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| Vague much? |
Anyways, I was going to write a blog post about all the amazing things that happened in April, but I was waiting for a few things to fall into place before I could technically reveal one of the items I intended to discuss. But then something happened...going into May and through the beginning of June, I was having a problem. Awesome things did not stop happening. Seeing as how I was too lazy to make two back-to-back posts about consecutive months that were both really great, I'm just lumping them together and saying that I've had a really good run lately.
April's awesomeness began with the Kansas City CureSearch Walk. This year, instead of the MS Ride which I've dedicated my fundraising to the past 5-6 years, I decided instead to focus on raising money for pediatric cancer research through CureSearch, a charity which directly funds a lot of the research going on in the Hematology/Oncology unit at Children's Mercy where I work. I've even seen the CureSearch logo on some of the treatment protocols for our patients, so it's obviously close to home and something I'm proud to be a part of. I did my usual fundraising with the help of relentlessly tagging people on Facebook and nagging my friends and family to donate. This year I raised $2600 and was surprised to discover that made me the top fundraiser for the entire event, which raised $125,000 this year! That seems a very small amount compared to the KC MS Ride which regularly collects over a million bucks! Anyways, as part of my fundraising, my gimmick was that I'd shave my head if I raised over $2000, and at the event I decided to let some kids do the dirty work. They also did a nice write-up about it on the CureSearch website.
Next up in April was the Brew to Brew race, which was 43 miles, my longest run to date, and a final test of legs and nutrition/hydration before the Free State 100K. It went really well, and I wrote about it here.
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| Finishing with Wael and Danny M |
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| "Trail Nerd poster boy" according to Bad Ben |
Four days after Free State, still somewhat wobbly on the legs and sleep deprived from an overnight shift at the hospital, I showed up to a studio in downtown Kansas City, went through makeup and wardrobe, and took my best shot at being Derek Zoolander, male model. Some explanation is necessary here...
I have a friend named Amy who I basically met second hand via Facebook. Back in 2010 when I raced Ironman Coeur d'Alene, she was training for Ironman Louisville and had a friend recommend my race blog. We ended up becoming acquainted through chatting about training and racing and occasionally about "real life" stuff. In January, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and in February, she began chemotherapy. She started a Caring Bridge blog to document her day to day experiences as she battled cancer, which I read. As a pediatric oncology nurse, I was not only curious about her experiences, but was able to better help her understand some of the terminology the doctors were throwing around and explain some of the aspects of her treatment.
Throughout her treatment, she has been an inspiration. Not only has she faced the diagnosis with grace and courage, she has inspired me by continuing her active lifestyle through this very difficult chapter in her life. And obviously, I've not been the only person to take notice. A friend of hers submitted her name to the PR company that runs the annual Lee Jeans Denim Day campaign. This is an event which takes place in October, and basically turns casual Friday into a fundraising opportunity for breast cancer. In the past, this campaign has had celebrity spokespersons, but lately they've been focusing more on telling the stories of everyday folks. Since it's inception, it has raised over 80 million dollars and has close to a million participants every year.
The group ended up choosing her to be the face of their national campaign this year. In preparation for the photo shoot for their website and all of their promotional materials, they asked her to choose a handful of friends who have inspired her, supported her, and given her courage through this process. She chose a few coworkers, one of whom is battling cancer herself, a new friend who she met during her treatments, and to my surprise, she also included me on her short list... stating that I had been inspiring her with my athletic exploits ever since we "met" and that I had lately been a source of encouragement to her through my racing and my fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer.
Once we were all dolled up with makeup and wardrobe, they conducted video interviews and a lengthy photo shoot in the studio, as well as several locations around KC. The website just went live over the weekend(hence the delay in me being allowed to post about it) www.denimday.com The actual day of the event is October 4th, 2013.
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| One of the pics chosen for the website... Amy and I with our tri bikes! |
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| But wait...THERE'S MORE! |
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I actually teared up a bit when I first read it. Not only is it quite possibly one of the nicest things that has ever been said about me, but it tells me that I'm accomplishing exactly what I want to as a nurse. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn and I'll continue to grow in the technical aspects of oncology as well as in the caretaker role, but to have this happen within my first 6 months on the unit is unbelievably encouraging! It's also cool because they only started doing Employee of the Month in November, and until now there hadn't been any winners from night shift. This seemed somewhat unfair to us since the day shift staff gets so much more face time and interaction with their patients and families since...you know...they're awake and all. On nights, you usually get 3-4 hours before they all hit the sack and hopefully, you don't talk to them again until morning bedside report.
Although these nominations are anonymous, it was a dead giveaway who wrote this one, since I've only juggled for one of my patients. An adorable little girl with relapsed neuroblastoma. Her dad had told me that she recently went to Branson and saw a juggler for the first time and was amazed! Seeing an opportunity to connect with this shy little thing, who up until this point had yet to look me in the eyes or speak to me directly, I picked up the 3 closest objects I could find: a roll of tape and two packets of butter from her dinner tray. I began juggling for her and acting the fool to the best of my ability. Well...she still wouldn't look at me or speak to me, but I gave it my best shot. A day later I had her again, and while she still was shy towards me, Dad had informed me that after I left for the day, she would not stop talking about "Danny the butter juggler". I guess I made an impression after all!
May continued it's awesomeness when I decided to sign up for the Perry 50K, which would be my 5th ultramarathon of the year. I had no particular expectations for that race, but I was going to try to go fast and just see what happened. Click here to see what happened!
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In May I also concluded my apartment hunt, finally settling on a very modest one-bedroom apartment in Merriam, KS. This will be my first time living on my own, and it represents a very large step in the direction I've been wanting to go for quite some time. Self-reliance has always been important to me, and now that I'm working and financially stable for the first time since I began my nursing school journey, I can finally afford to live the way I'd like. I might even get a dog!
In a general sense in my personal life, these past few months have been very good for me in the healing department. I won't go into specifics, but I've come to be more at peace with the things I've lost and every day I'm coming closer to the realization that, while I do miss those things very much, they aren't necessarily what I need at this point in my life, and I will likely be better off in the long run having had this time to work on things in my own life. If you've had more than a handful of conversations with me, you most likely know what I'm talking about. Another thing that happened in April was that I finally began seeing a therapist to help me sort all of this stuff out. It's not covered by my insurance and I'm still finding out whether or not it will be worth the money, but it's at least important in the fact that I'm doing this for myself. So far I've seen her twice and have really enjoyed the sessions and the perspective she has given me.
I also had the opportunity to spend time with the fabulous Adi Carter, who ran the yoga retreat I went to last year in Puerto Rico. She was coming through town on her way out and back from Colorado, and we got to hang out and ride bikes a few times! She is truly a unique spirit and modern day renaissance woman.
All of this awesomeness continues, even through this weekend when I ran the Hospital Hill half marathon with my good friend Karli Lockard, who is married to one of my best friends and also happens to be the morning meteorologist on Fox 4 news. I helped pace her to a course PR, and then she talked about me on the news!
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| Ready to rock it, repping with the Mud Babe hat. |
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| For the record, this "new" bartender has been working there for 8 years. |
Well, that's about it. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had such an uncanny run of good luck, and I hope it continues throughout the year!
Thanks for reading!
Danny
