After the run ... BRRR!

After the run ... BRRR!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

We did it! WE DID IT! Yippee. What a wonderful feeling to cross the finish line. It was definitely emotional. We got cool medals & those really weird looking cape things ... they were VERY helpful with the wind & cold. Once you stop running, you're body cools down much faster than I had imagined it would. I guess that's what happens when it's 30 degrees! :) Anyhow, they gave us some snacks & BEER. Ben about knocked people over to get to the free beer! :) It was well deserved, if you ask me! Just wish I had a few more clothes on at the time. Here we are at Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago. CELEBRATE!

Special thanks to all those who helped make the weekend possible by helping us in Chicago! Our Uncle Jeff & Aunt Beth hosted us a lot of the weekend & helped get Paula to & from the airport. UJ, AB, Michele, Julia, my mom & grandma kept Abby entertained while we were downtown for 2 nights ... that's a full-time job! :) She had FUN! Of course, Paula was our fan on the ground ... running to take pics & feeding us after the race! It was a WONDERFUL experience & we were blessed to have your love & support -- we couldn't have done it without you!

p.s. We also thank those again who supported us finacially & prayerfully; it was an amazing experience! It's never too late to donate to Hunter through sending us your card or working directly with NTAF!

Hunter, this 26.2 is for you!

Hunter, this 26.2 is for you!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

I don't very often request pictures of me from the back side! This was a special occasion! We had: "Hunter, this 26.2 is for you" on the back of our shirts. People would run by & ask about him. We even had people yelling, "GO HUNTER!" One lady ran up & asked us about him. She ran over to her running partner & told her they were running for a 9 y.o. Hunter who had a BMT in May. I cried then. Actually, it was quite an emotional day for me. No surprise there ... especially if you know me! :) One guy said "Hunter is a lucky guy" not sure if that was nice or creepy, so we'll just say nice!

Photo Op at Mile 13!

Photo Op at Mile 13!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

We stopped to have our picture taken! That's one thing I have to say; when you're goal is finishing, you can do things like this & not feel bad! We would take a walking break when we needed it ... we stopped at the port-a-potty ... we stretched. We were running to finish the race for Hunter, not to complete it in a certain amount of time.

We're half way there!

We're half way there!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

Here we come! Paula seemed amazed that we looked as good as we did! :) Half way isn't the hard spot! We still felt pretty human at that point in time ... we were looking at 16 miles as half way; crazy psychological things we were doing. Oh well, it seemed to work!

Mile 2

Mile 2
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

Paula trucked over in the freezing cold to take a picture of us at mile 2. You can't see Ben ... he's behind the guy in the orange. I'm the 3rd one from either side!

Look at all the people

Look at all the people
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

One of the most amazing things was the insane number of people out to run & show their support! WHEW. There were 40,000 entries accepted & over 1 million spectators. The weather was horrible, so there would have been more spectators! That was probably the most incredible part to me. We were jam-packed at the start & it took a few miles for the pack to clear and give us some running room. :)

Before the big race!

Before the big race!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

Here we are at the Hilton before heading out into the cold. We had our sweats on & threw them away right before we crossed the start line. We ran in little gloves & I wore my ear warmers the whole way!

He really does exist...

He really does exist...
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

Finally! Here is a picture of Ben after one of his last runs. Notice he's in the mean streets of Shelbyville ... HA! Okay the alley. :)

WE DID IT! I still can't believe it; what an amazing experience! We (Brooke, Ben & Paula) got to our hotel on Saturday night. Due to a small reservation issue, we ended up staying at the Chicago Hilton, which was the official marathon hotel. The big concern was getting a room with 2 double beds ... we all like each other, but 3 in a king bed would've been COZY! We went to the runners' expo & then we went back to the hotel for the official pasta dinner. After that, it was to our room & I fell asleep after taking a benadryl, while Ben watched the World Series (GO CARDINALS!!) & Paula read. We woke up at 6 a.m. & got ready to head over to the race. I got up first -- I woke up before the alarm. I didn't sleep well, but it was just enough to feel human! :) We turned the local news on & found out that it was 30 degrees, but with the wind chill, it felt like 20!!! Yikes. After we heard them talk about how cold and windy it was for about 30 minutes, Paula turned off the TV! We headed over to the marathon at about 7:20; it was CRAZY once we got to the hotel lobby. You should've seen the people! Whew. There were supposed to be about 40,000 runners ... I got an email today that said it was actually about 34,000. Anyhow, it was amazing to be in the midst of all those people -- you can only imagine what it's like until you're in the middle of it. We wore sweatsuits & threw them out into a big pile before we crossed the line. (Just so you know, they give them to the less fortunate) Then, we were off. We did wear shorts in the 30 degree weather in 25 mile an hour winds. :) I think the numbness helped! I did wear something on my ears the whole time -- I threw off my gloves about 3/4 of the way through. It was an AWESOME experience. Not once did I think we wouldn't make it ... there must've been a lot of people praying for us! :) The most amazing part about the race was the fact that there were over 1 million people there as spectators! They were so great. The only thing we would've done differently would've been to have our names on the front of our shirts. People would yell out names as runners came by ... it was like they knew all the spectators. How motivating! Anyhow, thank you to all the people who came out in the icky cold rainy weather to cheer us on! You were great! Okay, I'm still out of town; I'll write more later & post pics. Thanks for all your support! We're over $11,000 now! Bye for now, Brooke

Hi all! We're getting closer & closer to the big day! We'll leave for Chicago 1 week from tomorrow! WHEW! The mileage has gone way down for our runs, so this Saturday, we'll run just 8 miles. I never thouhgt I'd say JUST 8 miles! We are tapering & everyone tells me that it works! I'm looking forward to the marathon on some levels. There will be 40,000 runners & over 1 million spectators -- that will be a pretty amazing experience; just to see that many people will be a little overwhelming! The main reason for this post is to give you the latest fundraising total. We're getting closer to our goal of $10,000 ... right now, we have over $9,200. I have a call into NTAF to get the credit card donations, so we could very well be over that -- how exciting! Thanks for all your support. I'll get the boys on here to write one of these days! Until next time, Brooke

Hi there! Latest fundraising total is $8,132!! WOOHOO! Thanks for all your support. We're inching closer to our goal! Please keep praying for Hunter ... things aren't going too well right now. Until next time, Brooke

Hi there! I have a quick admin note for everyone. As you probably know, our letters stated that we would like to have the donations back by October 1st. DON'T PANIC! We have spoken with NTAF & there is no other fundraiser going on for Hunter right now, so it's not a problem to track the funds we're raising. The big reason we wanted to know what we've raised is because we are trying (and succeeding to some degree) to have businesses & companies match what we raise. Thanks to everyone for your support ... our total is now over $7,500! With all that being said, please don't hesitate to send your donations in -- THEY AREN'T LATE! :) Bye for now, Brooke

Hi all! Well, I'm still sore from Saturday's 20-mile run, but with everything that Hunter has been going through recently, my pain is nothing. It's all a matter of perspective. I do have to say I am in awe that my body is strong enough to endure all of this & that I'm thankful to be injury-free, thus far. As you can see, I have no updated pics & I forgot to have my brother post something! Oh well, I will try to get some pics in the near future. It would be nice to have some of the 3 of us together, so I'll see what I can do. I have lots of pics of Abby! :) Ben & I both ran Saturday & Brad is still under order from his physical therapist not to run until Oct 12th. She'll re-evaluate at that time. He's frustrated with things the way they are, but there's not much he can do about it. He goes to physical therapy 3 times a week and does his exercises at home, so I hope he just gets healthy again soon. We did have some news about some upcoming training he's required to attend ... he has to be in place for it the same weekend as the marathon. Ugh. So, now he says he'll run it next year. I'll be his water girl! :) I'm excited that the date is rapidly approaching -- a bit freaked out, but I'm ready to do it! I'm not sure what that last 6.2 miles will make my body feel like, but I'm sure I'll never forget the experience! Bye for now, Brooke

I want to attach the latest update from Hunter's CarePage (authored by Heather):

DAY +135: PREFACE....NO FREAKING OUT PLEASE! Well, last night, Hunter's stools got very dark, signifying bleeding somewhere in the upper GI system. He has petichiae in his mouth and bleeding lips. His platelets were still 10,000 this am which is a tad better. His Hgb is dropping from the bleeding. Dr. Cook called Dr. Quinones who wants to continue on with what we are doing and not go back to IVIG. Hmmmm. Transfusing every day and active bleeding seems pretty yucky to me. He got platelets today and they went up to 24,000(a whole 14,000) Dr. Cook said if his Hgb is ANY lower tomorrow, he will transfuse him with red cells. Also, we are to call him at home at ANY time if we worry bleeding has increased and he will check him into the PICU here for blood immediately. We go in tomorrow at 9am for blood work and more platelets. Then, we are supposed to return to Denver for an 8am apppointment on Wed(can you hear my groan of displeasure?????) Hunter is understandably anxious and taking more ativan. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from his appointment just now. He is laying on the couch crying over something insignificant...which I am sure is REALLY about what is going on. Spending every day in clinic and getting meds and not getting to DO anything is taking its toll on him. I got 6 math lessons out of him today befre meds....but that was it. We are now discussing our options for help at home. We have been directed to a few places that place women from, say, the Phillipines who want to see the US. Maybe that would work? We are at the point where we do need help, so I will work on that this week. We are never here and cannot keep up with the house and laundry and tend to the needs of 3 young kids. Can you tell I am still working on justifying the decision??? Hopefully it will only be a 'short time'(it is all relative of course). So, that is the news for now. PLEASE be praying the bleeding he is having will not get any worse and that any further bleeding would be easy to spot so we can treat him early.