My Latest Project

February 21, 2008

Dear friends and family,

When Jon was first diagnosed with cancer he asked me to do two things. First, be strong and second, keep our lives as normal as possible. This is a tall order when you’ve only been married for three months and the doctors just told you your husband has two months to live. Jon never asked me to devote hours of endless research for treatment options, accompany him to weekly chemotherapies, or come home from work to feed him lunch when he was too weak to get out of bed. He didn’t ask me to schedule and coordinate all of his appointments, interpret his scans, or sit by his bedside day and night when he was hospitalized. The job of a cancer patient’s spouse is long and arduous. Nevertheless, we somehow find the courage and strength to face each day without hopelessness.

You might then ask yourself, “What is “normal” for Jon and Lorri Nichols?” Well, our fist date was a hike and our honeymoon was a backpacking trip. We have ridden our bikes from Seattle to Portland and to the top of Mount St. Helens. Jon actually proposed to me on a mountain bike at the top of Grass Mountain which is a 4000 foot vertical climb. He quips that he was only going to propose if I made it to the top (but secretly brags that I am the only women he knows who has done so.) We’ve owned and operated two successful businesses that we individually started from scratch. We’ve raised four beautiful children, both separately and together, and have one adorable granddaughter with another on-the-way in October. I certainly never thought we would end up here, fourteen months into treatment for pancreatic cancer with a liver resection surgery just around the corner. What a time to plan a bike ride!

I am participating in a 100 mile cancer fundraising bike ride now because every day thousands of people are told the same thing, “The person you love is terminally ill.” Every one of those people and their families deserve the support of those of us who are healthy and able to do the things that they can’t. Every one of them deserves a cure.

I am asking you to support me in honor of my husband, Jon, because this is what we do and right now he can’t. I am riding for every cancer patient that has to endure the routine weekly chemotherapies and its terrible side effects. For the majority of patients that don’t have an industry-leading caregiver like Dr. Chue to remind them that there is a reason to hope.

Please support us by sending your tax deductible donation to me at the address below or check out my website www.supportlorri.com to donate online. I must raise $4,500.00 to participate. The bike ride, sponsored by the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society of America will be held on June 1, 2008 in Lake Tahoe. I am hoping next year that Jon and I will repeat it together.

Thank you for your support,

Lorri A. Nichols
18319 53rd St. Ct. E.
Lake Tapps, WA 98391