I had a life changing experience during the month of April as I trekked for 14 days in the Himalayan mountain range with 13 other cancer survivors and other friends. We started by flying into the small village of Lukla and trekked 10 days up to Mt. Everest base camp. Base camp is at 17,600 feet! Before I left on this trip I seriously underestimated the physical challenge that it would present. I also seriously underestimated the emotional effect that it would have on me. Each day tested our resolve over again. It was a hard trip but that is what made the trip so special. If it had been two weeks on a sunny beach it would not have meant anything at all. There were 29 of us all together. Whenever someone was sick or having a bad day, there was always someone there to pick them up and help them through.
There were days when I carried someone's pack and encouraged them on and then the next day someone would be encouraging me to not give up (I never did let anyone carry my pack though, too stubborn). I did let one of my new good friends, Scotty, carry my camera one day when I was really down. He reminded me daily of how he had to carry my camera for me!
This entire trip was made possible by a wonderful group of people. There was support from the American Cancer Society and many other donors. The real heart and soul of the whole trip though was Doctor Richard Deming. He has been my cancer doc since I first got treatment in 2008. He is quite possibly the most amazing man I have ever met or heard of. He cares so much about the people he meets and takes care of! We would get stretched out on the trail for miles as everybody had a different pace. Doc Deming would constantly travel up and down the line of stragglers giving out words of encouragement and helping however he could. There was never a lapse in his constant energy and compassion. I could write for pages about the great ways that Doc Deming has impacted our lives. Aubri especially loves him. She squeals each time we see him on the news or TV and yells out Doctor Deming! Thanks Doc for all you do!
I would also be remiss not to mention Doctor Rick Rinehart. He is a doc who is friends with Doc Demming. Doc Rinehart was the trip physician and was awesome at taking care of 29 sick people that were trying to complete the trip of a lifetime. He did this with compassion even when he was sick himself.
There are 26 other people I would love to name and compliment but that would take all week. I feel that I have made friends for life with our whole group. Thank You everyone for putting up with me for three weeks!
This was such an amazing journey. I cannot believe how hard it was. Beyond that I cannot believe how tough our group is! We had an amazing group from all walks of life and all different ages, but we worked together and really had each other's backs. I will be forever changed by this experience and the relationships that I made. It showed me the strength of cancer survivors and how we will never give up, no matter how hard the going gets! It showed me that having cancer was actually the beginning of my life, not the end. Thank you to Doc Deming and everyone else involved in making this trip a reality.
There were days when I carried someone's pack and encouraged them on and then the next day someone would be encouraging me to not give up (I never did let anyone carry my pack though, too stubborn). I did let one of my new good friends, Scotty, carry my camera one day when I was really down. He reminded me daily of how he had to carry my camera for me!
This entire trip was made possible by a wonderful group of people. There was support from the American Cancer Society and many other donors. The real heart and soul of the whole trip though was Doctor Richard Deming. He has been my cancer doc since I first got treatment in 2008. He is quite possibly the most amazing man I have ever met or heard of. He cares so much about the people he meets and takes care of! We would get stretched out on the trail for miles as everybody had a different pace. Doc Deming would constantly travel up and down the line of stragglers giving out words of encouragement and helping however he could. There was never a lapse in his constant energy and compassion. I could write for pages about the great ways that Doc Deming has impacted our lives. Aubri especially loves him. She squeals each time we see him on the news or TV and yells out Doctor Deming! Thanks Doc for all you do!
I would also be remiss not to mention Doctor Rick Rinehart. He is a doc who is friends with Doc Demming. Doc Rinehart was the trip physician and was awesome at taking care of 29 sick people that were trying to complete the trip of a lifetime. He did this with compassion even when he was sick himself.
There are 26 other people I would love to name and compliment but that would take all week. I feel that I have made friends for life with our whole group. Thank You everyone for putting up with me for three weeks!
The view of the Persian Gulf from our hotel room in Abu Dhabi. The hotel was very nice!
The view from our hotel room once we got to Kathmandu....little different than Abu Dhabi.
This is the king's palace in Kathmandu.
This is when we first arrived at the airport in Kathmandu. Me, Bikahl (set up our trip for us), Docs Deming and Rinehart.
Doc Deming
This is what the Metro Police drove in Kathmandu. I won't ever complain about my patrol car getting old again!
This is the airport in Lukla. The shortest, steepest runway in the world! This is the plane we flew in on.
This was a little girl about Aubri's age that I met at the beginning of the trek. We hung out for a little while. Some of the pics got out of order. There is another one with her later.
These are monkeys in Kathmandu. They are everywhere. These guys lived on cotton candy and ice cream from the tourists. This ones a little chubby!
This is a little guy I met as we started trekking. He is giving me the thumbs up.
Again, these are out of order. This is the trail as we made it to Gorek Shep. This is the last outpost of humanity before you reach Everest basecamp.
This was inside our tent at basecamp. We ate supper in here.
This is at basecamp the morning we woke up there. This is not Everest in the picture. I cannot remember the name of this particular mountain.
Another shot of basecamp. We stayed in the smaller yellow tents overnight.
This is Sonam (sp?). He was one of our Sherpa guides. He was awesome. I was very sick and exhausted when we reached basecamp. I stayed in my tent when we arrived and rested. He brought me two bowls of soup in my tent to get my strength up. All of our Sherpas were top notch, they took great care of us! Sonam snagged his sunglasses exiting my tent from bringing me soup and they broke. I gave him a pair of my Oakleys to wear. He is modeling them here.
This was the highest ever Relay for Life. I am the third person back in the black coat. I didn't even put on my American Cancer Society shirt. I was so sick and tired I just shuffled around. I had a bad stomach bug for like 6 days at this point! Everyone got pretty sick at one time or another during the trip. It was a very tough climb!
These are just some beautiful shots I got along the way.
This is one of my new best friends, Scotty. He kept me going a couple of days when I could barely keep going. He motivated me with reverse psychology. He would keep telling me as we reached new heights, "Man, I never thought I would see you up here!"
This is Tomoko....also one of my new best friends. She has been donating her time as a Yoga instructor to cancer survivors at the Y for many years. She had us doing yoga each morning to warm up for the day ahead. She is an awesome person and I really enjoyed trekking with her.
This is when we got back to the DM airport at the end of the trip. We are so blessed to have Doc Deming in our lives! He is a great man.
Some more pics out of order. This is when we first got to Kathmandu and I got my first Everest beer! It was delicious.
These guys are amazing. They are porters. They carry all of the heavy stuff up the mountains. They carry all of the supplies, kitchen gear, etc... It is not unusual to see a 140 lb. man carrying 200 pounds on his back. They just fly up the mountain, passing us weak tourists with 5 pound packs on our backs!
This was me playing with these kids just as we started the trek outside of Lukla. This little girl reminded me of Aubri and made me very homesick. We had fun playing though. Her older brother was about Trevor's age.
This is Lynn and I. We had just finished a tough day of trekking and she was helping me model Teresa's yak hat.
This is as we were leaving Namche Bazar. It was a very cool little town. We stayed there on the way home too.
This is the whole group at Tengboche. It is a village built around a monestary. There were real live monks there!
Views from our flight from Kathmandu to Lukla. Just skimming over super high mountain peaks!
Village of Kumjung (SP?) It had snowed a little overnight and was a very beautiful morning there.
This was one of the many suspension bridges we had to cross. They could be scary for some. They were very high up and bucked and swayed as you crossed.
This was our room in Namche Bazar. No insulation and no heat source. It was hard to get out of a warm sleeping bag in the morning!
Another pic of Namche Bazar in the morning.
This is Tomoko and me as we set off out of Namche.
Modeling the Yak hat again.
Not sure which mountain this is either. I lost track after the first day of all their names.
This is an overview shot of Everest basecamp as we walked in.
This was an old closed bridge. There was a new bridge above us. Scotty and I crossed it just to be dangerous. There was actually chunks of woods cracking and falling out from underneath my feet as I crossed it!
I don't know which mountain this one is either. I think I was pretty tired here.
Chad, Lynette, Trace
Trace & Emelia napping!
More Yoga!
WELCOME HOME!!!!!
This is the day we have been waiting for!!
I was holding Aubri while we were waiting for the group to make their appearance. As soon as Aubri saw Daddy appear at the top of the escalator she started screaming and squealing...saying, "That's My Daddy!" It was the most adorable, precious sound ever! She really missed her daddy.
So good to be in each other's arms again.
Aubri welcomes Dr. Deming home too!
Daddy brought lots of gifts for all of us! This is Aubri's coat made of yak wool!
WELCOME HOME!!!!!
This was such an amazing journey. I cannot believe how hard it was. Beyond that I cannot believe how tough our group is! We had an amazing group from all walks of life and all different ages, but we worked together and really had each other's backs. I will be forever changed by this experience and the relationships that I made. It showed me the strength of cancer survivors and how we will never give up, no matter how hard the going gets! It showed me that having cancer was actually the beginning of my life, not the end. Thank you to Doc Deming and everyone else involved in making this trip a reality.
