Our apologies for the belated update -
On May 25, 2008, John Scott Black, Jeff Cotner, Scott Humphries, and Shane Merz a/k/a "Team Gibbs & Bruns" completed Brazil's Ford Ironman to help raise money for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
As you may know by now, Brian Ross, our good friend and colleague, was diagnosed some months ago with Stage 3 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, arising from nodal marginal zone lymphoma - a form of "Non Hodgkins" cancer.
Brian continues to receive treatments at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and just recently completed his last round of chemotherapy.
Although there are several ways to treat Brian's form of cancer (most notably chemotherapy), there is technically no known "cure" -- not yet, that is. For more details on Brian's truly miraculous progress, including details explaining the difference between "curing" the disease and lifelong treatment/remission of the cancer, feel free to visit Brian's site at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/btr
With your help, Team Gibbs & Bruns continues to help fund the research and development needed to cure Brian's form of disease, among others. And as you can see, we are well on our way!
Our initial goal was to raise $20,000, which was the minimum amount needed to endow a research fund dedicated to researching the specific type of cancer Brian has - now that we have raised the initial $20,000, the research fund will forever bear Brian's name.
The money will be specifically directed to the "Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma" research fund of Dr. Peter McLaughlin, who happens to be Brian's primary treating physician at M.D. Anderson.
The Ironman race was an amazing experience for the entire team, with times ranging from just under 13 hours to just over 14 hours -
Scott Humphries: 12:59; Shane Merz 13:38; Jeff Cotner 13:38; and John Scott Black 14:17.
As you may know, the Ironman event consisted of a (really tough) 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. Competitors were given seventeen hours to complete the 140.6 mile course, and some were disqualified for not meeting certain time cutoffs for each event.
While the Ironman race has come to an end, Brian's (and our) race to cure cancer is alive and well - and with $50,000 to our name, we plan to press on.
We continue to ask friends and family to consider making donations of $140, or roughly one dollar for each mile raced by each team member. Please join all of us in supporting the cause, and whipping Brian's form of cancer once and forever.
You can donate right now by clicking below. As you can imagine, this site is uniquely equipped to handle secure donations by credit card. Donations are tax-deductible - firstgiving.com sends each donor a tax receipt.
If you are a little more traditional about your cash, you can also mail checks directly to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4470, Houston, Texas 77210-4470. If you choose the mail option, make sure your check reads "in support of Brian Ross" in the memo section.
Finally, you can donate on-line at the M.D. Anderson web site, which also allows you to designate the gift as one for Brian's fund.
https://www3.mdanderson.org/devoffice/
The only benefit to donating directly through the M.D. Anderson page, is that you avoid the very slight transaction charge that firstgiving.com charges us for using its fancy site. That said, firstgiving.com allows us to track all donations, and monitor our fundraising progress - which we like.
As you can see from the photographs on our page, the Ross family is about to expand, with a little girl expected in August. On behalf of the Ross family, we would like to thank you in advance for your support and, most of all, for your thoughts and prayers.
-Team Gibbs & Bruns
P.S. Big thanks to "offline" contributors: Mr. and Mrs. Ralph S. Cunningham; Mr. and Mrs. Robin C. Gibbs; Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Jaedicke; Mr. and Mrs. W. Craig Plumhoff; Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Domercq; The Winokur Family Foundation, Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Provost; Mr. Gerard W. Trione; Brenda and John Duncan; Jeff Cotner; Reece Rondon; Melvyn N. Klein; Don and Chris Sanders; Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey S. Edwards; Waukesha-Pearce; TIW Corporation, Inc.; Greater Houston Community Foundation; Mr. & Mrs. Robert J.; Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Thompson; Mr. Keith P. Ellison; Mr. and Mrs. Shane Merz; and Fidelity Investments!