DC RACE FOR HOPE MAY 4, 2014

It is hard to believe that Justin has signed up his team Justin's Quest for now 5 years. It has gone by so fast yet life has been a blur and so hazy since he was diagnosed. I was trying to copy and paste Justin's hand written letter that he sent out to so many people for his first race. I will however provide you the text and if you can imagine it in the hand writing of a very scared little 12 year old boy who has a brain tumor. Mind you he wrote this letter about 2 weeks after he was diagnosed. The letter reads as follows: DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, MY NAME IS JUSTIN FRIEDLANDER AND I WAS JUST DIAGNOSED WITH A BRAIN TUMOR ON MARCH 16TH 2009. I WAS VERY SAD AND SCARED AND COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY GOD GAVE ME THIS. MY MOMMY AND DADDY SAID THAT GOD CHOSE ME BECAUSE I AM VERY STRONG AND I CAN MAKE DIFFERENCE IN HELPING PEOPLE WITH BRAIN TUMORS. PLEASE HELP ME HELP OTHERS WITH A BRAIN TUMOR AND DONATE TO MY TEAM JUSTIN UNITED IN THE RACE FOR HOPE MAY 3, 2009. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING ME. LOVE, JUSTIN We are gearing up to raise money for this race and of course appreciate everyone's love and support. Again, we cannot express how proud we are of Justin. His brain tumor has had a positive influence on so many people and has defined in him in some fashion that one would see such love, courage and compassion that exudes from Justin. Justin we love you very much. Keep fighting the good fight not only for you but those others that have a brain tumor.

OUR PURPOSE

Last Friday, I received a call from my dearest friend Jay, who has been so instrumental in Justin's Quest,that his good friend was just diagnosed with a pituitary brain tumor. Jay was frantic as he called me and explained the situation and asked for help. I was at work and I immediately stopped everything that I was doing so I could help Jay's friend. I have spoken with his friend several times before. I called Jay's friend and offered total support as his life was just turned upside down. I Know exactly what it is like to go through this horrific time and I just wanted to help his friend in any way I can. I helped him get a game plan of doctors and what to expect and give him direction because you feel so helpless. We believe that Justin was diagnosed with his brain tumor to help those in need with this terrible diagnosis. It is Justin and our family's calling. I told Justin that night about Jay's friend and he expressed tremendous concern about his prognosis. Justin wants so bad to help others and when he hears the sad news about someone being diagnosed with a brain tumor, he feels so bad and wants to help. The good news is that Jay's friend has things lined up and is on his way to getting more clarity about his situation. I am telling you this story because there are to many people that are alone in dealing with a horrific medical diagnosis. We as a community need to help everyone going through this because it is so lonely and incredibly scary. Yesterday, Justin came home from school with headaches and blurry vision. A parent may not think twice about this situation with their child but when your son has a inoperable brain tumor involving his optic nerves your heart sinks and we were sick to our stomachs. Justin was terrified and incredibly freaked out. We immediately called his neuro-opthmologist and he thankfully fit him in and saw Justin today. It seems that Justin may have migraines which is a good thing if totally confirmed. I felt so bad for Justin as I was driving him to the doctor this morning. He said dad " I am done with my brain tumor" " I want to say to the world that I HAD a brain tumor not HAVE a brain tumor" "it is so hard to live with this" I told him our mantra again " I have always been there for you and I will always take care of you and we will beat this and get through this as we have the best doctors in the world at Mass General". It has to be hard on anyone going through this but especially a child. He knows that this is his and our purpose to make a difference and we preach it and live it. Once again, I preach, love your family and appreciate everyhting you have because you never know when a family diaster may strike.

Happy New Year 2014!

Justin and our family want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. May 2014 be a great year for all. Justin had some exciting news on the soccer front. As mentioned in my last blog Justin and his team was going to play in the IMG Soccer Tournament which is one of the best and most competitive soccer tournaments in the world. They played 4 games and Justin got to play the whole second half of the last game. That was the only game they won which was 1-0 and Justin had the assist to the goal. I was on the phone with Audrey as she could not wait to call me with the great news and she was crying tears of joy. It had me choked up as Justin continues to defy all odds and persevere. I spoke with Justin about the game and he was so excited. He really felt great about himself. His team has such unbelievable players and coaches. He said to me "Dad I am not mad at the coaches for not playing me, I am mad at myself for not giving them a reason to play me". I was blown away by his comment. He has such a different perspective on life than most because of his diagnosis. He has a quote on his cell phone from Michael Jordan that stays on his home screen that basically says never give up in life. He is truly inspirational. The other day I was upset about something and he came to me and said "dad live life to the fullest". Again he blew me away with his wisdom and insight. As discussed in my previous blog his radiologist and now I found out his neuro-oncologist will be taking his case to their conference this month to discuss with some other brilliant colleagues. We are so lucky to have the people at Mass General on our team. We will have our Justins Quest team set up for the DC Race for Hope in May and Justin will be going to San Diego in the Fall to do an event called "Over the Edge" he will propel off a very tall building to raise money and awareness for brain tumors. Lastly and I must say we are beaming with joy, Justin made Honor Roll for the first time at his high school, Bullis. Thanks again for all your love and support!