Been Too Long

O.K., it's been way too long since I've done anything with the blog. I'm rather embarrassed that it's been since last September since I've posted anything. With the 2010 Light the Night walk less than 4 months away I'm going to try and make a commitment to update this on a regular basis.

Amy and I have gotten our team started for this years walk. We did really good last year, and there are a lot of people I need to thank. This year though we are going to try and take the fundraising to another level. We have been kicking around several fundraising ideas for this years walk. We want to do something other than just ask people to donate money. We're hoping to have an event at Chick-Fil-A or Arnie's, maybe both. I'd like to have a cornhole tournament but trying to figure out how, when, and where. If any of you have any ideas for fundraising events please let us know.

If your interested in joining Team Weaver please click either one of the links and sign up.

God Bless,

Matt

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Radio Interview

Got to do a radio interview today with X103's Don Stuck to promote this years Light the Night walk. The interview will air on 1260 am on Saturday, September 26th at 7:00 a.m. and Sunday, September 27th on Q95 at 7:00 a.m and on X103 at 9:00 a.m. I will also have a link to the interview posted on my blog as soon as it's available. Check it out if you get the chance.

Matt

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Eye Opener

On Thursday, July 3oth, I participated in making phone calls on behalf of Light the Night to try to get teams from the last couple of years to sign back up. The two regions I was assigned to call were South Bend and Warsaw. I was glad I got these two areas as they are really close to where I grew up in Goshen and my wife Amy grew up in Warsaw and her parents still reside there.

The phone calls involved leaving a lot of messages on answering machines informing people of when their local walks were being held and a reminder to sign up for this years walk. It didn't take long though to realize the impact that the economy has had on the South Bend area. There were quite a few phone numbers that were disconnected and some of the people I did talk to you could tell were down and out.

Another thing that was very apparent was the devestation that blood cancers can cause people. One lady I talked to lost her husband to a blood cancer. She told me they participated in last years walk in remembrance of him and a way to honor him. For her it was a one time deal. Another lady I talked to I got the impression that she had just lost a loved one to a blood cancer. You could hear the pain in her voice as she told me that she didn't think that they would be able to participate in this years walk. I fealt like I had reopened some wounds that hadn't healed yet.

What I walked away with Thursday night is the realization of how important the work is that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is doing. Especially this year with the economy being in the tank there are a lot more people who depend on the services that LLS provides. Blood cancers don't stop just because the economy is down. LLS isn't able to provide the services that they do without the many great people who help raise money through the Light the Night walk. I encourage all of you to either sign up for my team or start your own. You can click on the links at the top or on the right side of the page to get started.

Matt

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Join Team Weaver

Hi everyone. It's hard to believe that it's July already. It's been a pretty busy Spring and Summer for Amy and I. On April 24th we welcomed our second child, Moses, into this world. As you can imagine it's taken a little bit of adjustment on our part to changing diapers and middle of the night feedings again. Naomi is 4 years old so it's been just long enough that we almost forgot what all of that was about.

The Light the Night walk is a little over 3 months away (October 17th) and it's time to start raising money and getting people signed up for my team this year. Last year everybody that walked with me did so under the St. Francis team. This year I have my own team, Team Weaver. I've already hit up my brother and his company, Micromed, is going to provide T-shirts for our team this year! Thanks Anders and everybody at Micromed! I told him I was hoping to get 50 people to walk with us this year. So the first 50 will get T-shirts, so don't wait until the last minute to sign up.

To sign up for my team or make a donation you can click on one of two links. You can click on the "Team Weaver" link at the top left corner of the page or you can click on the white balloon on the right side of the page. Both links take you to the same page. I have to give the Light the Night folks some credit. They have made some changes to the web site and it is so much more user friendly this year. If you have trouble signing up please let me know and I can walk you through it.

I hope all of you can join us on the walk this year. It is the coolest charity walk you will ever go on, I promise.

Matt

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Special Announcement

Now that I have the blog formatted about the way I want it, you will start to see me posting more often. One of the reasons I decided to start a blog was because about two months ago I got a call from Crystal Jones, who is the Campaign Director for Light the Night. For those of you that don't know, Light the Night is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) fundraising arm. Crystal asked me if I would be interested in being one of the Honored Hero's for this year's Indianapolis walk. She went on to tell me that there would be some appearances and speaches that I would need to make on their behalf. She said that she would send me some information and give me a couple of days to think it over.

What Crystal didn't realize was for a while I had been praying to God and telling Him that whenever He was ready to lay out his plan for me, that I was ready. I knew full well that He would make that plan known to me when He felt I was ready. So when Crystal asked me, I didn't need to think about it. I knew this was what God wanted me to do. She was a little taken back when I told her that I would do it before she had a chance to hang up the phone.

I'm extremely excited for the opportunity that God has laid out before me in being this year's Honored Hero. I have benefitted greatly from all of the money that has been raised by LLS through it's Light the Night campaign. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society provided a lot of money for the development of Gleevec. Gleevec is the drug that has put me in and kept me in remission for the last 3 years while I have been battling CML.

My mission this year is not only to help raise money and awareness for LLS by sharing my story, but it's my hope that someone that is facing similiar circumstances might draw strength from my story and instead of losing faith, keep up the fight. Through the blog, I am hoping to share other blood cancer patients stories so that newly diagnosed people know that they are not alone and there is hope.

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Still Working On It

Hi Everyone,

Just in case you stumble across my blog while searching for information on Leukemia or Lymphoma I want you to know I now have links to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's web page. For those of you specifically looking for information on CML check out the Gleevec link. This site has been a tremendous help to my wife and I.

This blog is a work in progress. I'm new at this and I'm trying to feel my way through getting this blog what I want it to be. Hang in there as there will be a lot of changes going on the next couple of weeks as I start to figure some things out.

Thanks For Your Patience,

Matt

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Under Construction

3/17/09

This blog is currently under construction. I have a lot of ideas in my brain of what I want this blog to be. My hope is that in the next couple of weeks this will start to be a source of information and inspiration for those that suffer from blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma). Please be patient and check back often to see how things are progressing.

Thanks,

Matt Weaver

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