Cardiologist Appointment ...

Hunter had his Cardiologist appointment on the 16th of December. The doctor said Hunter has what is called: Heart Failure. Last year when he had is Eco-Cardiogram his heart was pumping 53 units. The average is between 50 and 60 and this year when he took his test his heart was pumping at a rate of 43. This basically means that his heart is damaged due to all the Chemo that he was given. The doctor wants him to go on a low dose daily medication, work out and basically take care of his body the best he can. In about 6 months to a year they will re-test him to see "if" the medication is working. There is no guarantee that the medication is going to work but we are praying that it will strengthen the heart. Hunter is having a little bit of a hard time with this... We are once again praying that he will come to "try" to understand this and give this a year to see what it can do for him. Please keep Hunter in your prayers! Pray that he continues to fight whatever lies ahead of him and give him strength that he needs each and every day.

May your holidays be filled with love, family and memories. Take time to enjoy each and every moment for those are the memories that are going to last you a lifetime. As for us, we are going to enjoy the love, laughter, and family time that we get to spend together. Those are the memories that you can never get back. May god bless each and everyone of you along with your families.

Love, thoughts and prayers,
The Herrick Family
Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER and Maddison

As life moves on ..

As life moves on each and every day we get comfortable in our daily routine but never forget how grateful we are for each and everyone of our blessings. Then we get that phone call that seems to reel us back into reality, that phone call from Hunter's oncologist. We received a phone call last week from his doctor telling us that there was a problem with Hunters heart. She said that his heart muscles are working harder than they are suppose to due to all of the chemo that he has been given. She wants him to go and see a Cardiologist. We have that appointment scheduled for Friday, December 16th. He also has to go and get some tests on the 15th of December on his lungs. We will keep you informed as we get information on all of his appointments.

Hunter is seeing the doctor on monthly visits still and he is scheduled for his PET scan on January 11th. Prayers are truly powerful, please keep him in your prayers. Prayers for a healthy 2012, prayers for positive doctors appointments, and most of all prayers for continued healthy days ..

THANK you for all of your love, support and prayers..
ALL of our love,
The Herrick Family

Thanksgiving Time ..

Hunter has been doing great! He is loving school and loving living at the dorms. He has been working at Tortilla Joe's in downtown Disney for about 6 months and has recently been promoted, so life is wonderful for him. We don't get to see him nearly as much as I'd like but I'm lucky enough to do his dirty laundry at least once a week :) Hunter is continuing to go to his monthly doctor appointments for his regular check-ups. They are trying to hold off doing his PET scans to around every 4 months so that he is not getting too much radiation in his system and killing off the good cells. His next scan should be scheduled around January. These next 8 months are extremely important for Hunter because his two year mark is in July and thats an important mile-stone for him. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for continued healthy cancer free tests.

As Thanksgiving is approaching us it's just another reminder of our DAILY BLESSINGS! Each day is a true blessing as long as we can look at each day as a gift and the the gifts that it has to offer. We are truly thankful for each of you in our lives .. We are THANKFUL for our faith, our family and our friends. We hope that each of you find the love and cherish ALL the little memories that are made daily.

All of our love and HOLIDAY WISHES ......
Joe, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER and Maddison Herrick

COLLEGE Begins and PET Scan ...

You never know how blessed you are until your son starts college and comes home totally thrilled with life and school. It has a way of reminding you how blessed you are not only to have a healthy son but to be blessed with so many wonderful friends and loved ones in our lives. There are no words that can thank every one for all that they have done for Hunter and our family through out the past four years. We would not be who we are today without the love, support and kindness of each and every one of you. We are truly BLESSED in many ways!! Hunter is really enjoying college life at Long Beach State. He has just joined Pi Kappa Phi and is loving that. He was totally thrilled today when his Grandfather and Grammy told him that they were going to pay for him to live in the dorms so that he would get the total College experience that he has always wanted. He was dancing around the house because he was so excited. This will be such an amazing experience for him and we are so excited for him to live the dreams that he so deserves.

Hunter had a PET scan today and we were lucky enough to get the results back today also and they were CLEAN and CLEAR!!! Thank you GOD!! Hunter is still going to monthly doctor appointments and his next scan will be in December. We will be praying for the greatest Christmas gift ever....

THANK you again every one for all the prayers, love and support,
The Herrick Family,
Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER, and Maddison

Class of 2011

Hunter graduated on Wednesday June 15, 2011 and we couldn't have been prouder! Not only did he graduate, but he graduated with Honors. Hunter's journey has been a long one but he worked hard and graduated with his peers and friends as he had always planned. He is truly one amazing young man and as each day passes we look forward to what he brings to it. We know that he was meant to do great things in his life and we look forward to seeing what the future brings to him. Or should we say, "not what it brings to him but what he makes of it."

Our family would like to take this opportunity to THANK each and every one of your for all of your prayers, love and support over the past four years. As he graduated we couldn't help but hold a special place in our hearts for each and every one of you! It was a special day to be celebrated by many because so many truly had a part in some way or another in his recovery. There are no words that could ever express the gratitude that we feel to ALL ........

As of July 1, Hunter is officially one year cancer free. Yeah!!! This next year is a critical year for Hunter so if you could PLEASE continue to keep him in your daily PRAYERS we would really appreciate it. Prayers are more powerful than we can even imagine. We need to continue to keep our faith and never stop believing, because if we stop believing we have nothing to hold onto! This is and has gotten me through on the darkest of days so please, continue to pray for Hunter to be healthy and cancer free for a good half of century or so. Hunter will have a doctors appointment this month and then we will know more as to where he goes from here. His scans might decrease to every six months due to the radiation in the scans, and I'm not sure about his doctor appointments but we will keep you updated.

Hunter is really excited to be moving on to the next stage in his life, Long Beach State College. I went there last week for a parent day and I was amazed at how beautiful it was. It's going to be a perfect fit for him.

THANK YOU again for EVERYTHING...
The love, support, and ongoing prayers...
The Herrick Family .. Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER, and Maddison

Test Results for YEAR mark ..

Hunter had a PET scan on Friday and we received the results today, CLEAN AND CLEAR .. Negative! Thank you god for answering all the prayers that we have been sending your way. As of July 1st Hunter will hit his one year mark. We are truly blessed in so many ways.

Hunter will be graduating from Cypress High School next week on Wednesday the 15th of June. There are so many mixed emotions that we have and I'm sure that it's going to be an emotional day. He is truly excited to be graduating and has worked extremely hard for this day. Hunter is also very excited because he is graduating with Honors! He is looking forward to starting college next year at Long Beach State. Looking forward to the next stage in his life.

Thank you for ALL of the love, support and PRAYERS. We could not have gotten through this without each and everyone of you in our lives.

THANK you again!

All of our love,
The Herrick Family - Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, Hunter and Maddison

Hunter (April 2011)

Hunter recently had his monthly check up and all went well. He has been feeling good and most of all he has been loving life which is a great thing to see.

Hunter has been a bus boy at Dalton's in Cypress for about 10 months and now he is also working at Tortilla Jo's in downtown Disney. He's been busy working mainly at Tortilla Jo's and Sunday mornings at Dalton's, but loving every minute of it. There is no better joy than watching him get so much joy out of life and what we call daily chaos.

Hunter committed to Cal State Long Beach and he will be living at home at least the first semester of college. Hunter really wants to live at the dorms or away from home and experience the whole college life but that will depend on what scholarships he receives. As of now he will just wait to see what happens and enjoy the rest of his high school days. He will be graduating on June 15, 2011 with all of his classmates and FRIENDS. I'm sure that this will be a really emotional day, but one that we are extremely looking forward to.

We truly want to THANK each and everyone of our friends and family for all of the love and support we have gotten through-out the past four years. We wish that there was some way we could express how much we appreciate all that was done to support Hunter and our family. We are truly blessed in many ways ... THANK YOU ...

All of our LOVE,
The Herrick Family,
Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, Hunter and Maddison

Scan Results..

Prayers are truly powerful..tests results came in and they are CLEAN AND CLEAR. No change since the last scan and that is exactly what we wanted to hear. Hunter will have his monthly check ups and his next scheduled scan will be mid-June. This will also be his one year mark AND the month that he will be graduating from Cypress High School...Class of 2011...

Thank you for your continued SUPPORT,
The Herrick Family

MARCH 2011...

Hunter had his PET scan last Wednesday (the 16th) of March and we are now just waiting for the results to come in! We went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago and thats when the scan was set. When the doctor was giving Hunter an exam she felt a little something in his neck and was a "little" concerned, so they are doing a scan from the skull to mid section this time. We are anxiously awaiting for the results and will give everyone the results as they come in.

Hunter has worked hard to prepare for college and we are extremely proud of him. Unfortunately most of the colleges that he really wanted into didn't happen. He still has some choices and decisions to make about what route he wants to take, but whatever he does we couldn't be prouder. He has been through so much in the past four years and basically missed two years of his high school days, but he is still going to graduate with his classmates and FRIENDS. That alone brings tears of joy that I can't even begin to explain.

Thank You again for ALL of your LOVE, SUPPORT and PRAYERS
The Herrick Family..
Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER and Maddison

HAPPY 18th Birthday Hunter..

January 14th, 2011 was a very special day in our home because Hunter celebrated his 18th birthday. He has been into snowboarding and for his Christmas/Birthday gift he ask for a snowboard. It's great to see him going with his friends, having fun and doing what kids should be doing. Hunter has also started going to the gym and working out. He says he has a way to go but he's enjoying being able to go. Hunter still isn't back to playing any sports because he says he's not physically fit enough to do so yet, but he's getting there. He is listening to his body, having fun and getting ready for the next stage of his life in the mean time.

Through the ups and downs of the past four plus years we honestly didn't know where we would be from day to day. We know today that we are truly thankful for each and every day. We know that we aren't out of the woods yet and that we still live day to day but with that we just pray that Hunter has gone down those roads for the very last time. We had a doctor's appointment last week and it went well. At the beginning of March Hunter will go in to have his 3 month testing done. I believe that he will have to get a PET scan and CT scan. We will keep you posted as the results come in.

Along with all of this being said, we want to again THANK everyone for ALL of their love, support, and prayers for the past four years. This has been one long journey and one that we could not have gotten through without each and everyone of you! As a NEW YEAR begins we hope that it brings all that everyone is wishing and praying for. For us, I think you all know what we will be praying for.

All of our LOVE to ALL and may this year be an AMAZING one,
The Herrick Family,
Joseph, Jeanna, Lauryn, HUNTER and Maddison