I'm raising money for what I consider to be one of the most important causes today: finding better treatments and cures for blood cancers so that patients can live better, longer lives through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night® Walk.

For those of you who don’t already know this about me, I lost my mother last summer on August 5th, 2009 after a long battle with Leukemia. The doctors informed our family with the news in the fall of 2008, just a few months into my first semester at Loyola Marymount University. She was checked into the hospital in November to begin induction chemotherapy, and upon further tests, the doctors found she would need a bone marrow transplant. Lucky for her, as the second youngest child out of fourteen kids, it was easy for her to find a donor match in my Uncle Kevin. I decided to return home to Indiana for a semester so that I could be by my mother, and best friend’s side for the aftermath of her transplant, which took place on January 5th, 2009.

The months following her transplant were hands down the worst of my family’s life. We painfully watched every day as our daughter, sister, mother, wife, and friend withered away before us in a hospital bed suffering through more than is imaginable. As strong as my mother was in battling Graph Vs. Host Disease, numerous fevers, seizures, the loss of her ability to walk, stand, and at one point speak, she was unable to regain her strength when her leukemia returned later that spring. In the end, we decided to take her home and care for her on our own with home hospice healthcare.

I wish that I could say the chemotherapy and transplant saved her life, but the harsh reality is that leukemia is a terrible disease that is almost impossible to defeat. That is why it is of extreme importance that we continue to raise money so that we can develop better methods of supporting patients and ultimately find a cure.

Light The Night Walk is LLS’s annual walk and fundraising event. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. These treatments have helped patients live better, longer lives. Walkers in the annual walk carry illuminated balloons - white for survivors, red for supporters, and gold for those who have lost a loved one to blood cancer. In my case the balloon will be gold to represent the loss of a loved one.

I would finally like to say that it took me a lot of courage to write this letter. So please, don’t pass over it lightly. Please make a donation to support my participation in the Light The Night Walk and help save lives by going to http://pages.lightthenight.org/los/griffith10/KMerrill. I know that it is a challenging time in our economy, but any donation can make a huge difference no matter what the amount is. I have already donated $20 towards my goal, and that is on my college budget.

You will receive an email confirmation of your donation as soon as it is made. I thank you in advance for your support, which will make a difference in the lives of thousands of patients battling blood cancers. Your help really does mean the world to me as I truly believe that one day we will find a cure.

Kayla Merrill

My Mom, Michelle Merrill, passed away on August 5th, 2009 after a year long battle with AML. Words cannot express how much I miss my best friend.

You can visit her CaringBridge page at this link: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellemerrill. It was a diary we kept while she was undergoing treatments so that people could know what she was going through.

I intend to write a more in depth post about my experience with her sometime tomorrow or on Wednesday so stay tuned for that.

This is just a preliminary post I wanted to write about the Light the Night walk that I am participating in on October 2.

I flew home to participate in the walk in Indianapolis in honor of my mom, but this year I cannot afford to do the same. This past Saturday I decided to sign up to be a part of Team Jack’s Mannequin and set a goal of $250 for myself to raise in under 12 days.

Please take a look at this page and donate whatever amount that you can. I understand that most people that follow me are probably short on money and living paycheck to paycheck in today’s economy, but if every person who visits this page donates $1 it would make a huge difference.

I’m going to post more on this later with more detail on my personal experiences with leukemia and my mom so that people have a better idea of what their money is going towards. There is not a better cause in my eyes right now.

Please donate! :)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Welcome to my Light The Night Walk homepage.

Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life.

In fact, in 2009 alone, LLS researchers were conducting more than 90 clinical trials, a critical step in the development of new treatments and cures that will help patients live better, longer lives.

• A donation of $25 provides patients and their loved ones with FREE booklets that contain up-to-date information on their disease and help them make informed decisions about their treatment options.
• A donation of $50 makes possible a Family Support group with a trained facilitator where comfort can be found and experiences can be shared among patients and family members.
• A donation of $100 helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.
• A donation of $1,000 makes possible one- on-one conversations with health care specialists who provide patients with information about their disease, treatment options, and helps prepare them with questions for their health care team.

Please make a donation to support my participation in the Light The Night Walk and help save lives. Be sure to check my Web site frequently to see my progress, and thanks for your support!