#10 For you poppa. . .

Saturday May 18th, 2013 was a great morning, but it was also bitter sweet for me. This was the second time that I was walking in the Heart & Stroke Walk. Through my work of OHSU, we participated in the Greater Portland Heart & Stroke Walk. We raised over $560K and my group alone finished second in fundraising with over $13K. I walk with the team OHSU Cardiac Rehab All-Stars...and that they are. Most of these participants are my old patients or former patients of when I worked in Outpatient Rehab Services. It was so much fun having all of us together to make this 5K trek throughout both sides of Downtown Portland.

The wonderful Jyndia & Sarah

Poppa & Brennan

It was a bitter sweet day because I walk in my Grandpa's memory as we lost him nearly 2 years ago to Heart Failure and he had struggled with it for many of his last years. It was also AMAZING cause for the second year I also got to walk for my little buddy Brennan who last year was in the NICU at Doernbecher after his heart surgery at just 5 months old...he was also there walking with his mom and family this year. It is just amazing to see so many people come out and support for such a cause that is the #1 cause of death in the United States. I know it run in my family's history, so I have to be careful, but there is alot of people who don't know it's in their genetics. It was special as well cause I was able to walk with two of my faves: Jyndia & Sarah. Two old coworkers that I miss seeing daily. I was just missing my mom this year, hopefully next year she'll be back walking with me.

Crossing under the Steel Bridge in Portland



My walk back to the MAX on the Hawthorne Bridge