Hello everyone at KathieLeeGifford.com!

POST-MARATHON UPDATE!
Thanks to the support of family, friends, and a bevy of new, online friends, Fiona and I completed the Flora London Marathon on April 18th in a swift 6.5 hours. Despite our aching bones, muscles, and joints, we had a fantastic and unforgettable day. We heartily recommend it to anyone who gets a chance - the cheers and encouragement of the people of London made every miserable step a joy. With more than 75% of the 32,000 participants raising funds for all sorts of charities, an estimated 40 million pounds (over 70 million dollars) were raised!

Fiona and Greg crossing Tower Bridge on their way to soggy personal victory.

Brain and Spine disorders affect over 100 million people worldwide and are the most common cause of death and disability. Every 15 seconds, one person in the United States sustains a brain injury. 1 in 10 UK residents will die of a stroke - a similar number will survive, but with a disability. Over 200,000 Americans will be diagnosed with a brain tumor each year, and the vast majority do not survive. Nearly 25% of all neurological cases are misdiagnosed by front line medical staff.

Fiona training in Central Park.

My name is Greg and, for the last few years, I have been the webmaster (head nerd) of this site and moderator at our chat events. Thank you all for creating such a friendly community - it is a pleasure to work for and with you.

I recently told the folks at Kathie Lee's office the story I'm about to write here and they were kind enough to offer me the opportunity to share this story with you.

In the fall of 1990 I met Fiona Tocher, an English girl who would, in 1995, agree to marry me and then, in 1996 actually go through with it. I was taking a year of college in London and we were both in the same hall of residence. Fiona was an art student who, I would later discover, had a unique ability to pretend to enjoy watching Star Trek in order to further her acquaintance with American men. We quickly became inseparable and, when I returned home to New York, we continued our relationship with phone-calls, letters, and one or two trips overseas per year.

In 1994, as we were long-distance-dating, Fiona suffered a prolonged, rambling illness the diagnosis of which eluded her doctors. This went on for months and, eventually, culminated in a series of seizures. After one of these seizures, Fiona was picked up by an ambulance attended by a very astute medical technician. The technician, after hearing a bit about Fiona's recent months, insisted that Fiona have a CT scan to investigate possible neurological causes. It was not long until the doctors discovered a tumor on the left frontal lobe of her brain - a meningioma. Fiona was outwardly cheerful and optimistic but, inside she was petrified.

Still smiling after a recent training race.

I was living in New York at the time, and, when the news came, my stomach turned inside-out. I flew out the next day.

Leaving mercifully little time for anyone's fear, Fiona's surgery was scheduled immediately. In my position as official hugger and hand-holder, I arrived the day before the surgery. Fiona, amazingly, was keeping up the spirits of her parents, friends, and now me.

Looking back, I don't know why they felt the need to tell us, but, the doctors gathered around Fiona's bed the morning of the surgery and glibly informed us that the operation was going to be performed by their newest brain surgeon. He had never actually operated inside anyone's head but, we were assured, this was a teaching hospital and he would have lots of supervision. As well, they admitted, he would be using an incision procedure that they were sure would be a big success but, they had never previously attempted. Fiona's hand gripped mine a little tighter.

Fiona went in to surgery later that morning. Fiona's parents and I drummed our fingers, stared at the floors, and prayed.

An interminable few hours later, they wheeled Fiona out of surgery. I could see her face from down the long hallway. Her eyes were a haze and she rolled her head in my direction. I never thought I would be so happy to see someone stick their tongue out at me. The surgery was a terrific success.

Fiona was talking later that day - not giving great orations - but talking nonetheless. Perhaps it was a necessity for the notorious British Health Service but, we all were thrilled when she was sent home a few short days later and simply cautioned to 'stay off (her) feet for a while'.

That was 10 years ago. Fiona and I live in New York now with the greatest dog ever, Jeff. This anniversary of the surgery has reminded us how precious and, equally, how tenuous our lives can be. We wanted to do something to mark the anniversary and, also, to help those who may be confronted with similar neurological problems in their lives.

On April 18th, Fiona and I will run the London Marathon to raise funds for The Brain and Spine Foundation, an organization dedicated to education and research into neurological science and medicine.

Neither of us are particularly athletic or have ever run any distance anything like this but, if we tried to raise funds by singing, you'd know why we've chosen to run. We've set up a web page to give more information and facilitate sponsorship of our run. If you would like to know more, please visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/gregandfiona

Making our way up to 26.2 miles.

APRIL UPDATE: Fiona and I have recently completed our first half marathon which means we're capable of finishing a 13.1 mile run! If only we had another eight months to prepare for the second 13.1 miles. So far, we've battled our way through shin splints, knee trouble, pulled ligaments, asthma, and a host of other ailments we never knew we had. But, we've overcome all of those and, with luck, we won't have too many more unexpected physiological obstacles. Keep your prayers with us!

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored us at justgiving.com/gregandfiona . We've been blessed with a few whopping contributions but, we really have raised the majority of our funds through smaller donations. Every single dollar helps.

Thanks for reading this. See you at the next chat!