The following week, Rick didn’t have to go to Huntsman
because he only has chemo every other week. It is so helpful to have that second week so that he can
repair and rest his body. We met
all of our children down in St. George for a vacation. It was so wonderful to be with our
children for a week. We were
excited that our son and his family could come also. All the cousins played so cute together. Even Tanner was able to slip down and
surprise us for one day. We
celebrated Rick’s birthday while we were down there. The grandkids were so excited to be with Grandpa on his
birthday. One of the most special
things for us is when we hear our children and grandchildren pray for
Rick. We are so lucky to have him
for our dad and grandpa. He is
such an example of strength and courage.
We went to the St. George Temple, we swam a lot with our kids and
grandkids, went to the children’s museum, the splash pad, played games and sat
in the hot tub and talked at night.
On Rick’s birthday, we attended the play Tarzan at the Tuacahn outdoor
theater. The kids loved it. It is such a beautiful backdrop with
the red rocks behind the stage.
Some days the girls went shopping and the guys played golf. Here is one of Rick’s amazing
shots. It was almost a hole in
one. You can see the divet where
his ball hit and almost rolled into the hole. The boys also went shotgun shooting one morning. Rick was so thankful that his port was
on his left side so that he could shoot his gun.
We were so happy to be together. At times we were laughing and at times we were crying. We have all been through a lot these
past few months. We all have been
sad and mad and scared at times, but we have learned to have faith and hope and
trust. We have been on a
spiritual journey that we never would have experienced any other way. Our family has grown so close and
learned how to support and be there for each other. We have learned that our family is the most important thing
there is and through all the hard times, we have learned that our Heavenly
Father is in charge and that he loves all of us very much.
On Friday, July 22nd, we went back up to Huntsman
for another treatment. We were so
excited that Kim (Rick’s sister) could be with us up at Huntsman. She lives in Georgia, so it was so
great to see her. Here is a
picture of Rick with our nurse Kelly who we love and also Audra, our new
clinical trials coordinator. We
were able to get so many questions answered from Dr. Garrido today. He spends so much time with us and
makes sure we never leave feeling confused about anything. It seems like the more I read about
pancreatic cancer, the more questions I seem to have. Rick calls me the research assistant. For me, I feel like the more I know,
the more I am not as scared. It
helps me to feel like we are in charge instead of the cancer being in charge. We feel like knowledge is power. There are so many new advances at
Huntsman. There are new trials going
on all the time. Each year gets
better and better. We feel so
blessed to be there! Another
wonderful surprise happened while we were up at the infusion room. Rick’s brother Joe came and surprised
Rick. He flew all night from Seoul
and Kate picked him up at the airport and brought him to Huntsman. Rick was so excited to see him. Joes’s family has recently moved to
Boston from Santa Cruz, CA. One
funny thing happened while we were in the infusion room. One of the patients came up to Kim and
asked where she got that Strong Like Rick shirt. He said, “My name is Rick and I’m fighting pancreatic cancer
also.” We gave him a bunch of
wrist bands and got his address so we could send him a shirt. It was great to meet someone else going
through this journey also.
Yesterday Rick’s family had a party for him and his
mom. We celebrated both of their
birthdays. The girls catered a
bunch of food and brought it to our home so that Rick wouldn’t have to go out
when he isn’t feeling the best. Rick’s
mom made him this cozy blanket to keep him warm after chemotherapy. We are so blessed with such a wonderful
family. We are all so close even
though we live all over and are many years apart. When we get together, it’s like we have never been
apart. We love them all so much
and missed the ones that couldn’t be here.
Below are some pictures of our friends showing support for
our family. Josh Davis is our son’s best friend. He
is so thoughtful and brings us pies that he makes. (which are amazing by the way!) Also Marcia’s brother sent this picture showing how he is
strong like Rick in Afghanistan!
We also had a wonderful visit from Ryan and Lisa Bench and Callie. Rick works with Ryan at Carollo. We also got a picture from the Carollo Las
Vegas office wearing “sock it to cancer” shirts and crazy socks to show their
support for Rick.
We continue to be overwhelmed by the continual expressions
of love, support and prayers from our friends and family. We love you all!!!
#stronglikerick
#wheadonstrong
