Brenda Donato in the News

Honoree and Friend Brenda Donato is on the front page of the Contra Costa Times today :o) check out the article

Woman embraces life with running shoes on
By Ryan Huff
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Just before the horn sounded and sent 2,589 athletes on a chilly, mile-long swim, Brenda Donato couldn't believe she was about to start her first triathlon.

"I'm alive! I'm alive!" she screamed, splashing her teammates as she jumped up and down at Lake San Antonio near Paso Robles.

The Concord woman nearly hyperventilated with excitement, even as 25 miles of biking through rolling hills and a give-it-all-you-have-left, 6-mile run awaited her.

Donato had good reason for this month's impromptu celebration: She's in remission after almost dying last year from acute myeloid leukemia.

The 35-year-old, married mother of two had always been in shape, so she knew something was wrong when a trip up the stairs at home made her breathless. She had bruises all over her body and bleeding gums, which left her with just half of the usual eight pints of blood.

A trip to the emergency room kept her quarantined at Concord's John Muir Medical Center for a month of intense chemotherapy.

Her hair fell out, but her determination grew.

"I definitely had a will to survive for my kids," 9-year-old Trevor and 6-year-old Jarrett, she said. "The doctors have told me I have a 40 to 50 percent chance of a relapse. But that also means there's a 60 percent chance of a cure."

Donato went through two more monthlong rounds of chemotherapy -- each time restricted to one wing at a UC San Francisco hospital. On days she had the energy to get out of bed, she would walk laps around the floor, all while wheeling her pole of intravenous fluids.

From her hospital room window, she watched athletes run around Kezar Stadium.

"I just kept looking down at that track and said, 'I can't wait to be down there again.'"

Even after three months of chemotherapy, Donato had little chance of beating leukemia.

So doctors infused her with her own stem cells to provide a better chance of remission. They removed the cells, froze them and then placed them back into her body.

Those stem cells then produced new, and hopefully healthy, bone marrow.

Donato walked out of that hospital room in July. A month later, she started training for a half-marathon. Then came the marathon and the May 7 Wildflower Triathlon.

"People ask me why I do all these events," she said. "They think I'm crazy. I tell them, 'Because I can.'"

Donato joined Team in Training, a group of athletes who compete in active sports while raising research money for leukemia and other blood cancers.

"She became a real inspiration to us," said team captain Lindsay Gage. "Two months after a bone marrow transplant and chemo, she's out training for a half-marathon? You look at that and say, 'You know, running over that hill isn't so hard anymore.'"

Cancer has given Donato a new outlook on the little minutiae of life.

Maybe that's why -- long after everyone else goes home -- she waits for up to five hours to cheer on her last teammates finishing a 20-mile training run. Or maybe that's why she holds signs at Team in Training competitions that read, "Thank you. I'm alive because of you."

The other day she brought flowers to her sons' crossing guard. "Before I had cancer, I probably wouldn't have done that."

Donato said her boys and husband, Jim, provided key support when she bounced back and forth between being virtually locked up in her home and at hospitals. And Donato's fans recognize the bond she has with her sons.

"Most boys are generally bashful and really don't want to show affection in public," said Donato's coach, Alphonzo Jackson. "It's totally opposite with her boys. They always climb on her like she is their jungle gym."

And when Donato returned home after crossing the finish line of the Wildflower Triathlon in less than four hours, Jim and the boys showered her with congratulations.

Next on Donato's list: finishing a half-marathon next month in Alaska and a 100-mile bike ride. And, most important on the list, kicking her cancer to the rear-view mirror.

"I feel like I've conquered it," she said. "That could be denial. But crossing the finish line of a triathlon is a major accomplishment. If I can do that, I can beat this too."

Ryan Huff covers Concord and Clayton. Reach him at 925-977-8471 or rhuff@cctimes.com.

Hear Brenda Donato talk about her recovery and training at www.contracostatimes.com.

ONLINE BIOGRAPHY
NAME: Brenda Donato
AGE: 35
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, business, St. Mary's College, Moraga
RESIDENCE: Concord
OCCUPATION: Stay-at-home mom, former executive assistant and personal trainer
CLAIM TO FAME: After going through three months of chemotherapy to battle leukemia, Donato has finished a marathon and triathlon. She still has a 40 percent to 50 percent chance of a relapse.

NOTE: For information on Team in Training, which raises money to research cures for leukemia and other blood cancers, log on to http://www.teamintraining.org/ or call 800-482-TEAM.