We got a text in October from Nicki while my parents were in California watching her kids that dad was in the ER with a blood clot in his leg. They put him on a blood thinner and told him to check in with his doctor when he got back home in Idaho. Mom and dad had a trip planned for a Panama Canal cruise 2 weeks later. Dad felt really horrible on the blood thinner and had been having stomach pain so the doctor in Driggs decided to do a CT scan. They found a mass on his pancreas and lesions in his liver. The next week they did a liver biopsy and met with the oncologist. It was pancreatic cancer and stage 4. Dad was in a ton of pain from the lesions on his liver and they were working hard to find things that would help manage the pain. They gave him 1 round of chemo and it did give him 1 good day. He was able to do a session at the temple and all of us girls moved our planned girl's trip from St. George on November 11th to Driggs November 3rd. I was the last to get into town on Thursday night and dad had a good day on Friday. He was able to talk to us and give us all hugs and tell us he loved us. Friday night Craig & Chris Kunz and Kristen and Steve Coburn came over and we all sat in the bedroom with dad and had a good chat. It was so fun to see how much these men loved my dad. Saturday the college kids came to town and stayed at Steph's, but came to give him a hug and goodbye. We practiced the songs dad wanted sung at his funeral. We all cried more than we sang, but it was good practice so we could do a great job at the funeral. Mom was pretty sure that dad wouldn't make it through Saturday night, but he surprised us all. Robbi, Steph and I went to church Sunday morning first shift and then mom, Nicki and Ashlee went when we got back. While mom was at church dad really started to struggle to breath and was really only using 1 lung. He was working so hard. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bruce came over and spent a few hours sitting with us, while we took care of dad. We were able to help mom keep him cleaned up and comfortable in the last few days of his life. The Spirit was so strong in the house and it was such a beautiful hard time. They left after a few hours for the night on Sunday and we started getting some food for dinner. I had eaten and gone back in the bedroom with mom and Robbi when dad took his last breath. Mom has experienced a lot of deaths as a nurse, but was surprised how quickly he went at the end. We were able to sit with him and cry with each other for awhile as we waited for the funeral director to come. For something so hard it was also so amazing. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and to know that I will see my dad again and be an eternal family so that it wasn't so crushing.
We spent the next few days with so many wonderful people bringing food and love to our family. All of our amazing husbands packed up kids and drove or flew with them to Driggs. Us girls hung on to mom and just tried to keep up with her as we worked through all the funeral arrangements and picking out all the stuff. The weather was bad for November so there was snow on the ground and it was cold. The viewings were filled with so much love from so many people. The funeral was beautiful and I think dad would have been proud that we followed his orders to keep it under 1 hour and to focus on the Savior. My dad is one of my biggest blessings. He was an amazing example of love, kindness, learning and improving. He has lived through so much pain in his life with his fight against cancer. I am so glad that he didn't have to try to fight cancer again because it all happened so quickly. I miss him so much everyday, but am so grateful for the years we got him around.
Dad couldn't eat much that last few weeks so lost a lot of weight at the end. It was hard to see the struggle, but so glad we all got there to say goodbye and be there with mom.
