The Rest of the Story

Yes, we were on the Ellen Show! It was so exciting, surreal, crazy, fantastic, with a little bit of nervousness thrown in there.

You can't come close to including everything into a short little clip, so here's the "rest of the story".

When I said, "tough year" for our family, let me break it down:

In April my mom and I were in Ethiopia. We all thought my dad was just going in for a procedure to check for gallstones. Alone in his office, my mom and I on the other side of the world, the doctor told my dad he had pancreatic cancer. 

After hearing the news, we had to wait two days for the next flight out of Ethiopia (add 2 days travel). We finally arrived home and the very next week my parents flew down to MD Anderson for a consultation. Fortunately, a surgery opened up, he qualified, so they scheduled him for surgery the very next Monday. It was Mother's day weekend, so I flew down to Houston for Mother's day and the surgery. 

Monday, May 14, my dad had a 10 hour Whipple surgery. It's a doozie- essentially, they open you up and take a little from here, a little from there... more of here, and some from there. The surgery went really well. The surgeons were amazing, my dad did great, pathology even came back with results that clear margins were obtained and all the cancer was out. That was a really good thing.

In June my parents finally came home from Houston. My dad had lost about 30-ish pounds and was still on a feeding tube that had to be changed twice a day. He slowly started eating foods again, feeding tube came out, he gained strength, even started playing tennis again. Then he started a six month regimen of chemotherapy which was being used as a preventative measure just to "make sure" everything was gone. 

Did I mention that my mom was being a total trooper through all of this and was having horrible hip problems? She had to stay at a weekly, extended stay, hotel in Houston and walk to/from the hospital every day. To say the pain was awful was an understatement  It came to a point where she couldn't put it off any longer, went to the doctor and found out there was no other option than a total hip replacement. 

October 1, she had a hip replacement, followed by about a month of rehab, using a walker, etc. Compared to a Whipple it might look a lot less "serious", but it's still pretty intense.  

Christmas was SO VERY happy for us. My dad had just finished chemotherapy, my mom was walking pain free--- we were all alive and counting every single blessing. We were ready to go into the new year with a new start and have that really hard year behind us.

In January my parents went down for my dad's routine (every 3-months) scans. A spot was found on his liver. It was nothing we expected, we were utterly blindsided by the news.  

This is where we are today. We don't know exactly how much time we have left together. We pray every single day that it's more than what doctors might think. This is the thing-- we don't focus on "how much time we have left". We focus on the quality of time we have left. Our family is choosing joy. We are choosing to take this hand that life has dealt us. We are living life like EVERYBODY should live their lives anyway. Nobody, not a single one of us, knows when we will die. Shouldn't we all live our lives in a way that makes the most of today? We are happy. If we choose anything but optimism and happiness it's simply going to be a waste of really precious time. 

Maybe there's a silver lining to cancer. We get to say things and do things that maybe we would have been too busy or mindless to do. I get to ask my dad words of wisdom that will last me my entire life. I get to tell him my hopes and dreams, and reassure him that we will all be okay. He has worked so hard and created an amazing life, family, and legacy. There are no words for how much my heart breaks thinking of him not being here. I wish more than anything I didn't have to watch my mom go through this. I wish that he could watch me raise kids. I wish.... so much. 

I don't know what our future holds, but I do know this. I have had 27 years with a dad that most girls only dream of having. He has invested so much love, support and encouragement into my life in these 27 years that I KNOW I will be okay for the rest of my entire life. 

I had never written into a tv show before, nor did I think this little 1500 character email would go anywhere. Ellen gets thousands of letter from families saying "thank you for brightening up my day". I'm just a normal daughter who wishes I could show the world how amazing my parents truly are, I just so happened to get that chance. My mom and dad celebrated 31 years of marriage on Wednesday while we were in LA for the show. I consider myself so extremely blessed to have them, and to have the Ellen staff take the time to hear our story. I pray that somehow we touched other people who watch. Our message is simply this-- enjoy every day, cherish every moment you're given, and hold your loved ones tight.... and make lots of awesome memories!  

This entire experience has given us extraordinary memories. Ellen is obviously just as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside, she truly makes this world a better place for everybody. Her staff is all pretty incredible too! 

Now... for the trip of a lifetime! We get to go enjoy a trip that would have never ever been possible without this experience-- all 10 of us are going!!

We will all hold these memories so close to our hearts for the rest of all our entire lives.