I know everyone is so busy getting ready for the holidays, myself included (I'm a last minute kind of girl anyway...) But I wanted to give a quick update on the race and Mac. He is in the middle of midterm exams now, hopefully doing well! We did his labs on Dec. 1 after the race and the counts were stable. So we go back during the Christmas break and see how things are then.

Team MacAttack had a great time during the weekend, and raised over $24K for St. Jude! All of the kids on our team did extrememly well and are inspiring the adults (me!)to actually run more! Thanks to all who contributed to our cause! This was the first year the 5K ran through the campus of St. Jude. I'd always heard that was the best part of the longer races, but I didn't know why. Now I know! You enter the grounds and immediately see nurses, families, even patients with their masks and IV poles, standing on the sides cheering us on. Here are a few of the signs I remember:

"Smile, Jake always did"

"You think running is hard? Try Chemo!" (held by a patient in a mask)

"Thank you Heroes from our family" (held by the father of a patient)

"You are running for our angel"

"All heroes are on Santa's nice list" (held by Santa)

Needless to say, I am so glad they readjusted the route of the 5K to go through there!

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a baby girl, not yet 3 years old, who had spent the last 15 months in Memphis battling AML, a very aggressive form of Leukemia. St. Jude did 2 bone marrow transplants, but in the end, the cancer kept coming back. I mention this sad story because this is why we will continue to run and fundraise for St. Jude. I hope one day soon the survival rate for AML will match that of ALL (94%). With our continued support, the doctors and scientists at St. Jude will make great strides in cures. Fittingly, our tshirts this year said "No child should die in the dawn of life. BELIEVE DAT!" With our fleur de lis in the center, everyone recognized us as the New Orleans crew.

Thanks for checking in and keeping us in your prayers. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I'll update again after our appointment.