Day 24 was dedicated to some pretty amazing people that I get to have in my life. They are my family. My Dad, Mom, and sister are so supportive, I couldn't ask for better. I also dedicated my ride to my Grandma Beth and Grandpa Neil. They are pretty amazing grandparents. Even though they think I'm absolutely crazy for doing this bike ride, they made sure to stop in Chicago on there way through to say hi to me. I love you guys so much. Thanks for always being there for me.
It was a very pretty view in Iowa. It is really reminding me so much of the scenery in Nebraska. My teammates keep asking me if Nebraska is flat and I tell them for the most part yes, but when they think "flat" they think NO hills and unfortunately there are hills in the great state of Nebraska. I think they will be a little surprised when they see it. Especially going through the northern part of Nebraska into South Dakota. The black hills will be a killer. haha
Day 25 was a real rough day. It started off with an early morning get up at 4:30 a.m. I have been battling a cold for the past 3 days. Day 25 was the worse it had been. I unfortunately had to tell my director that I didn't think I was able to ride the 109 miles that day. Not long after we all were packing up our backs and etc., that we heard a huge roll of thunder and it had begun to rain. Also we saw lightning flash across the sky. Whenever we see lightning close, that is a huge NO on biking outside. Since I wasn't feeling the best with my nasty cough and stuffed up nose, a van including myself went to our destination in Des Moines and they were going to drop off me and another teammate at an urgent care to get checked out. After an hour and half drive we arrived at the urgent care. The people there were very kind and helpful. They told me I had a upper respiratory infection. Not great news, but they told me that they think I caught it at the right time. That was great to hear. My teammate and I walked to a nearby Target in the rain to pick up our prescriptions. This was a Super Target. It was huge and awesome. They had a Starbucks inside so of course it was an amazing place. After the vans came back from shuttling the rest of the team, because of the weather, we arrived at our host. Our host for day 25 and 26 is amazing. We are staying in a Marriott Hotel. We have huge white comfy beds. I even got to watch t.v. yesterday. I had forgotten what t.v. even was. haha I got to watch 2 hours of Say Yes to the Dress. Definitely made my sick day in bed much better.
Day 26 is currently right now and it has been a pretty powerful day. We ended up going to Blank Children's Hospital where the team split up into two groups and one went with the children's side and others went with more of the adults. I was pretty excited to be with the group with the children. We talked to a lot of nurses who worked there. They were all wonderful people and had such a passion for children and helping others. I felt as though I could relate to them in that way. One nurse was very upbeat in telling us her story on how she became who she was and how she got to be where she was today. She was so inspiring because she said never gave up on that dream. She said even if school puts you in a lot of debt or etc., do what you love. Continue studying and taking the ridiculous classes so that one day you can be doing the job you have always dreamed about.
Life is so precious and that became very apparent for me today. There was a total of 3 patients that came in with their families. The first was a little girl who was only 8 months old. She had gotten diagnosed with a tumor in April. She has one more round of chemo on July 7th. They had caught it pretty early which was wonderful to hear. She was such a little chunk and happy as could be. It was amazing to see her parents so upbeat and positive about this. They were more than happy to share their story with some of us. The second patient was a little boy that had to be about 4 or 5. I didn't get the opportunity to hear his story from his family, but I did see that he was beyond excited to have a donut that we provided them! The last patient was a boy that was in wheelchair and he had mask that covered his face. He had to be around 7 to 8 years old. I am blessed to be able to communicate my love and support through music and that is exactly what I did for Jonathan. I had brought my guitar with me because it has always been a dream of mine to perform for children in a cancer center/hospital. The room was kind of dying down with questions with Jonathan and so I butted in with, "Jonathan do you like music?" He nodded fearlessly and so I then asked if it was okay if I played for him? He then nodded again. I started of playing a song of mine called I Need You. The nurses that were walking by stopped to have a listen. It was wonderful. I then finished that song and Jonathan then proceeded to take off his mask and asked if he could tell me a secret. I was like absolutely!! He asked me in a whispering voice, "Could you sing Let It Go from Frozen?" I was like I can definitely do that! I had forgotten however a few of the lyrics. haha I started singing the chorus part and I sang the line, "here I am" and immediately after I said that line, Jonathan came in with a stronger voice and said, "No, it's here I stand!" The whole room lit up in laughter and smiles, including Jonathan. He had just corrected me on the lyrics and was having a great time. His mother than later told me that it was the first time she had seen him smile since his last radiation. She thanked me for doing that for him. Words really can't fully describe that whole experience with Jonathan and the other patients. God has put me on an amazing journey with the 4K. Keeping fighting Jonathan. I hope someday you can sing Let It Go at the top of your lungs in victory of being cancer free!
Peace out from Des Moines.
Nebraska is just around the corner! I can't wait! :)
Cancer changes lives and so do we!
~Halle Stephens