The Wallace Benefit

The benefit on tuesday night was such an amazing event. It started at 6 p.m. We arrived and snuck in through the back. At first it was a little embarrassing. But once we got a little more acclimated it was better. It was decorated like Italy. With red, white, and green table cloths and banners. And beautiful flower pots as center pieces.


The first performance was by the University High School Chamber Choir "Lyrico".
My boss was one of the first people that I talked to and he told me that the line was really long. And boy was he not kidding. It stretched WAAAAAYYYYY down the hall, all the way to the doors. I was really surprised by the amount of people that were arriving. Our final guess is that there were around 500 people in attendance. It was truly a great show of community support.

The second group to perform was the Ponderosa Pinetones. Heather is the music teacher at Ponderosa Elementary. So she volunteered her little kiddos to perform. And they were so stinkin cute!!

There were three really long tables full of items being auctioned off. There were over 90 different items to bid on. Things from signed footballs, scrapbook items, jewelry, artwork, basketball hoops, tickets, hotel stays, and even a Wii. It was amazing how many items were donated.

Rick's "hockey family" brought an envelope of money that was gathered up after a recent game. It was such an amazing show of support. Rick is very anxious to be able to play hockey again. Mark Rypien plays on Rick's hockey team and he and his girlfriend Danielle came, along with a lot of his other hockey teammates. When Randy gave Rick the money he said that it was Rick's "signing bonus" so now he is only allowed to play on that team. LOL!!

So many family members from both sides of our families came. I was introduced to cousins that I had not met before. We sat at the table with my Dad and his friend Carol.

Here is my Aunt Gloria, Grams, and Great Aunt Ruby. I wish it had been possible to get pictures of everybody but it was so crazy that it was impossible.

Heather gave a sweet talk about Rick. She used the story of Dr. S's exceptional comment to describe Rick. It was very heartfelt and I really appreciated her speaking. I just could not have spoke in front of all those people, so I am so grateful that Heather was able to speak for us.

The spaghetti was delicious. There was salad and bread as well. And a bake sale for dessert. The poor cooks were so overwhelmed that they had to make more and that slowed down serving a little bit. But it was still wonderful. The band kids were the severs. It was a little enjoyable watching them serve everybody.

The third group to perform was the Horizon Middle School Jazz Band. Our friend Brian is their director. They were very good!

The commons at U-High was packed with people. It was a bit overwhelming to have all those people there. Rick and I made the rounds and tried to talk with as many people as possible. Of course there was no way to talk to everyone, but we still made the effort. Rick did a very good job of walking around, and I had to force him to sit down a few times. There were people that we went to high school with, a lot of people from Rick's store, lots of teachers from schools in the district. And a lot of families from the SPACE program, which is where the girls go to school. Not to mention the family members and complete strangers. It was fantastic!

The next group to perform was the University High School Winter Drumline. Those kids worked so hard helping with this event. And it was nice to have them perform. It showed everybody what Rick has such a passion for. And they did a very good job.

The most special auction item was the one that Samantha's class made. It is a plate made with the fingerprints of all the kids in Sam's class. Her ladybug is in the middle of the plate. My mom was the highest bidder. She wanted to make sure that Samantha would be able to have the plate.

The final group to perform was The Rick Wallace Benefit Combo. It was a group of performers put together just to play at the benefit. And they were great!!

It was such an outpouring of love. We were very humbled to be the beneficiaries of such an amazing event. I can't even put into words how very grateful we are to Heather for organizing this. She did the majority of the work herself and we are truly lucky to have such a wonderful friend. It warms my heart to see how many people care about Rick. It was extremely successful, more than we even imagined it would be.

Thank you Heather for working so hard to put on such a special event. Thank you to all of the donors of the auction items. Thank you to the SPACE families that helped out; especially Rondielle, Kelly, Sally, Jodie, and Michelle. Thank you to the Band Parents that worked so hard cooking and preparing for this event. Thank you to the Band kids who served. Thank you Sam for helping organize this as well.

And most of all Thank You to everyone that attended! It meant so much to us and we feel such a relief knowing that we can now pay the medical bills.

Until next time,

Jaime and Rick

WOW!!!

It is hard to put into words what just happened tonight. So for now I won't. But I do want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone that attended. We feel so blessed and loved! Rick was able to make it through the entire event. Except that it was too much for him and he got sick on the way home. He really wanted to be there, but that was just too soon after surgery to be out so long. I will post pictures and a play by play tomorrow.

Until next time,
Jaime

Benefit Excitement!

We are getting excited for the benefit tuesday night. Well, probably more me than Rick. He is a little embarrassed by all the attention. But this is going to be so wonderful. I can't believe all the places that the benefit information has turned up. It is amazing to hear where people have heard about it. There is like 90 items in the auction. AMAZING!!

I put together a display board to explain Rick's conditions and show pictures of him, and us.

I am going to have my mom take pictures during the benefit and I will do a post with the highlights. I can't wait to see so many of you there supporting my wonderful husband. This is all about him. Thank you in advance to everyone that is planning on attending. This will be an amazing night!

And FYI, I took down the donation link on my sidebar due to problems with my paypal account. I never intended for this blog to be a place to solicit donations, and I was a little uncomfortable posting the donation link. So I will not be putting it back up. If you want to donate you can contact Heather, her contact info can be found in other posts about the benefit. Just search under benefit in the labels section of the sidebar.

_______________________________________

On a completely different subject. Please pray for baby Stellan. I have been following MckMama on her blog for several months. Baby Stellan had a heart condition in the womb that was miraculously gone when he was born. But it appears to be causing problems and Stellan is extremely sick right now. I am so heartbroken for MckMama and her family. Please could you join me in praying for his healing.

Until next time,

Jaime

The Wallace Benefit Letter

I wanted to post the letter that our wonderful friend Heather wrote to help get donations for the benefit dinner and auction. It is coming up on March 24th. We are very excited for this event. And very hopeful that it will be successful as we have recently been racking up the medical bills. As I think I mentioned before this was not our idea. Heather came up with the idea and she has been tirelessly planning for a few months. She is amazing and there is no way to thank her for what she has done.

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing on behalf of our friend and colleague Rick Wallace and his family, asking for any assistance that you might be able to provide. Rick has been diagnosed with several serious diseases in the last few years that have greatly affected his family both emotionally and financially. The Wallace family is one of the most generous and kind-hearted families known to the many people around them, and are certainly deserving of our support, as they have done so much for our community.

Rick is an area educator for the University High School percussion students and is highly involved in many of the music programs’ ensembles. Rick dedicates his time to further the education of these students and provides instruction for them, many times for no monetary compensation and has for many years. Simply put, Rick does this for the love he has for music, education and, most of all, his students.

Currently, Rick is suffering greatly because of serious medical problems including Crohn’s disease, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Spondyloarthropathy, and Gilbert’s Syndrome. As anyone might imagine, this has taken a serious toll on both him and his family. Because of the immense medical bills they have in addition to yearly trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. for Rick’s treatment, they are struggling to meet their financial responsibilities.

On March 24, 2009, a benefit will be held for Rick Wallace. This benefit will help support the Wallace family through difficult times. The money raised will go to the family’s medical bills and daily expenses. At the benefit, students of University High School, parents of students, and staff will be providing a spaghetti dinner and entertainment as well as a silent auction for those present. If you could, we ask for your assistance in contributing to this event either in the form of money or through a donated item that could be auctioned off.

If you are willing to donate to this cause, please contact Heather Brown at hbrown@cvsd.org or simply send your donation to:

Ponderosa Elementary
Heather Brown
10105 E Cimmarron
Spokane Valley WA
99201

Thank you in advance for your support and concern.

Sincerely,


Heather Brown

What a heartfelt letter, don't you think? And apparently it has worked some magic and she has gotten some amazing donations for the silent auction. The picture is of the poster that is plastered all over the area. It is a little weird to walk into the grocery store and that poster staring at me. I tried to post the original version of the poster on the blog but I am not smart enough to figure out how, so I gave up and took a picture of it. This event is the reason for the poll on the sidebar. I thought that maybe there would be some readers that might be interested in donating but don't live around here. The voting ends tomorrow. So if you have an opinion on having a donation link please vote. I cannot see who voted, so don't be shy.

We are looking forward to a fun night. Thank you in advance to anyone that is planning on attending. It sounds like there is going to be some fantastic auction items. And some fun musical performances as well.

Until next time,

Jaime

Decision

We have made our decision. Rick has decided to have spinal fusion surgery. You can read more about the surgery here. I called the surgeon's office to let them know about our decision and the scheduler said that she would have the doctor write the orders and call me back as soon as she receives them. Hopefully in a couple days we will have a set date for surgery.

This is a major surgery and Rick will be out of work for around 2 months. He will have a hospital stay that could be close to a week. He will not be able to lift anything for at least 6 weeks, nor will he be able to drive. He will have to wear a back brace to keep his torso from twisting.

The fusion will happen at L4-L5. Luckily a fusion in this area of the spine results in limited loss of motion. With physical therapy and healing Rick will most likely not even notice much of a difference.

We have lots of things around the house to do to prepare for having Rick out of commission. Thankfully my Mom will be taking care of the girls for a while after the surgery so that will be a big help. This is going to be a difficult time, especially since Rick doesn't have quite enough sick time and vacation time to cover the 2 months. We just have to pray that the benefit is successful so that can help with the lost paychecks.

I am sorry it took so long to post our decision. I had a busy day and this was the first time I have been able to sit down with the computer.

Until next time,
Jaime

Big News

Rick's rheumatologist called him tonight and told him that he has found a surgeon that is very sympathetic to Rick's situation. And the amazing thing is that this surgeon is meeting with us at 8 a.m. tomorrow, on his day off. Can you believe it?!?! A surgeon is meeting with us on his day off. That is unheard of!! I have a feeling this is the surgeon that is going to finally help Rick. And the really nice thing is that Rick won't have to explain everything to this guy because the rheumatologist already did it. He apparently laid it all out there and this surgeon is really interested in helping and understands that non-surgical techniques are not an option at this point. I will let you all know what happens tomorrow. You can check in on my twitters for updates as well.

You may have noticed my twitter from earlier today. I was asked to tell our story at the meeting at the girls school tonight. I am not really a public speaker so I was very nervous about it. The president of the program introduced me by telling about the benefit coming up on March 24th. Then I spoke about our situation. I spoke from the heart, and didn't really touch much on the clinical stuff. Apparently I did a good job at speaking because people were crying. And after the meeting I had a line of people wanting to talk to me and give me hugs. I was even given McDonald's gift certificates for the girls. Because the school has a fundraiser that sells gift cards people bought them after the meeting and handed them to me. I talked to people that I have never even met before. Everyone was very supportive and wanted to help. I got lots of offers for babysitting the girls. It was an amazing experience. Especially since I didn't even know what I was going to say. I was so nervous and my legs were shaking. I didn't cry though. But once I saw other people crying I had to look away so that I wouldn't start crying too. It is so humbling to have so many people wanting to help us.

Rick has his ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. He is going to have a busy day with the surgeon in the morning and the ultrasound in the afternoon. Please join me in praying for a productive day. I am praying that tomorrow will bring us some answers and lead us on the right path. It will be a busy day.

Until next time,
Jaime

Bad Day

I had such a bad day at work today. And it isn't the job, it is someone at work that hasn't been very nice to me ever since I started working there. I really love my job, and everyone else that I work with. But this person was so rude to me today that even my boss had a talk with me after everyone had left and told me that I am doing a good job. And he isn't one to hand out the compliments. I have been working more hours and I am not used to being gone for so long. So it is hard for me sometimes to be at work, but then to be treated like I was today makes it even harder.

And then to top off the day I got a call from the GI doctor's nurse saying that the doctor doesn't think Rick's itching is due to the PSC, but caused by some kind of allergic reaction. He hasn't changed anything; not soap, medications, food, nothing. I KNOW it is the PSC and not an allergic reaction to something. And Rick feels the same way. He is going for even more bloodwork tomorrow to prove the doctor wrong. This doctor always seems to pass off the PSC and tries to blame something else for any symptoms Rick may have. Whenever Rick has what we know to be a cholangitis attack the doctor always says it was probably just the flu. The problem is there is only one hepatologist in our area and he is impossible to get an appointment with. So we are forced to stay with his current doctor. This is the exact reason we went to The Mayo Clinic this past summer. And right now I am really wishing we could deal with that doctor, but it isn't that easy to just jump on a plane and go pay him a visit. Hopefully the benefit for Rick in March will raise enough money to get him on a plane this summer to go back for the yearly visit the Mayo doctor wants Rick to make.

Rick takes a medication for the PSC that doesn't control it, or really help it in any way. But it does keep his liver enzyme numbers looking normal. Ever since he started taking this medication those numbers have stayed normal. I think that may be part of the problem with his doctor not giving much attention to the PSC. Rick is considering not taking that medication anymore because it has already been proven to not really do anything but keep the numbers normal anyway. His Mayo doctor was one of the leading doctor's in the study of this medication and has drastically lowered most patients intake of the drug anyway. So Rick is contemplating whether to refill the prescription or not since it runs out this week.

I know I said before This Too Shall Pass, but sometimes it is so hard to stay in that frame of mind.

Until next time,
Jaime

Benefit

I couldn't decide if I wanted to post about something wonderful that is being organized for our family. But when I thought about it there are a lot of people that read this blog that I don't know that might want to know about it. So here it is:

On March 24th there is going to be a benefit dinner and silent auction for Rick's medical bills and other medical needs. This is being organized by our wonderful friends Heather and Sam. We went to high school with Heather and she teaches percussion with Rick. Sam is the marching instructor. They are ones that came up with the idea and have been planning it for a while now. There are really no words to describe how it feels to have someone care so much about our family and my husband.

The plan is that there will be a dinner with live music. The drumline will perform along with other school groups that will be the opening acts for a local christian rock band Beaf. There is also going to be a silent auction going on as well. Currently Heather is gathering donations for the auction. If any of you want to contact her you can email her at hbrown@cvsd.org . I will update with more information as the date gets closer.

I did hesitate about posting this information because I don't want anyone thinking that we are asking for donations. This is all possible because of the generosity of some very close friends. This is a very humbling experience. I have been to benefits for families before and I have known people that have needed them. But to be the family that needs this now is overwhelming. I can't believe we are in this situation, but by the thoughtfulness of some friends it is easier to handle.

Numerous times I have wondered when Rick is going to get a break. I have wondered why all these bad things keep happening to someone so good. I think that God had a hand in guiding Heather to do this for Rick. This is such a blessing. This has to be his break. He deserves it.

Until next time,
Jaime