rex lee run

I don't think Wes was even out of the hospital after his first surgery last year when he made the goal to participate in the Rex Lee run at BYU this year.  This is a run put on by the BYU cancer research group to benefit cancer research.  He had just been cut open, rearranged, had months of chemotherapy ahead of him,  was planning on another surgery, recovering from pancreatitis and was already sure he would run this race.  

His second surgery in December came and went bringing more complications and slow recovery.  I started to wonder if he would be able to run this race and achieve this goal he had set.  Yet, I watched him train each night in our basement.  He was still weak and not feeling well.  His feeding tube had just recently been taken out.  It was the middle of busy season and he is probably the only person I know with enough dedication and determination to run back and forth down a small stretch of hallway each night after a long day of work, simply because he said he would.  I asked him over and over if he was sure he wanted me to sign him up and each time he said "yes."  

This race had an extra special meaning to us because it was the same day as the one year anniversary of his surgery to remove his colon.  We woke up that morning to find a blizzard.  Wet snow kept falling and falling, and it seemed as if all the elements were against him running this race.  We packed up our girls anyway and went down to Provo.  

We met Ryan and Haley, who were kind enough to celebrate this milestone with us at the starting line and were off. 

 I was so proud to wear his name on my back and honor him as a courageous cancer fighter.

We weren't fast and there was nothing noteworthy about our run except that he kept going.  I was sure he would stop to walk, but he just kept going.  Ryan had gone ahead with the girls in the jogger we had borrowed from an angel friend and was able to catch this picture of Wes crossing the finish line.

  Wes decided to kick it in and I watched a few feet behind him, trying to keep my emotions under control, as he crossed the finish line in the middle of a snowstorm.  It was triumphant to say the least.  I bought him those bright blue running shoes while he was doing chemotherapy in honor of colon cancer blue and with the hope that they would help him get his healthy life back.  I was so proud of him for working so hard to achieve this goal.  It was an amazing day for him.  I finally felt like he was starting to take his body back from cancer.  Our girls were freezing and Lily was screaming, so we packed up and hurried home, but the victory was so so sweet.