I never thought I would do it. Heck, I never thought I COULD do it. I’ve always called myself a swimmer. Period. Well, until I decided to try skiing. Then I became a swimmer/skier. Because that is SO common… But now I’ve really done it. I have decided to do the Silicon Valley International Triathlon April 19, 2015, and to compete in honor of Ezra Fineman.

This is my friend Ezra (https://www.facebook.com/Help4Ezra). Ezra's mom is one of my best friends from college and is a very distant cousin. He has a primary immune deficiency called Hyper IgM Syndrome (his own B-cells make only IgM) so he can’t fight most infections. Ezra has had TWO bone marrow transplants. The first (May 2012) was a failure, and the second (August 2013) seems to be holding. He just hit a major milestone: Ezra had his first haircut (at age 5 1/2), which is pretty impressive, as he was a bald baby and has had those two BMTs. Watching him deal with the pain, his fluctuating cell counts, and especially side-effects from the meds he has to take, is so difficult. He’s a trooper, though!

Hopefully he will be able to go to school and to be with other kids, once his new immune system is strong enough. Hopefully, one day he will complete a triathlon himself. For now, he will have to learn at home and go on an occasional bike ride when he feels up to it.

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To honor Ezra, and to raise money for research on bone marrow transplant and post-transplant advances, I have decided to join with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through its Team in Training (TNT) program.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The fundraising page is at http://pages.teamintraining.org/gba/svtri15/dschach.

Any amount would be greatly appreciated - by me and by all the people hoping for a cure.

(And to all those who asked, it’s an Olympic distance triathlon: 0.93mi (1.5km) Swim, 24.8mi (40km) Bike, and 6.2mi (10km) Run. Crazy.