Sept 1 letter to team

Hi Team,

Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to those of you who I haven't had the chance to meet yet, and touch bases with the rest of you! I'm your national team mentor and couldn't be more excited about getting to know all of you and enjoying the journey together. I have a blog at www.kodyandjodie.blogspot.com. If you didn't get my "all about me" email you can see it posted there. In a nutshell, I'm super passionate about finding a cure for Crohn's and Colitis cause its caused a lot of trouble for my family and I hate to see what it does to LOTS of families.

In my intro note, I said that I hadn't really had an episode in almost six years. Unfortunately, I seem to be moving into a bout now. I had remicade last Friday, but it was about 3 weeks late and I'm paying for it a little bit. I have an amazing doctor who is pulling out all the stops to make sure that I don't get too out of control. I'm on cipro, flagyl, prevacid now and getting an abdominal/pelvic ct scan on Thursday. I feel like we'll be able to get it back into remission. One thing I've learned in the 16 years i'v had Crohns is that you don't mess around with it. I'm putting all my energy into feeling better. I'm behind on my training program and my fundraising, but I'm not worried. One thing I'm completely confident of is that this team, OUR TEAM, has the strength to pull everyone up when any of us falter. There is a lot of time and we are going to get through this.

I'm not trying to be over dramatic....but I want to be serious for a minute. Feeling how I am right now is freaking me out. It's scary. I know that all of you know what I mean. YOu wouldn't be committed to this race if you didn't. When Carly asked me about being a mentor, I said yes, without even thinking. I have a very deep faith and I just want you all to know that I believe ths race will be a huge part of my getting well again. When I told my doctor about it; he said, well we better get this thing whipped, you got work to do. I really want to thank all of you for your prayers and your thoughts. I know I'll be back on track in no time. Hope to talk with many of you tomorrow.

I'm here for you if anyone needs anything!

Jodie