On Monday on my way to work, I happened to notice on my trusty yellow Jeep's odometer that it had traveled 100,000 miles. I could not help but think about all the good times that I had in my jeep and how dependable it was to me. I can remember great times like traveling to Hugenot Park Beach near Jacksonville, FL with my mother, wife, and two dogs on New Years Eve to enjoy a nice picnic and establishing tradition of beach pictures. I can also remember those stressful times as I rushed across two states with several gallons of gas to help out some close friends who were stranded after Hurricane Katrina without a home to go back to. Yes those memories were all so great and exciting and this was a milestone. What is a milestone? What does it mean in our daily lives? The dictionary definition of a milestone is:
1. A stone marker set up on a roadside to indicate the distance in miles from a given point.2. An important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point.
Each and every day milestones are achieved in life regardless if we really wanted to reach them or not. For you it may be the milestone of turning a certain age, getting married, having a baby, etc. For others it may be a promotion or achievement in your field for your hard work. Ultimately, the milestones that mean the most to us are the ones that we set a goal to reach.
Since I started my journey last May, I have passed many milestones. First it was to complete a sprint triathlon, then an Olympic distance, then beat my previous time, then, finish a Half-Ironman and a Half-Marathon, and ultimately to complete the full Ironman. Each and every time the milestone was harder to reach, but I have been fortunate to find success sometimes through adversity, but always with the same ending, achieving the milestone goal that I had set. Of course I have had some great support along the way from family, friends, sponsors, and coaches. I don't think I could have achieved passing the milestones without such a great support staff keeping me grounded and making sure I am not thinking too far into the future as sometimes I can do. Today, I find myself setting goals to reach other milestones in this journey, but not in the way that you may think.
As you may know, Texas Children's Hospital has been a intricate part of our journey so far. The administration and medical staff have always been amazing to me. I have been raising money for their general Pediatric Urology Research Fund on my journey, but I have to admit, there has not been much success. It some ways it makes me feel as if we are failing the hospital that I felt has given our son as close to a normal life as possible. Of course I have been brainstorming on how we can generate more donations and then I realized it. We did not have a milestone goal or in reality, there was not even a definitive road for our milestone to be on...until now!We have received help from some great people, like Tara Mermis and Ellen Phillips, at Texas Children's Hospital to petition for a fund specifically for research concerning Shawn's conditions. Although we don't have a specific name for the research fund yet (We wanted some more catchy than Shawn Murphy Pediatric Urology Fund. Any Ideas?), we have established the specifics of what will be involved in the research:
1. Determine links between Shawn's conditions
2. Study other possible cases from other hospitals that may have common denominators to Shawn's conditions.
3. Determine what may have genetically caused the conditions to determine if it was hereditary or from environmental causes.
4. Establish a procedural plan for any future child or pregnant mother that is identified with conditions like Shawn's or Rachel's.
We have now set a goal that we must complete for the research to start of $25,000. There are going to be several ways to achieve this goal including Team Shawn, contributions from the Ironman Foundation and many many more fundraisers coming soon. Ultimately, I feel that if Texas Children's Hospital gathers a large grasp on Shawn's conditions and finds effect way to treat, prevent, or repair other children that may suffer from this, that it will be the innovator and leader for treatment. In return, children from all over the world will come to TCH to seek treatment, doctors from all the world will look to TCH for guidance, and parents can gather information at the sole source of Texas Children's Hospital. I know that may sound like great and mighty dreams, but I can't think of another hospital that could get the job done. Remember, nothing is impossible right?
I hope that you all consider becoming an advocate for this endeavor regardless of where you live. Ask your friends, your companies and corporate partners for matching donations, and maybe even your enemies if they can help us reach our $25,000 goal. Your help may prevent thousands of children and parents from ever having to go through what we have as a family.
