Calling all cooks, prep-cooks, chefs!

Holly here...
I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything! Like my Mom said, it's been kind of hectic around here with all of us still working and trying to help out where we can.

I know a lot of you have expressed interest in possibly making dinner/dishes to bring over for us, but need to know the "rules" on what my Dad is allowed to have. I thought I would post these guidelines and a recipe website my Mom found to be helpful in planning meals.
I know that it would be such a relief for my Mom if she didn't have to cook for my Dad every night - even getting 1 night off a week would be great. If you're not a cook, can you slice vegetables?? :) Believe it or not, this is the most time-consuming thing right now. Dad has to have a lot of raw vegetables in his diet, so we go through a ton every week.

Here's a great recipe website www.hacres.com. Although, I still usually have to verify that the recipe doesn't have anything on the "No" list.

The List:
He can have all fruits and veggies except cranberries - should be organic. He can now have fish 3-4 times per week. No halibut, king mackeral, marlin, pike, sea bass, shark, swordfish, tilefish, tuna & white croaker. He can have crab, lobster, scallops & shrimp. Whole grain products. Eggs are okay but should be organic free range. No white flour, white sugar, white rice, white bread, coffee. Nothing with synthetic chemicals, additives, preservatives or sugar. No dairy except organic whole milk yogurt and butter - no margarine. He can have rice, nut and coconut milk. Only oils he can have are olive oil, sesame seed oil, coconut oil and flaxseed oil. He can have a little bit of goat cheese. All nuts except peanuts. Nothing with vinegar or soy except soy lecithin. For "sweeteners" can have honey, real maple syrup, molasses or Stevia (truvia). No poultry, red meat or pork. No regular salt - must be natural mineral or sea salt. Other herbs & spices are okay. Pretty much organic whenever possible.

Please let me know if you're interested in bringing something over, or you want to come over and cook (we have a lot of the ingredients so you don't have to buy them)... or just want to help prep some stuff. We can coordinate what day works best for you and my parents.

As always... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your care and love. We still need it so much, and it still helps us get through the good days and, more importantly, the bad days.
Love-
Holly

Update Finally!

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated the blog. The past few weeks have flown by. It's been tough at times. Ric was struggling with some depression and fatigue along with everything else going on. He had some blood work done last week which showed his Vitamin D levels were really low and he was still anemic so now getting a boost of both Vitamin D and Iron. After a few days he could already tell the difference. He said his mind seemed so much more focused. He still gets tired but not as quickly. We spent a wonderful 4th of July weekend with a coworker & his girlfriend at their place near the Gorge. Went to the Rush concert - got to sit in the 5th row center stage which was awesome. Had a bonfire Saturday & Sunday nights- got to roast marshmellows and eat smores (not Ric so I ate his). We went for a very long walk thru Sunland, watched the Sunland fireworks show on Sunday night and went for a boat ride. We also ate alot - more than we had since before Ric was diagnosed with cancer. Holly, her boyfriend John and some friends of theirs were also there. Fortunately the weekend landed during the "off supplements" timeframe so we could really enjoy ourselves with no specific schedule. Got to sleep in which was fabulous. Oh those little things that we take for granted. We are both down to nearly "high school" weight with all of this craziness and change in diet. That relates to him losing nearly 30 lbs and me 12 lbs. I have way more energy than I have had in a long time. Ric has energy too but his comes in spurts and he naps alot but then with his body fighting the cancer in his liver you would expect that. We were both really struggling the last couple weeks as he wasn't feeling too great. I was of course worried about him and getting stressed out. But finding out what was going on really relieved so much pressure on both of us. The relaxing & super fun weekend that made life seem "normal" really helped us both physically & mentally. We are both more focused, optimistic and energized. I know we'll have bumps in the road but we know that we will get through it. You'd think after being married for nearly 33 yrs you would really know each other but we are still learning about each other. This whole thing just puts you into a much different stage of your relationship and you really learn to appreciate each other so much more. So something else that we can pass on to you is to not take each other for granted. In one quick moment your whole life can change and the things you thought were "big deals" are nothing when one of you is fighting for your life. Our 33rd Anniversary is coming up on July 15th. We haven't decided what we are going to do as we just have to take each day at a time. I do know that if Ric is feeling up to it we will be going out to dinner so I won't have to cook :) Oh the Doctor said Ric is to have more fish - he can now have it 3-4 times a week. That made him happy cuz he loves fish! Oh one other happy moment to share - since Ric can't have white flour and only olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil or flaxseed oil, he has been unable to have flour tortillas. So I finally found a recipe that uses coconut oil and whole wheat flour! And they actually tasted pretty good. Of course there is nothing like a homemade hot flour tortilla but this is the next best thing. We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers, love, support, visits, and all the things you do for us. We are so very blessed to have you all in our lives and we absolutely love you all more than you will ever know!

Sunday June 12th

• It's hard to update the blog very regularly. For many reasons, but mostly very little time to even think about what to post. But then once I do actually get started, it seems that I can't stop :) We are starting to get used to the routine but have not quite perfected it yet. Our days start about 5am and don't finish till around 10:30pm, if we are lucky. We are really looking forward to the next 5 day "off supplements" schedule which is upcoming. At least we'll be able to sleep through the night. Even though Ric is the one actually getting up at 1:30am to take the supplements, I still wake up with him.
• We've realized that we need to be limited as to what we do during his "on supplements" days. So if you ask us to do something with you and we decline, please know that it probably has to do with Ric's schedule. There are "routines" that he has to do every morning and every evening that require him to be in a place where he can be comfortable which usually means at our own home. We are trying to do "normal" activities at times but it requires alot of pre-planning to make sure we have everything covered and are staying as stress-free as possible. The UP side to all of this is that Ric is feeling stronger every day and I continue to see longer glimpses of my husband showing up which totally encourages me to keep going on all the things that I am needed to do for him. There are many times that I get discouraged only because there is so much for me to do right now - so for that I ask for prayers for me - to keep my strength, stamina & health up and for me to be able to get the rest I need each night to keep going. Ric is very concerned about me which is one of the things I love about him - he's always thinking of others way before himself! I know many of you have asked what can you do to help but it's hard to think of what ahead of time. There are times that I can think of something but it's at that moment and unless you all want to move in with us (which is not happening!) then it's not something that you can help with. There are things around the house that as we get some nicer weather we will be asking for some assistance. If you know Ric & I though, it's really hard to ask for help as we are the ones who live to help others. Maybe that's one of the many character building lessons that we are meant to learn in this journey.
• Just found out this past week that three more people that we know have been recently diagnosed with cancer - my older stepbrother Allen (colorectal cancer - he's in his mid 50's), a friend of my mom's Janelle (breast cancer - she's in her 40's) and my great-aunt Eula (breast cancer - she's in her 80's). So if you would add them to your prayers along with Frank, Octaviano and Hannah we would so appreciate it.

Wow it's June already

• Can't believe it's June already - time is passing by so quickly lately. We are both sooooo happy that we will be getting some warm weather this weekend especially Ric. The cold weather has not been his friend. Normally he wears shorts almost year round outside work but not this spring. I joke with him that if he doesn't start gaining more weight we might have to move to Arizona - not!
• We have been learning so much lately but one thing that is so obvious to us is that there is no room for us to be feeling sorry for ourselves because of what we are going through. There are so many people who are dealing with alot more than we are. We have really truly been blessed in so many ways so far during this journey. We have connected with so many amazing people just in the last couple of months - some are people from our past and others are people who God has placed in our path to encourage us and allow us to encourage them. Nothing is coincidental - it is all of a much bigger plan and we are excited to see where we are headed and who else God will bring into our lives.
• We are requesting prayers not only for Ric's continued healing but also for some specific people dealing with major illnesses. Ric's youngest sister Minerva (the one he donated the kidney to) is currently in the hospital. She continues to be on dialysis due to the kidney failing about 7 yrs ago. She was just starting home dialysis a couple weeks ago but is having some issues that they needed to hospitalize her. Please also pray for Ric's former boss Frank and childhood friend Octaviano who are fighting their own battles with cancer. And last but not least please pray for little Hannah - a 5 yr old who is fighting leukemia. We just met Hannah's mom Carrie this week. It's really quite interesting how our paths were set up to cross so that we could be an encouragement to each other. We look forward to getting to know Carrie & Hannah better.
• So hope you all enjoy the sunshine this weekend. We know that we will be!

Memorial Day - Another long one but it's been awhile

• It seems wierd to not be having a BBQ today or going to a BBQ. Today is the beginning of Ric's second set of 5 days without supplements. It's also the beginning of a 2 day detox routine - the last one of this months - from here on out he will only have to do one detox per month (other than twice a day coffee enemas). The first month you do all 3 detox routines (Liver flush, Clean Sweep & Purge) to really clean out the body of all the toxins that have been building up over the years. This one is the Purge - a gallon of fresh citrus juice (grapefruit, oranges and lemons) to drink each day for today and tomorrow with nothing to eat except maybe an orange for dinner. He can also drink as much water as he needs. This one puts his body at rest and aids in the rapid removal of metabolic wastes from his body. It also pushes his body into an alkaline state so that repair and rebuilding of his damaged tissues occurs rapidly. He may feel symptoms such as nausea, headaches, muscle aches and pains. So we will see how this one affects him. The other two he pretty much breezed through.
• I've been meaning to update the blog for awhile now but it seems I have little time to do so. This 5 day break is nice as it will allow us to have a bit more freedom to not have to stick to such a rigid schedule as we do when Ric is on the supplements. It's easy to get off schedule as it only takes a minor hiccup to put him behind an hour or two which shifts everything. We've found getting back on schedule is a bit difficult but then he has only done two of the 10 day supplement schedules so far. Also having to make sure he gets meals at specific times can be challenging when things are already behind schedule. But we are doing the best we can to adjust to the new routine and we still feel that this is the best treatment for Ric. We can see the difference in him every day. The one thing that has really bothered him is that he is always cold. But when you lose 24 lbs in only a few weeks that will take a toll on you and the weather has really sucked so that isn't helping. He has gained 2 lbs back - Praise God! His appetite has picked way up - there are some days that he amazes me that he is actually putting away that much food since he started out with so little of an appetite.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2010 there will have been 1,529,560 new cancer cases in the United States. Does anyone else find that statistic just out of control? Why are a million and a half people going to get cancer? 34,500 will have been in the State of Washington. I thought we were one of the healthiest states in the U.S. Have you taken a look at what you are putting into your body? There is so much crap in the food we eat especially processed foods and fast foods. I read labels before but not like I do these days. There are so many preservatives put into foods - which are NOT good for you. If it preserves the food what is it doing to your body? Sorry if you feel like I am preaching to you but just like everything else you should do your own research and not think that just because it is in your grocery store it must be safe. There are some drugs that do good things for people who need them but they all have their side effects that may cause more problems for you. Don't take the quick and easy way for things. I know that goes against the American Way but all you are doing is hurting yourself and affecting your loved ones. If you get cancer or another critical illness you will be affecting EVERYONE around you. Take control of your health and do the right thing for your body.
• We are so thankful and blessed by all the support, love and prayers we are getting from everyone. We know that there are some out there who are wondering if Ric is taking the "right" path in his treatment. Everyone should take control of their own healthcare and do what they believe is right for them. This is what we believe and what Ric is doing. We are thankful that we have options and are not forced to go one path only. We have been truly blessed to be able to choose the option that is best for Ric.
• One last thing because it is Memorial Day - we thank God for all those throughout our country's history who have made the ultimate sacrifice in giving up their lives to defend our freedoms in this country. Never ever take those freedoms for granted.

Saturday

Yea finally a day to sleep in a little and not have a million things to do (only a couple hundred) :) We had pancakes for breakfast today! Found a whole grain pancake mix at Whole Foods that did not have nasty stuff in it and it actually tastes really good. Ric was craving pancakes so was glad I found it for him. Ah the little things that bring us joy! Finally got myself organized and set up a full weeks menu so that I'm not trying to wing it every day. Winging it is not my style but it has been a teaching moment - I did it and I survived it but in order to save my sanity I must be organized. Also then my poor husband does not get the same thing every other day. Been finding some good recipes - thanks to all my friends who have assisted in that! Mom came over for a couple days to help us with things and that was certainly a blessing. Tomorrow Ric will be off the supplements for 5 days which means not having to wake up at 1:30am to take the enzymes so I know he will enjoy that. But since he's been doing that for the last 10 days I am sure that his body will wake him up anyway. We put in almost a full week of work - was off on Monday - not full days yet but about 5-6 hrs at the office. He really enjoys being back at work. It has been 8 weeks since "C" day and 7 weeks since surgery. Ric looks better every day and is getting stronger every day. Still trying to put on some weight but it's a bit difficult when the majority of your diet is vegetables and fruits. With his appetite increasing hopefully that will start happening - he would feel more comfortable with about 5-7 lbs back on. Please keep the prayers coming especially regarding continued healing and some weight gain!

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated the blog. We have been busy! First just trying to get used to Ric's new schedule of all the things he has to do in a day and because the best food is fresh food, I feel like when I'm home I'm preparing food for that day and then getting ready for the next day. Ric has to take 16 pancreatic enzymes every 4 hours and then takes 27 supplement capsules at breakfast & dinner and 23 at lunch. The supplements are various ones - vitamins and minerals that he is deficient in or to help build up his system. Since he's never been a "pill" taker going from nothing to 181 every day pretty much throughout the day has been a real challenge. For him just getting them down and for me as the control freak trying to make sure he's taking them when he's supposed to take them. Along with trying to make sure he gets the proper servings of the various foods that he is supposed to eat during the day so far it's been rather overwhelming. But we both know that it's a matter of getting used to the schedule and getting more organized so it all just eventually flows. We also headed to Southern California on Friday afternoon for a long weekend so that just made things a little more complicated. We were really getting stressed (especially me since this is the only thing I can control at this point) until my wonderful husband put it all into perspective while we were down south. "We have only been into this program for about 12 days now and we can't expect it to be perfect right away! We need to do the best we can at getting used to it but we also need to relax and enjoy ourselves." So we did just that. We did have a great time in So. Cal. Holly & I were originally going down to attend her college roommate Marciea's Master's of Education graduation from Loyola Marymount University. Since I was going to stay home with Ric, he decided he wanted to go with us. We had recently found out that his former boss at Southland, Frank was fighting cancer also so we were able to meet up with him. Ric & Frank had a great time comparing their surgery scars and talking about all the "fun" they've been going through lately - their scars are basically the same - they had me take a picture of them showing their bellys - boys will be boys. Frank was diagnosed in November last year so he's a little farther along in his surgery recovery. We enjoyed hanging out with Marciea (one of our other daughters), her parents Wendy & Lester (Holly's California parents) and our former coworker at Southland Nancy and her husband John (also known as Holly's California grandparents). We also got to see a few of Holly's Vanguard University softball teammates so that was fun. Ric did really well in the traveling and the activities that we did while there. We got back late last night and were back at work today. Ric put in a pretty decent day today and is feeling stronger every day. His appetite really picked up this weekend which was good to see. He's really getting antsy to get back on the riding lawnmower to mow the yard - ummm maybe in another couple weeks. Anyway that's where we are at now. Thanks so much for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, etc. It's so nice to have so many people supporting us!