August 18th and joining the National Bone Marrow Registry, a very quick and easy process.

“A lot of people think they are going to be stuck by a needle, however it is just a little swab in your mouth and it is easy. In addition to filling out some paperwork, the cheek swab won’t take more than two or three minutes. “

Patients are more likely to find a compatible donor within their own racial and ethnic background, which is why Puget Sound Blood Center is requesting a diverse group of donors. Currently the national registry for bone marrow is 75% Caucasian.

For information on Marcia’s fight visit soccerunitesutah.com and for information on joining the National Bone Marrow Registry visit www.psbc.org.

Parking will be complimentary in the north parking lot.

Be the Match

You can save a life! Watch the video to see how...

Strike Out Leukemia!

Strike Out Leukemia Night
Angels vs. Mariners
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 3:40 p.m.

Enjoy a summer afternoon at Safeco Field while supporting a great cause! Catch the Mariners at a discounted price, exclusive to you through this online offer. A portion of the proceeds from tickets purchased through this special offer will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Tickets can be purchased online and credited towards our Team Firefly fundraising for Light the Night!


DEADLINE TO PURCHASE: Monday, August 31 at 5:00 p.m.

Game Date:
• Wednesday, September 2 vs. Los Angeles Angels - 3:40 p.m.

Pricing:
• $15 View Reserved (normally $20)
• $32 Field Level Seating (normally $40)
• $7 from each ticket sold benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!


***Special Note for our Friends and Family***
In order to credit Team Firefly's fundraising efforts, you must send an email with the subject: MARINERS NIGHT to wilma.comenat@lls.org with the following information:

1. Ticket purchaser name
2. Number of tickets purchased
3. Participant name you want credited (Mandy Bledsoe or your name if you are participating)
4. Light the Night: Team Firefly

Thank You Novartis!

At his last doctor's visit, Tyler learned about a great program sponsored by Novartis, the manufacturer of both Gleevec and Tasigna. Apparently the company will actually cover some of the copay's for the next few months. While the copay is only $35 per month (thank goodness for medical insurance!!), we are still happy to have someone else pick up the bill for a few months.

Many of our readers may know someone else touched by blood cancers. If your friends/family are taking Gleevec or Tasigna, you might have them look into this copay assistance program too.

Download a Coupon for 30% Off with 5% going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Leukemia survivor, Lance Bigelow, is someone who knows first-hand the importance of Gap's Give & Get program benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). He participated in the spring campaign. Lance and his family knew that taking advantage of the Give & Get program's 30% discount, they would also be contributing to LLS' blood cancer research efforts, research that helps kids like Lance -- research that fights the number one cancer among children.

Thanks to the efforts of families like the Bigelows, the spring campaign raised $600,000 for research to find a cure.

By participating in our summer campaign you can help blood cancer patients live longer, better lives --- and look good doing it!

Just visit any Gap, Inc. store from July 30th to August 2nd to take advantage of the 30% discount offer. Please note that this offer is good from July 30th through August 2nd only! The Gap Give & Get coupon is good for purchases at any Gap, Inc. store, including Gap, Gap Outlet, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory Stores and Old Navy. The coupon is for in-store purchases only and is good in both the United States and Canada.

Remember, when you download a coupon for discounted clothes from this site you're helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fight the number one cancer among children. Send this page to your friends and family and help our cause even more!

For more info: http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org//all_page.adp?item_id=552506

Lance's Story: http://community.lls.org/blogs/atlls/2009/07/27/licking-leukemia-with-lls-and-gap

Coupon (English): http://www.gapinc.com/giveandget/lls/

6 Months Out and Going Strong!!

Today is the 6 month anniversary of Tyler's transplant and I am thrilled to report that he is still doing well. He has some mild Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD), mostly affecting his eyes, but is improving in strength and health otherwise.

Thanks so everyone who has helped us travel this path! We're excited to see that our "infant" Tyler is making such amazing progress. In fact... He doesn't have to see the oncologist for 3 weeks (our longest break in a long, long time)!

We hope that you are surviving this crazy heat wave!

Marrowthon Success

From the Be the Match website:

Thanks to the amazing response of people like you, the Be The Match® Marrowthon, June 8 – 22, 2009, was a success. With the help of our supporters, we reached many thousands of people with the message about the need for bone marrow donors and financial contributions to make life-saving transplants possible.

Tens of thousands of people joined the marrow registry. And we’ve raised funds to add many more.

Thanks to all who joined, contributed financially, created their own marrowthons, helped spread the word and even ran on treadmills to raise funds. You are the ones who give patients hope.

The Be The Match Marrowthon is over, but it's not too late to get involved to save lives.

Even if you missed the deadline to register for free, you can still make a difference by volunteering as a donor today. Visit www.marrow.org for more information.

Tyler's Real Thoughts

Tyler snapped this photo when we went golfing in Sequim. I think it might show his true thoughts about my skills as a caddy.

Need I say more?