I could write how much we appreciate all the support we have received from both friends and strangers near and far, but let us just have a short word with you instead.

If you want to keep up with the ride, Marc will be live blogging as long as he is awake, but for reports from the ride itself, friend me on Facebook where Josh will be me.

I know a lot of people are with us tonight, but I don’t feel weighed down in the least.

Together we’re gonna Fight like Hell and Ride like the Wind.

Yarden

I have gotten several e-mails that say something like this:

Yarden,

I would like to join you for your ride although I am not in shape and have not ridden a bicycle in over ten years. In fact, I am not sure where my bike is or if it has wheels. But I want to be part of your ride.

Hmm…

Let me make a better suggestion.

Stella and I would like nothing more than for all those who have been following our situation to go take a walk on the night of the ride (Thursday, November 10 through Friday, November 11). It makes no difference if you live in Neve Daniel, Maryland, Oklahoma, Ireland, or wherever. Go out for a walk with your spouse, child, friend, or anyone you love.

Don’t talk about work, errands, Mazkirut elections, or so forth. Just focus on how amazing it is to love someone and be loved. Don’t think about the future or the past, for this walk —  just focus on how good the present can be. If you happen to live here, wave when I go by. That would mean much more to me than trying to kill yourself keeping up with a ride that you may not be prepared for.

None of us knows what tomorrow may bring. So let’s take advantage of what we have.

Leave the pedaling to me.

Yarden

We have raised over 50,000 62,000 [Ed.] shekels so far. Thank you. These funds will go to the Gush Etzion Health Fund to help families which are experiencing serious illness here in Gush Etzion. You can still pledge per kilometer, per hour, or make a total pledge by clicking here.

Go ahead and click “like” on Facebook, trust me on this one.

If you were to tell me six month ago, that my wife would have cancer, that it would not be curable, and that she would need nasty chemo treatments every three weeks, I would be miserable. But you know, everything is relative.

Tonight we celebrated that very news.

Let me explain.

The reason for my post a few weeks ago asking people to not ask too many questions was that we were seriously concerned that the results of the scan were not going to be good. In fact, statistically, the best that the scan should have showed was that the rate of growth of the cancer had slowed. Not really the best news you can hear.

So last night, we went to bed both dreading today. We would have the results of the scan plus a full day of chemo. Not exactly a “Yom Kef” if you know what I mean. When we entered the hospital, I felt we were waiting for the jury to pass a verdict, a verdict that was not going to be very nice.

So let me tell you what happened and why we are so happy. Please just keep in mind what I wrote in the begining of this post. We have won a major battle, but the war goes on.

When the Doctor saw me this morning, he came out of the office with both thumbs up. He told me that the scan results were “excellent.” Later, he showed us before and after pictures of Stella’s stomach. The image from a few months ago looked like Stella had swallowed a python. Basically, there was more tumor than stomach.

Today, the scan showed that the python had been replaced by a worm. In the words of the Oncologist, the difference was “dramatic” and that the cancer was “melting away.” When we asked if he had any expectations that the scan would be so good, he said he didn’t expect it at all, but he “dreamt”  it. Stella is responding to the chemo in an amazing fashion that does not go along with the nasty statistics.

(Short break for a virtual high-five.)

Read the rest of this entry »

First, if you are new to this blog, let me catch you up.

My name is Yarden Frankl and six years ago I moved from Potomac, Maryland to Neve Daniel, Israel with my wife Stella and our four kids. For six years we have had an amazing life filled with equal loads of satisfaction and pride for our choice to make Aliyah, as well as a whole bunch of fun. As a hobby, I started riding bikes and running really far. Everything was really as good as could be, until…

At the beginning of the Summer, Stella felt a pain in her stomach. A few days later, our worst nightmare became our reality when she was diagnosed with late stage stomach cancer. Since then, our lives have been turned upside down as Stella struggles with cycle after cycle of chemotherapy.

While Stella battles the illness and the chemo as best as she can, I have been left sitting helpless while I watch from the sidelines. Wanting to get up and do something, and also concerned about medical expenses, I decided that I would ride my bike through the night and raise money for the Gush Etzion Foundation’s fund for families like ours struggling with serious illness. More on my decision if you read this post.

So now, what began as a late night thought, as turned into a major campaign. People from all over are pledging their support, and Stella and I cannot thank you enough. Really, we see every pledge that comes in, from close friends to those we have never met. It is extremely moving and even if I said THANK YOU a million times over, it would not be enough. I wrote a form thank you letter but it really cannot describe how moved we are each and every time we see a pledge.

Now, with the ride less than two weeks away, it is time to plan the details.

So here are some of them:

Read the rest of this entry »

I have said before that the nights are the hardest part for me.

I have lain awake countless times at around two or three in the morning, when my strength is gone and keeping the nightmares at bay is just too much.

Eventually, I give up on trying to get back to sleep and just “long for the dawn” as the Psalm (Tehillim 130) says.

On both a literal and figurative level, the battle with cancer is like one long night.

You long for the sun to come up because usually you feel a little more in control when the sun is shining.

You feel a little bit more hope with each new dawn. When Stella is up and we talk, I feel a bit more of a sense of normalcy and can often push the nightmares back into the box where they hide out.

But getting through the night gets harder and harder.

And I am getting really tired.

I’m tired of feeling helpless while Stella fights her courageous battle with the cancer that has turned our lives upside down. Demonstrating love and support and comfort are a given. Of course I do that as much as I can. But I need to do more.

So I have come up with an idea, and I hope you will join me.

Read the rest of this entry »