Wednesday, November 7, 2007

In the words of Han Solo: "Never Tell me the Odds!"














From Joan: As you can tell from the picture, the Ashton Clot is having another fun day at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. For those of you concerned that Dennis has been outed as a cross-dresser, we just wanted to reassure you that he is wearing the latest in Hospital chic, the GQ designer gowns.

Dennis is currently getting his "Tatts" or getting "inked". Apparently this is what the kids are doing these days, and we wanted to be up on the latest trends. I made a request that the dots, when connected, spell out "J-O-A-N" in bold letters. I didn't think this was an unreasonable request. However, the technicians did. As it stands now, if you try to connect the dots, your pen will get entangled in the chest hair. We hope if there's any hair loss with the "Radiation and a side of Chemo", it will come off his chest first.

Dennis and I want to express our gratitude and our love for the many messages of support, encouragement, and love. We are so grateful for the prayers that have been said on our behalf. We are overwhelmed. There are no words.

We are fighting the biggest battle of our lives. Thank you all for reinforcing our efforts. Every expression means so much to us, from the most eloquent words to the sweetest hand-drawn pictures from some of Dennis' patients. Three -year-old Ashton Ballou even offered to give Dennis a shot if he needed it. It does not get better than that.

By the way, the food that you have brought to our family has fed our souls. When Anne Crockatt asked what time we ate dinner, I panicked. So I just said, "Guess." As you know, dinner time at the Ashton household is nebulous at best. She guessed 5 o'clock, and I said, "You're right." Our whole family has loved the meals, and my daughters keep asking me if people really eat dinner like this every night. I said, "Of course not. This is just a special occasion." I didn't want them to know what they had been missing their whole lives. By the time Dennis goes to surgery, we plan to have him so beefy, the surgeons will think they're operating on Arnold Schwarznegger. We're just a few pounds short of our goal!

Pancreas Cancer is grim. We are bombarded with numbers and statistics. But I have learned a new word. That word is "ressectible." Mark Ott brought this concept to our attention. Mark also informed us about the "Whipple" procedure. And with these words, we have hope. When the odds were against us, the "Otts" were in our favor. For this, we will ever be grateful.

Please know how much you all mean to us and how vital your words of comfort and hope and love are. We may not be able to move the mountain, but you are helping us climb it.

Love,
Joan, Dennis and the Clot

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dr. Ashton-
Stan and Pat's daughter Jenny Welsh here.
We are all pulling for "Doca Ashton" (as Aiden calls him)
Isabella, Aiden and Adrianna all love you and you will be included in our prayers. We love our "Doca Ashton" and we want you back soon.

Jyoung said...

I love you guys and your wonderful sense of humor. I know you'll all be alright. I'm just posting a few things that helped me when we were going through a bad time with our son.

Faith: sees the invisible, believes the incredible, recieves the impossible.

We must accept infinite disappointment but we must never lost infinite hope.

Remember when you get to your wit's end, God lives there.

God hasn't promised us tomorrow, but he has promised us eternity.

I love a quote from Neal Maxwell:

"While most of our suffering is self-inflicted, some is caused by or permitted by God. This sobering reality calls for deep submissiveness, especially when God does not remove the cup from us. In such circumstances, when reminded about the premortal shouting for joy as this life's plan was unfolded, we can perhaps be pardoned if in some moments, we wonder what all the shouting was about."

We pray for you and your family every day. We love you.

Joyce Young (Blaine, Lock and Julie)

Unknown said...

AAAAASHHH:--
Glad to learn of this very excellent blog site. Professionally done....
You have been in our prayers, fasting and our thoughts repeatedly....every day.

You ran the hurdles well at school. The present ones will assuredly be well run as well.

We're there for you, Ash, in every way we know how.

Paul, Danelle and Family

Alisha said...

Even in crisis mode you still find a way to make ME smile instead by your words, hope and attitude.

There is one continuous stream of prayers coming from the Worthington family on behalf of ALL of you.

We love you!
Alisha, Bret, and kids

Unknown said...

Hey Dr. Ashton and the rest of the Clot's-

Thank you SO MUCH for allowing us to walk with you on your journey, just as the good Dr. has walked with us when we have had sick kids. You have a huge following that is sending you good thoughts and prayers!

I am making up a batch of my "Chris' Concoction" (not an approved medical term) that soothed my mom's red and itchy skin during her radiation treatments. And yes, she did great and beat the odds. Keep up the positive thoughts and attitude and PLEASE let us know what we can do for you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you!
The Chytraus Family

The Healing Group said...

It's Krissie and Deanna again hopping aboard the Clot Train...like Alisha said, you have a way to still find the humor in life and make us laugh. Glad to hear about the update--technology is incredible. I'm sure the technician loved the request for the dots to read "Joan." I'm sure every "ink" technician secretly hopes they will get a custom request. By the way, you make that chic gown look good! (thanks for the frequent updates :)

Mel Sims said...

Love you guys so much! Eric said prayers tonight, and he blessed "Grandma Spiers, as she's fighting cancer, and Dr. Aston too."

You are loved!