July 24, 2016

 On July 5^th, Rick began the new chemotherapy trial.  We were nervous and excited to get going on it.  The infusion takes about four hours and then Rick wears a fanny pack home that continues to pump another chemotherapy drug into his system for forty-eight hours.  One of the side effects of the chemo is that Rick is sensitive to cold.  When he touches anything cold or drinks anything cold, it feels like little needles shocking him.  The morning after his treatment, he walked on the tile floor and it felt like he was walking on ice.  The nausea started to get a little more difficult during that first week and also the fatigue really hit.  The Doctors remind us that it is normal for him to feel exhausted because it is like his body is running a marathon.  Even when he feels lousy, he still has such a positive attitude!

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 22^nd, 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