Marathon of pictures .... of the marathon

This post probably won't begin as some might have expected. I could have begun by filling you in on the weekend and all we did and all we experienced and all we were touched and changed by but instead I have to share something far more important. Something I have not and probably never will, come to understand or make sense of. Something I have carried, heavily on my heart, on our hearts, this past week. Something that made our participation in this marathon all the more necessary.

Shortly after I published my post last week, we were absolutely devastated and blindsided by news that came about a simply darling little guy named Malachi,or Kai,for short. Kai, as you might have guessed and may remember from some of my other posts, is a fellow 4th floor warrior.However,we already knew of Kai and his family, long before Zoey was diagnosed. You see, Wes, Kai's dad, is the cross country coach and athletic trainer at the high school where the girls graduated from.Small and so closely connected our world actually often is,isn't it? Kai was diagnosed with Acute Lymphobalstic Leukemia,or ALL a full year before Zoey was diagnosed with AML. We followed Kai's progress from the beginning of his journey and when Zoey became a CHLA regular, we were blessed to spend time with not only him but his amazing mom and dad. Kai was not usually inpatient, as his leukemia was in maintenance, and unless he spiked a fever, we only saw him at clinic. Then, in December of last year, after 14 months in remission, Kai relapsed. The national marrow bank was searched and a very successful bone marrow drive was organized on Kai's behalf but a match was not found. Soon after the drive however, a compatible cord blood donor was finally found. Kai went into the BMT unit at the end of April and spent 100 plus days there before being released in August. Last weekend Kai was admitted with a fever and an infection in one of his central lines was found. Not an uncommon occurence with kids with ports and lines. While undergoing some blood work, immature blood cells, or blasts, were found. A subsequent bone marrow biopsy was performed and soon, Wes and Rachel's, worst fears became reality. Kai had relapsed for a second time. The Smith family was faced with some unimaginable decisions and in the end, they have decided, to take Kai home and allow him to be free of tubes and pokes and chemo and all the horrible other stuff that goes along with this awful, unfair disease. This week Kai will have an expedited Make-A-Wish granted, and he, his mom, dad and older brother Ethan, will go and play and make beautiful memories at Disneyland.

Kai is 3 years old. Three. I'll repeat that: KAI IS THREE. Over two years of his little life has been spent enduring more then any of us could ever possibly imagine. But he, like so many of these children we have met, have battled, with more grace and fight and forgiveness then any of us could ever imagine . I am void of words or as I said before, void of understanding .I am only able to extend my love and faithful prayers to Wes, Rachel, Ethan and most especially Kai. A sweet boy who should be making a lifetime of memories and living a lifetime of firsts but instead is taking a journey that none of us has the ability to change the course of.

Team in Training raised 14 million dollars for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society this weekend at the Nike Women's Marathon. Believe it or not, it's still not enough. There still is no cure and there are still countless other children and their families journeying down the same unspeakable path as Kai and his family. Something has got to change. It just has to. Please keep Kai, his family and all who love them, in your prayers and send them peace and strength for the journey that lies ahead.













For some reason I totally reversed these pictures. Last popped up first. All are fairly self explanatory. Notice our personal cheer crowd in their Pablove t-shirts. If you haven't checked out the foundation that Pablo's family has established, please do and also keep up with the amazing cross country trek Jeff,Pablo's dad, is doing on his bike to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research. Wanted to say, Jess and I had smiles on our faces at her mile 24 and my mile 12.5 but ... pictures really do lie!