Oh what a week!

What an amazing weekend we had!  First of all, it was Rick’s week off from chemotherapy so he was really starting to feel well over the weekend, which was a wonderful treat!

Rick’s brother Mark drove to Utah from San Diego to bike in the Huntsman 140 ride for cancer research. The ride started at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, then 70 miles south and then back to Huntsman again.  Wow, 140 miles is a long ride especially in the heat!  He was able to raise over $3,000.  We were so touched that he would do it.  We were at one of the water stops at Westlake High School.  The grandkids loved holding up their signs that said, “Ride like the wind” or “We love you Uncle Mark” or “Kick Cancer’s butt!”  It was so fun to cheer for him.  When he got to Rick, Mark presented him with a Huntsman 140 jersey that said, “survivor” on it.  It was very emotional for our family.  Mark turned to Rick and said, “next year you are going to ride it with me.”  Later in the day, Mark sent us this wonderful note:

Dear Rick and Jana,

Thank you so much for your donation. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.  I am so touched by my amazing friends & family and their generosity.  

The knowledge I have gained in the past 2 months about cancer research has made me realize that there needs to be more done.  The advancements are amazing!  Scientists are finding new ways to fight and cure cancer. It was important for me to do this ride, firstly to support you and secondly to support cancer research.  Every time I felt tired or felt in pain, I just thought about your struggles and what you were going though.  It made the ride much more bearable.

The ride was such a great experience.  There were 1000 riders who were all out riding for friends or family who have been affected by cancer.  All had worked to raise money for cancer research.  It was so special to sit at the finish line and listen to the announcer tell about the riders, who they were riding for, and how much they had raised.  I raised over $3000 and had a huge cheer when I crossed when they said how much I had raised.  It really made me feel happy and grateful for all my amazing friends & family.  I can’t wait for you to be there next year to experience it.

I love you guys so much.  My thoughts and prayers are with you every day.

-Mark

Another great event last weekend was that Madison went through the temple for the first time.  This will now allow her to visit the temple regularly and feel the strength and peace that is there.  It was so wonderful to be with her along with most of our children and Rick’s mom and Dale.  We are so happy for Maddie and so proud of her. 

Monday morning Rick and I got up early and went to get some scans and other tests run.  It didn’t take very long so when we got home, we took the grandkids to see “Finding Dory.”  It was so fun to be with most of our grandchildren. (we miss the Wheadons kids that live in Indiana.)

Today we met with the doctors at Huntsman.  Mark was able to be there with us.  What a great support he has been!  The doctors presented the results of the scans up to this point.  They were concerned that the clinical trial drugs that Rick has received to date, have not been as effective as they had hoped.  The doctors determined that we should suspend the current treatment regimen and move forward with a different set of clinical trial drugs.  While we were disappointed in the results, we are pleased that the doctors are willing to make a mid-course change that would work toward better results for Rick.

We treasure the time we have together and continue to see the blessings in our lives.  Although this isn’t a trial that we would choose, we have grown so close as a family and have learned to make the most of each day!  We continue to feel the Lord’s hand in our lives and appreciate so much the thoughts and prayers of all of you!  We recently saw this quote that made us think of all of you and the way you have supported our family.

“Together we can lift and strengthen one another in the great and important days ahead.”   --Neil L. Andersen

For Father's Day, Maddie put together a video for her Dad. It is very touching and she said I could share it:

Below are a few photos of friends and family being Strong Like Rick!  We have also seen many posts on facebook showing support for our family!  Thank you so much for your love and support!

Love,

Rick and Jana

 The Pitchers

 The Youngs