Friends,

It has been a while, I know. We have been really busy, as usual, and my email program crashed and all attempts to repair it have failed. I have had to resurrect the email list and am now back to doing my update manually. It is still on the Web Site though if you think you might have missed any.

To start, I wanted to give a quick update on what is going on in our lives. I visited my primary physician a couple of weeks ago! I don’t do that very often. LOL. He found that my thyroid was low and my Vitamin D levels were low. I am now taking a thyroid replacement and I have an appointment with him in December to follow up on that. I am also taking a Vitamin D pill every week. Otherwise, we both seem to be very healthy. My blood work was almost completely normal other than the items already noted, and Menchie is successfully loosing weight per her doctor’s instructions.

Menchie and I have started training for the Lavaman Triathlon, which will be held in Hawaii in March. We will each be raising about $2000.00 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as part of our participation in this event. Prior to the start of training, we have been working very hard on our bicycle riding. Our last long ride was 27 miles on the Rt 56 Bike Path with side trips on some of the roads in the area. This was a very hilly ride and we ended up with over 1200 feet of climbing. The amazing thing for me is that my average heart rate for this ride was 71%. Earlier this year, and in 2007, when I rode the Honolulu century, whenever I got on my bike my heart rate shot up to between 80 and 85 percent and stayed there. I think this is a huge improvement. We have also improved our speed significantly. It is fun getting stronger, but some times it goes so slowly!

Over the weekend, we ran 3 miles on Saturday, and went for a 4.5 mile hike with Princess on Sunday. It was a great weekend.
Tonight we started our swim training for the Triathlon. I was in the advanced/intermediate group, and Menchie was in the beginners group. I swam about 500 yards tonight, I guess. I am totally exhausted. My arms are sore already. We had a great time. I was really worried about the swim. I don’t think I have been in the water since 2001 and my body has changed since then, but I jumped in and tried it out and it was good. Just like riding a bike. I didn’t sink like a rock or anything like that. I was just the slowest, weakest swimmer in the group. That means I can improve the most!

We are traveling to New Mexico for Thanksgiving with my brother, then we are continuing up to our house in Mountainair for the rest of the weekend. We are really looking forward to that.

I want to ask you for your help with our fundraising. I know I have asked before, and I really appreciate the help you have given. The problem is that people are still dying of Leukemia and going through the horrors that I have been through. There are many ways you can help if you would. I have a web site where you can donate using a credit card. The URL is http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/lavatri10/twilcoxzdf . Please feel free to make a donation of any amount. If you would buy me lunch if I came to visit, just do it on my web site. Your $5 or $10 donation will help to make a huge difference in peoples lives. I know money is tight, so I am also offering a couple of other opportunities to help. I have a shopping mall where you can do all of your on-line shopping, and a percentage of your payment will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in my name. The URL of that site is http://tedwilcox.mytnt.org/. This page also contains a link to Google so you can search from this site also. Google will also donate a portion of revenues generated from your search to LLS. Now there is a way you can help find a cure without spending a dime! You just do what you would normally do when you search the internet. Another great way to help is to save your recyclables and either take them to a recycling center, or if you are in the San Diego area, we would be happy to come and pick them up from you and we will take them to a recycling center. The last idea is for you coffee drinkers out there. I don’t have the web site yet, but I will post it when I get it. The coffee is a blend of premium coffee from a company called Jittery Joes called the TNT blend. A can sells for $11.00 and of that, $3.00 is donated to LLS. If you drink coffee, you might want to try this. I know you would all like to help if you could, so here are a couple of easy, inexpensive ways to help make a huge difference in people’s lives. Just to give you an idea of how important this is to me, other than the obvious ones, I am prepared to pay the whole amount out of my pocket, because I believe in the cause. This is after loosing my job, my property and almost loosing my home. I have taken a huge cut in pay at my new job, but I will make whatever sacrifice is required to make this happen. Please help.

We would like to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving, and hope this message finds you and yours, happy, and healthy, wherever they may be.

Thank you all for your support.

Ted

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