Hooray For Barby!! PR

[Guest guest]

Barby, you know me – I’m a pretty strong,

pull yourself up by the boot straps kind of gal. But this article gave me goose bumps, please

tell your husband, he is riding for all of us and we are behind him all the

way! Not only those touched by PSC,

but I bet each of us has a family member who has had cancer. Both of my parents died from it, so

please thank him from the bottom of my heart. Barb in Texas

From the Lawrence Journal World

& News……

At 53,

Nordgren has overcome many challenges.

A tornado

demolished his home in 1983. He lost three businesses

because of internal theft in the ’80s. A fire

destroyed his home in 2002. He was hit by a car and

hospitalized during a triathlon in 1990 and 1991. And

in 1998, a doctor told him that he no longer could participate in sports.

The triathlete, who was suffering from chronic back pain that

caused him to hunch over, said the diagnosis “brought life to a

halt.”

“I

would just have to lie down for long, long periods and maybe several days

sometimes,” said Nordgren, owner of Aspen Construction Services in Topeka.

But after

meeting the right doctor and with the help of medication, Nordgren is ready for

his next challenge on Thursday: a 225-mile bicycle ride in northeast Kansas.

His ride

begins at 2 a.m. in Topeka

and will pass through 10 counties and 22 cities, including Lawrence, ,

Lecompton, Oskaloosa and Overbrook. He will ride

through downtown Lawrence and Kansas

University’s campus about 7 a.m.

Along the

way, he hopes to raise awareness about cancer, a disease that claimed the life

of his mother-in-law, Myrene Benteman,

and his father, Harry Nordgren Jr., of Lawrence.

Nordgren

said dealing with the 1999 death of his father has been his most difficult

challenge.

“I

went on for days and weeks where I would shift to tears at the slightest

thought of his being gone in this life forever ... of not ever again being able

to turn and see him there. That was and continues to

be tough,” he said.

The ride

will be a tribute to his father, a KU fan who lived in former head basketball

coach Larry Brown’s home. Nordgren will be

wearing No. 82, the age his father would have turned Thursday.

So far,

Nordgren has raised about $15,000 through Sunflowers to Roses, which supports

the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Cancer Action and KU

Cancer Research Center.

“It

has really opened my eyes to a need that I wasn’t even aware of,”

he said. “I had no clue that one-third of

everyone in the United States

will hear the words, ‘You’ve got cancer.’ That

just never crossed my mind, and a quarter of those will die.”

While he

will be wearing the yellow Livestrong wrist band to

raise awareness about cancer, he also will be wearing a green wrist band to

raise awareness of primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease that his wife, Barbara

Nordgren, is suffering from. She is awaiting a liver

transplant at KUMC.

It’s

another challenge the Nordgrens hope to overcome.

With love, Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son Ken (33) UC 91 - PSC 99 - Tx 6/21 & 6/30/07 @ Baylor in Dallas

[Guest guest]

Barb, Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen it yet since I don't get that paper. did finish the 225 miles but it took 18 hours with a flat tire included for good measure. The family party we had planned for afterward was going strong when he pulled into the driveway about 8:30pm after starting at 2:30am. So far he has raised about $13,000 but checks keep coming in the mail. Yes, is a very inspiritational person and I'm thankful that he is my husband and best friend. Blessings, Barby