My name is Kristen B, I am
a 9th grade biology teacher and cross country coach in Fairfax County. In early December of 2013 I was diagnosed
with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) after less than a week of showing
symptoms, including bruising and fatigue. I started on an oral chemotherapy the
day after diagnosis and two more intravenous chemos the day after that. I was
in the ICU for the first week because I needed blood transfusions almost 24/7
and was at risk for spontaneous bleeding in my brain. My blood was so out of
whack that my doctors didn’t think I would make it through that week. Later
they told me the only reason I survived was because of my positive attitude and
because I was in great shape before this happened.
I ended up spending a month
in the hospital, including Christmas and New Year’s, and then found out in
January that I was in remission. To “consolidate” our results from the first
round of chemo we did two more rounds which put me in the hospital for 2 weeks
and 4 weeks, respectively. I had plenty of complications along the way but was
released from the hospital for the last time in late April. I am now on
maintenance chemo to help me stay in remission and I am back to teaching and
coaching! I still try to stay positive in the face of challenges and hope to
pass that lesson on to my students and runners.
Thank you all for taking on the
challenge of simultaneously training, fundraising, and raising awareness to put
an end to blood cancers. I am excited to be your “Honored Teammate” this
season, and I wish you all luck on your TNT journey.
Go Team!
Mile #14, I will be running in support of Kristin.
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