On Friday, February 13th, I went to visit Kris at home before she and her husband made the trip to City of Hope where she would begin her treatment. I brought her a few things to help pass the time during her stay and just wanted another chance to be with her before she started feeling awful again.
I was sad when I left because although her spirits were high, I could tell she was really nervous and scared about going in. I came home and did a few things around the house before picking the kids up from school. About an hour after I picked up the kids, Nolan wanted to go to a friend’s house. His friend lives kind of far, but there was no way I was taking the freeway on a Friday, especially on a holiday weekend. So we were taking side streets when Kris called my cell phone.
“We’ve been sitting in terrible traffic and just got off the freeway to take sidestreets to the hospital.” she said. “So I wanted to call you and thank you again for everything you guys are doing with the marathon and all the fundraising. I can’t believe it’s already over $2,000!”
I couldn’t believe it either. “It’s so awesome that there are so many people willing to help.” I said. We made small talk. I think it was good for both of us. I asked her how she was doing; She’s really scared and doesn’t want go in.
“This is the best time to do this. You have great doctors that are going to help you get better.” I tried to sound strong but I was scared too. We continued to talk as I pulled up to a red light at an intersection.
“Hey! You just passed me!” I announced. So Nolan and I followed her for a couple of miles until we had to turn, and she had to head into the hospital driveway. As we pulled up next to them, I hung up and blew her a kiss and told her to take care of herself and I’d see her on Monday. Tears filled my eyes as we drove off.
Earlier today Kris called my cell phone. “What are the donations at?” she sounded terrible, yet there was excitement in her voice.
“About $8,000!” I proudly informed her. She couldn’t believe it. I asked her how she was doing. She said she did great all weekend with her chemo, but woke up this morning feeling really sick. They were going to give her something for the nausea which would also make her sleep but she really wanted to know how we were doing. I love that she has this to keep her going. I told her to get some sleep and I’d come by at the end of the day.
I printed out all the comments written about her and our marathon. I couldn’t wait for her to see all the great things everyone said. I also brought flyers we made about the marathon because she wanted to give them to her visitors to help with the fundraising.
As I raced up to the hospital doors (only 10 minutes left in visiting hours) Kris’s husband was standing outside talking with some friends. He walked me into her room. I was so surprised to see her sitting up, chatting with the nurses and looking great. The anti-nausea medication and the nap did wonders. She was feeling much better. I was so excited to tell her the donations are almost
$10,000! We chatted as they removed her empty chemo bag. Kris said it’s been two hours on, four hours off, all day. One more before midnight. Then 7am tomorrow morning she begins the first radiation treatment. Three a day for the next three days. She told me how she was up crying all night because she was so upset that they taped padding to the rails of the bed.
“They say it’s for the seizures that can happen once the radiation starts. I can’t believe I’m going to have seizures” she said. But she said the nurse told her not everyone has them. I tried to comfort her by telling her she probably won’t have them. After all, she’s taking anti-seizure medicine. I don’t think I convinced either one of us very well.
I hugged her and told her I’d see her tomorrow. Her husband walked me out. “Thank you so much for everything you and Wil are doing. It gives her something to look forward to. Something to hold on to. It’s just so amazing that so many people are donating” I told him that we were so glad we could do this and we would donate platelets next week after her transplant.
“She’ll be so happy to get that from you. It takes a few hours though,” he explained.
I don’t care. As long as I can help.

I was in the middle of a very strange dream, when Anne woke me up this morning. I was at the Concert for the Masses, but the Rose Bowl looked just like the Hollywood Bowl, and the backstage area was like Cal State LA. I was being chased by some guy who was a cross between Henry Rollins, Juggernaut, and The Thing.
Needless to say, even though today was a sleep in day for me, I was happy to be pulled away from that little bit of subconscious weirdness!
It was about 6.15 when she shook me awake.
“Wil! I just checked our donation page, and we’re over 2,000 dollars!”
“That’s great, honey,” I said, and rolled over.
“Wil! It hasn’t even been 24 hours! Kris is going to be so excited!!”
“That’s awesome!” I said, and pulled the covers over my head.
Around 7, she was back.
Shake, shake, shake. “Wil! Wil!”
“Muhfrght?”
“I just looked again, and it’s over 2500!” She had the excitement that I’ve seen in Ryan and Nolan on Christmas morning.
I don’t really know the best way to put it into words, but Anne is shaken to her very soul by Kris being sick. It’s more than the very real possibility of us losing a dear and loved friend . . . it’s a glimpse of our own mortality, and a very tangible reminder of how fragile our lives really are.
This walk is more than just raising money for research and care. It’s giving us a small way to help out our friend in her hour of need, it’s a way for all of you who read my lame website to be part of something that’s bigger than all of us. I know that this is also giving Kris something tangible to hold on to — it’s amazing moral support, you guys.
For international and privacy-concerned readers, I will set up a PayPal page where you can donate whatever you want. Your donations will go to me, and I’ll turn them right over to the Team in Training people. I wish there was some way to make me not be the middle man (I think that’s asking you all to put a little bit too much trust and faith in someone you don’t even know) but I don’t think there is. Maybe the TNT people will see how many folks are interested in using PayPal, and they’ll make PayPal an option for donations.
I just looked at our Team in Training Homepage, and right now we’re just over four thousand dollars!!!!
We kicked major ass in 2002, and I’m sure we’re going to blow that away in 2004.

Google News has this nifty feature that lets you subscribe to news alerts. You tell Google what to watch for, and when those key words are found, it will send you an e-mail alert. I use it to watch for “Jenna Jameson declares love for Wil Wheaton.” While it hasn’t found that particular story just yet, it lets me know when my name appears on one of the news sources Google crawls.
A few days ago, I got a Google News alert that linked me to an article called “Wil Wheaton is a Dick” that was posted to Alternet.

A year and a half ago, Wil and I participated in the Avon 3 day breast cancer walk. We didn’t know anyone with breast cancer. We just wanted to help raise money for research and be part of the walk-a thon. It was by far the most incredible experience of our lives. Between the two of us, we raised over $17,000. We always knew we’d do something like this again.
What I didn’t realize, was that I would be doing something like this because one of my very close friends, Kris, would be diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. My 45 year old friend, a wife, a mother of two, an active, loved member of the community, was just diagnosed with a life threatening disease.
Kris went to the doctor just before Labor Day weekend to pick up some antibiotics before heading out of town with her family. She hadn’t been feeling well and just assumed it was some kind of infection. The doctor wanted to do a blood test just to make sure everything was alright. After the weekend, she was called by her doctor to come in immediately, and to bring her husband because something was wrong with her blood. A bone marrow test confirmed the doctor’s suspicion. Leukemia. She received the news and was told to be at the hospital by the end of the day to spend a month doing chemotherapy.
After the month of treatment, and two separate week long treatments, along with several blood and platelet transfusions, Kris is in remission. Her doctor at City of Hope Cancer Hospital wants to do a stem cell transplant on her now because she’s doing so well. This gives her a better chance of the leukemia not returning.
For the week prior to her stay at City of Hope, Kris was taking anti-seizure medication and going to her doctor to do chemotherapy tests before beginning her intensive treatment. When she begins her stay on February 13, she will be doing several days of chemotherapy followed by several days of full body radiation therapy. Then they will transplant the stem cells they harvested from her (she was not a match with her brother, children, or the National Donor Registry). This option gives her a better chance of her body not rejecting the transplant. Then the slow recovery begins.
It has been the most difficult thing in the world to see Kris go through this. She is a very strong person and I have no doubt this will just be another one of life’s obstacles she hurdles right over. But to feel so helpless at doing anything for her has been the hardest part.
Which is why Wil and I decided we would be part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s marathon. We will be walking 26.2 miles in San Diego this June to help raise money for a cure. Since we can’t donate our blood (not the right type) we can at least donate our feet. Our goal is to raise $25,000. A very small percentage of the daily funding needed for research.
Kris is so happy we are doing this in her honor. She already plans on being at the finish line with us so we can all celebrate this huge victory.
Here’s a link to our Team In Training Homepage. Please visit it, and help us reach our goal. Kris, along with thousands of other people dealing with this disease, need our help and encouragement.
Wil here, with a final thought: We kicked massive ass in the Avon 3 Day, and raised over 17,000 dollars in about six months. My stats tell me that about half a million different people read this site each month. Even more read it through various forms of syndication. Can you imagine how much we could do if you all kicked in a dollar, or two dollars? If every person who visits this site were to collect change and stuff for a day, and sponsor us for that amount, we would, together, contribute over ONE MILLION DOLLARS to help fund research that could save Kris’s life.
Think about the power you have. Isn’t it wonderful?

I occasionally contribute to this fantastic online magazine called “The Cult of the One Eyed Cat.” It’s named after a real cat, who only has one eye, who once gave me half a look that chills me to this day.
This month’s issue is all about Valentine’s Day, so I wrote a snarky piece wherein I get frank about my true feelings for this annual tradition.
Here’s a little bit to get you started:

Valentine’s Day is upon us yet again, and husbands and boyfriends all over the country are trying to solve a fiendishly complex puzzle: what do we get our wives and girlfriends? If you’re dating, are you dating long enough for roses? What if you’re dating too long for roses? And what color? Should you get chocolates, because she’s so sweet, or should you stay away from chocolates because she will freak about how it’s going to make her fat?
The stakes are incredibly high. If we work out the Rube Goldberg machine that is the female psyche, we may just get that once-a-year blowjob . . . but if we fail to read the tea leaves correctly, we end up spending the evening alone in the bedroom with ESPN Classics while she watches Lifetime in the living room and talks on the phone with her bitter single friend who hates us.

You can read the rest of my story, and some other stories that are much better than mine, at The Cult of the One Eyed Cat