*Sleep coma and SAA*

The last week has been full of events, progress and sleeeeeeeep. Yesterday, I accidentally gave my dad a pain killer instead of an anti-nausea pill, which in turn knocked him out cold for a solid 12 hours. Woops! A little sleep never hurt anyone. Sorry pops for the mix up, but hey, if you're sleeping, it's hard to be nauseated. Right?

A couple nights ago, the young women from my parents' church and their leaders spent time making my dad a super warm, super soft, and super healing blanket of love. And in my dad's words "It warms my body AND my heart." A huge thank you to all who were involved and the efforts put into "warming" my dad up.

Dad's weight loss has slowed. He's lost only a couple more pounds, and we think it's probably due to the fact that he's taking so many walks these days, and is more active than before. Now, we need to work on getting more calories in him to support his activities. He's also feeling confident that his body has just about completely healed from the whipple procedure, and that any pain/discomfort/side effects are more than likely attributed to chemo.

Last weekend I got the opportunity to participate in the Swim Across America event in Seattle. Jordan (my husband) was able to fly in for the weekend and spend time with my parents, and participate in the event also. Team Bruce consisted of several individuals who love and care for my dad. Over the past couple months, our team has hustled and bustled for donations for this cause. All funds went directly to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which is where my Dad received his initial treatment and recovery, and is getting is chemo treatment via their Tri Cities Oncology site. Also, as the cherry on top, donations this year go specifically to a Pancreas Cancer Developmental Research Program to help design new and optimize current treatments for pancreatic cancer. It was a special, emotional, and fulfilling day. An additional highlight of the day was randomly running into my dad's whipple surgeon after the swim, Dr. Pillarisetty. It was nice to be able to spend time with him and thank him for saving my dad's life. Dr. P is also involved in charity work - to access his fundraiser, click here: http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/site/TR/Events/Obliteride?px=1474132&pg=personal&fr_id=1300. I'm so happy to have been a part of something that brought loved ones of my dad together, and will hopefully have an impact on his specific type of cancer. A special thanks to Charlie Cunnick for leading our team in such a successful event, trekking all the way out to Seattle for it, and giving us an avenue to involve ourselves in something near to our hearts and that will have such a positive impact. Thank you to everyone who participated as team members and also everyone who made a donation. Team The Bruce was amazing, and hit it out of the ballpark by raising just under $10,500 (before corporate matching funds - which will put us over 12k). To view our team page or to make a donation (you still can!) click here: http://www.swimacrossamerica.org/site/TR/OpenWater/Seattle?pg=team&fr_id=1959&team_id=7671     Thank you, all!

I fly home tomorrow with a heavy heart. Being at home with my parents has been wonderful. It's been a special time, and I've cherished the conversations we've had, and even under the trying circumstances, I will cherish the new memories we've made - especially the SAA event, and even the sleep coma I accidentally induced on my dad.

Love to all,

Jamie