Cancer-Update

It's been a pretty intense three weeks around the Roth household. Lots
of emotions, discussions, tears, prayers and information overload. I
have been waiting until we had our ducks in a row and a capitol P plan
in place before giving an update.

So, we now know I will begin treatment on Monday July 2. I will
receive 28 weekdays of radiation as well as chemo which will be taken
orally to begin with. The radiation will finish on Thursday August 9.
Then then waiting will begin. Sometime 8-12 weeks later, my doctor
will perform surgery to remove the tumor. We will also have a port
placed at the same time. Then the chemo will begin again. I will
receive three or four rounds, each lasting 3 weeks. The process will
take about 9 1/2 months from beginning to end.

So there you have it. The Plan. Thanks everyone for your kind words
and prayers. The battle has begun.

Dad

Happy Father's Day to my favorite dad. This day seems different then
Fathers Day in years past. Who would have thought that one cancer
survivor would be encouraging and supporting his son who is just
beginning his journey into cancer treatment. Dad, I love you so much.
Thank you for your support, kind words, encouragement and selfless
love for me, my wife, and your grand kids. You are an amazing man of
faith, devotion and support. I am blessed to be your son. I love you
dad. -30-

Baseball!!

Nathanael is at bat! Very exciting to watch and kind of nerve racking.
Glad Jen is at the game while I hold down the fort at home. He is also
playing left field tonight in the match up against Fort Lupton. He
ended up taking a walk at this at-bat.

Blessings

It has been like drinking from a fire hose these last couple of days
off. So many friends and family, near and far, sending so much love
and support and prayers, that I'm rather speechless. I have cried more
in the last few days then I have in the last few years. Thank you to
everyone who has called, emailed, texted, extended invites and prayed
for me and our family. I am overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and
love. While it is still a long battle ahead, you have helped me win
today. Thank you!
This is from the picnic tonight in Loveland with the Rosen family.
Beautiful evening and an amazingly fun little park we didn't even know
existed.

94.5

With all the excitement to start the summer, I missed posting this at
the end of the school year. Each Frontier family is asked to volunteer
4 hours a month helping the school. Well, I was a faithful volunteer,
helping every Wednesday in Sarabeth's class for 90 minutes. I also was
Watch Dog twice, attended several field trips, helped at the middle
school dance and science fair, and almost made it to field day. Total
hours for the year?? 94.5. Almost broke the century mark. Still, 94
hours isn't too bad!

Tennis

Started Little D on his tennis lessons today. He comes from a long
line of tennis greats, as both his mother and father were high school
letter winning players. You will notice he is missing his glasses
which are still somewhere at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Congrats

Just wanted to take a minute and wish this happy couple a very happy
39th wedding anniversary!! As Sarabeth asked grandma during the week,
"How did you do it?!". With lots of love for each other, during good
times and bad Sarabeth. Congrats mom and dad!

View

Yep, southern rim of the Grand Canyon! We are making great time up
here at 39,000 feet and will be arriving in Denver almost 25 minutes
early. Nathanael, Sarabeth and Andrew got the window seats for the
flight home. Ryan and Bob on the aisle and Jen and Bonnie in the
middle.

Breakfast

Enjoying our last meal in southern California. We all decided that a
return trip to the Broken Yolk was in order. Jen even got us a seat on
the outdoor patio! Of course we all ended up with new Broken Yolk
T-shirts or hoodies. A great way to end a super vacation! Just wish
the Sturgis Roths could have joined us.

Power

Don't know how I missed posting this. This is the USS Carl Vinson
which has just returned from kicking ass in the Middle East. It is
home to 6,500 people when at sea. There were over 1000 sorties flown
from the deck while it was deployed. It is one of two air craft
carriers based in San Diego. The ship is longer then the Empire State
Building and over 20 stories tall. God Bless America!

Last

Our last sunset in California was sort of a letdown. As you can see,
then we're lots of clouds and quite a bit of wind. But it was still
the Pacific Ocean at sunset. Got to walk hand in hand with my bride
while the waves crashed into shore.

Celebrate!

We celebrated our last night in San Diego with a surprise dinner at an
Ethiopian restaurant in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. It
was an amazing dinner, with lots of mango juice, injara bread and fun
memories of the trip. Mine was the giant panda bears at the zoo.
Jennifer's favorite memory was dinner with me at Joes Crab Shack. Noah
was body surfing. Andrew was Legoland. So was Nathanael. Sarabeth's
favorite memory was the aquarium at Legoland. Bonnie really liked the
being together on the first night and eating really great pizza. Bob
really enjoyed the bike ride up and down the ocean front. Wes loved
the bikes too. Kim loved the special dinner and the mango juice!!

#57

This amazing boat, #57, was returning to port in San Diego while we
cruised by. The radar on this ship can track something the size of a
golf ball for over 100 miles. If you look closely, you can see the
servicemen and women in full dress standing on the deck!

Campingdad

Posing with downtown San Diego in the background. I look great!

Bridge

Passing under the Coronado Bridge that Sarabeth didn't run into while
she was driving the boat. The three middle sections of the bridge
would actually float in the event of an earthquake. That is good
information to know.

Sarabeth

Then Sarabeth decided Nathanael wasn't driving very well and so she
took over. Did a nice job too! We didn't run into anything. And made
it safely under the Coronado Bridge.

Captain

Nathanael decided we weren't going fast enough so he commandeered the
bridge from the Captain. It appears that the captain didn't mind.

Rich

Just happened to pass by one of the four yachts owed by the one and
only Paul Allen. Notice the helicopter parked on the rear of the boat.

Pirates!

This is the little boat the Navy sent to the horn of Africa to deal
with the pirate problem some of our boats were having last year. As
out captain said, we eliminated the pirates. Go America.

Catch!

Kids enjoying playing some football while waiting for lunch to be ready.

Chillin'

Relaxing on the patio before today's adventures begin. Wes, Bob and
Ryan all got one last bike ride in before having to return the bikes.
Now we are eating another meal then more fun!!

Sunset

Date night on the Pacific Ocean. A nice walk to the restaurant while
the sun was setting. A great dinner. And a walk back to the condo
under the stars. Almost sounds romantic!

Building

Found a little free build area next to the Xbox 360 video game area.
I'm pretty sure we have more Legos in the basement then this building
area has. Oh well. Kids sure are being creative with what they have!!

Egypt!

Another new exhibit since our last visit is the Egypt/Pharaoh section
of the park. That took a lot of Legos to build that camel.

Dragon!

Rode the really scary roller coaster. Who do you think was having the
most fun? Even bought the really expensive custom picture!

Drawn!

Sarabeth talked Little Andrew into paying for her to be drawn. What a
great big brother! Almost lunchtime.

Rides!

Getting wetter and wetter the farther and farther we adventure into
the park. Splash mountain was REALLY wet.

Wet

Legoland added an entire water park since the last time we were here 6
years ago. Could be a very wet day!

Endor

Epic battle from Return of the Jedi.

Legos!!

After a few traffic problems on the I-5, we have arrived at today's
destination: Legoland!! Wish you were here!

Ladies!

Enjoying LaJolla Beach and the big waves crashing into shore. Note the
shirt the guy is wearing in the background. It says "Warrior Dash."
Tough Mudders make fun of Warrior Dashers.

Buried

Nathanael lost. I don't know where the rest of his body is. But at
least he looks happy!

Break

Just a man alone with his thoughts and the sea. And a freaking sweet
tat. Almost done with the epic bike ride. Thankfully we haven't broken
the 8 mph speed limit on the boardwalk.

Surfer

Livin in the California lifestyle. While the bike riders were tearing
up the coastline, the kids were back at the ocean with Jen. The kick
boards were a huge hit.

Grandpa!

Five miles down, five to go! Might stop for some water/diet root
beet/dr. Pepper/coffee sometime soon.

Bikes!!

Here is this mornings fun! Pedaled from Mission Bay to LaJolla. We
must be at least 20 feet above sea level. Good thing I have the high
altitude conditioning to survive this epic ride.

Pacific

Dontcha hate people who are on vacation and keep posting all these fun
pictures of neat places they are enjoying while you are at work?? Me
too. Here is the Pacific Ocean.

Fireworks

Yep, those are the nightly fireworks from Sea World. And yes, this is
the view from our bedroom in the condo on Mission Bay. Can't believe
we all made it to San Diego, all 11 of us, 13 checked bags, 13
carry-ons and a stroller. The flight from Denver was even 9 minutes
early.

DIA

Wonder what people did in the olden days while waiting for their
airplane to leave?? Noah was VERY excited for the free wi-fi offered
here at the airport. We checked 10 pieces of luggage and 8 carry ons.
Hope it's enough.

Cancer

Boy, that's a blog title that will get your attention. I have been debating for several days whether or not to post this. Since Campingdad is about all things related to our family,good or bad, I decided to post. On Thursday of this week my life was changed. I was told the health problems I had been experiencing were due to the cancer that has infected my body. I currently have a tumor growing in my rectum near my anus. Quite a place for a tumor huh?

So the road ahead will look something like this. On Tuesday the results come back from the biopsy. Depending on the size and depth of the tumor, that will determine the length of the chemo and radiation I will get to endure concurrently. Hopefully the tumor will shrink so when surgery is preformed there will be enough piping left to connect everything back up so I don't have to wear a colonstomy bag for the rest of my life.

So, there you have it. A life changing week for Campingdad and his family. I'm still very angry. Upset. Disbelief. Discouraged. Angry. I am only 35 years old and I have cancer???