Caleb Steffen, Superhero

One of the great aspects of Team in Training is that each TNT team runs for a sponsored patient. The sponsored patient is someone who is currently going through treatment or has gone through treatment for leukemia, lymphoma or another blood-related cancer. Our sponsored patient is six-year-old Caleb.

Caleb was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on July 15th, 2005, exactly one week after Scott was diagnosed with Hodgkin's. Caleb was four at the time.

Caleb's mom, Nancy, is running with the team and will be running the Nike San Francisco Marathon with us! I had the opportunity to run 14 miles with her last Saturday, and every time I get to know more about her and their family, I am more amazed. We talk about how our guys were diagnosed, their treatment plan, funny things that have happened during treatment, scary moments, and what the future holds. Last Saturday Nancy was able to tell our team that Caleb had his bone marrow aspiration and everything came back CLEAR! On Monday, July 30th, Caleb finished treatment!

Caleb's dad, Brian, often has Caleb and his little sister, Audrey, hand out water and Gatorade at one of our water stops during our group runs. It is so motivating to see them out there! Caleb and Audrey hand out cups of refreshment, play, hand out more drinks, play--well, you get the picture--they do everything other three- and six-year-olds do! It is clear that Caleb is determined to do everything other kids his age do, and that his family fully supports that. You would never know that Caleb had leukemia.

But there are those times when Caleb has struggled with pneumonia, side effects, and other bummers that go along with cancer treatment. Pneumonia is something that can be relatively easy for an otherwise healthy person to get over. But when your immune system is compromised and your blood counts are down, pneumonia is life-threatening. In fact, often times it's the pneumonia that claims the life of someone with cancer, not the cancer itself. My cousin, Kai, died of pneumonia while going through "maintenance" treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. My dad, who is battling lung cancer, has pneumonia right now. It's scary.

The profile of Caleb that team members received says the following: "Caleb says the hardest part of having leukemia is mission school for treatment. He missed almost all of preschool during the 2005-2006 school year due to intense chemotherapy and radiation. He also hates the 'pokes' that come along with having blood labs drawn every week. The only good thing about all of the 'pokes' is the vast sticker collection he has amassed since treatment began. His favorite kinds of stickers are anything related to his favorite super heroes, Spiderman and Batman.

Caleb, I think you are a super hero. But even super heroes need help sometimes. So we will continue the fight.

Remember: www.active.com/donate/tntwi/relentlessrunner Donate today! Help a super hero!