Meet May.

This is May:



She is the youngest daughter of two of my dearest friends, and she was born during the 2002 Winter Olympics. She is one of the funniest people I know. May is creative, too. Most kids who write their name on a wall just write it--like this: "May." But May is unique. She wrote her name in purple crayon spanning three walls, and in reverse, so it looked more like abstract art with a single initial on each of the aqua blue kitchen walls.

Why am I writing about May, you ask? This email from her Mom explains why:

"The CT scan does not show a normal brain.  Your daughter has Tuberous
Sclerosis which causes epilepsy, autism and mental retardation."

This was our introduction to Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) when in
June 2004 our then 2-year-old daughter, May, was diagnosed.  It sounded dire
and only got worse as we learned that TSC can cause benign tumor growth in
almost any organ, including the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys.

After the devastating initial news and the many tests that followed, we
discovered 2 wonderful things.  First, and most wonderful, is that
May's condition is relatively mild with "only" brain involvement and
epilepsy.  Her seizures are currently under good control with medication and she
has no developmental delays.

The second piece of wonderful information was that Texas Scottish Rite
Hospital for Children, right here in Dallas, has one of the few clinics
in the country specializing in TSC patient care and research.  Because
this rare disease can be so variable and can involve many different organs,
having a clinic that can comprehensively handle May's case is a true
blessing.

But it gets better!  Scottish Rite Hospital is 100% charity supported -
they don't even have a billing department.  We pay no co-pays, we deal with
no hassles over costs, we have no in- or out-of-network concerns.  The
burden this lifts from our shoulders is much more than financial:  May's
condition can be overwhelming enough without adding the management of medical
bills.  Scottish Rite is free to any child in Texas and specializes in
orthopedic issues (like club foot, arthritis and scoliosis) as well as learning
disabilities.

On December 11 I am running the Dallas White Rock Marathon, aka "The
Rock".  "The Rock" proceeds benefit Scottish Rite and I want to help.  Please
join me in this endeavor by sponsoring my run - did I mention it's 26.2
miles? Did I mention I've been training for months?  Months.  Long runs.
Aching knees...but enough about that.  If you click on the link below you will
go to my pledge page where you can make a donation directly to Scottish
Rite.  I'm calling the site MAY'S TEAM and I hope you will join.

I'll write again next week, confessing to my time and how I'm
recovering.  Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in
helping out.

Thank you very, very much,
Sandy
Here is the link you can click on to help May and others like her who rely on the excellent services of Scottish Rite Hospital.
Anything you can do will be received with gratitude!

UPDATE:  Sandy raised $2960 in support of Scottish Rite Hospital, nearly doubling her original fundraising goal,
which was $1500.  She and her family are very grateful for your support.  And she has bounced back to her
everyday energy level post-marathon, which she completed!  Thank you so much for your generosity.