Our family watches a lot of the reality shows that are set in Vegas; such as Pawn Stars, American Restoration and Counting Cars, to name a few. Trevor had previously emailed these establishments explaining Justin's situation and asking if it would be possible to meet some of the stars. Fortunately, Pawn Stars got back to him and were willing to set up a behind the scenes tour and a quick meet and greet with some of the guys. The twins didn't know that this was planned, so it would be a great surprise for them! The day before our trip, their PR person called and said that we should come straight from the airport on Wednesday if possible.
We landed in Las Vegas around 11 am, went to the hotel to drop off our bags and then we were off to Gold and Silver Pawn. On our way there, we explained to the boys that we wouldn't have to wait in line and would get to meet some of the guys. They were so excited!
We were greeted at the door by Laura (the PR person) who introduced us to Head of Security and our tour guide, Andy. What an awesome guy! He allowed the boys to wear a $100,000 Super Bowl ring and we were taken into the back warehouse and the fenced-in parking lot where the Harrisons and Chumlee park their personal cars. As we were walking through the warehouse, Rick walked by and stopped to say hello and pose for a picture with us. How cool was that! Cory and Chumlee were also kind enough to stop for a picture and a quick hello. We were also shown the "Old Man's" office and the boys were allowed to sit in his chair. Unfortunately, Richard Sr. was already gone for the day so we weren't able to meet him.
One of our favourite things to do was walk The Strip; people watching and taking in all of the grandeur of the hotels and casinos. We walked for miles and miles every day marvelling at the extravagance of it all. We also toured Hoover Dam, took in a Cirque du Soleil show and visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. One day, Trevor and the boys rode the roller coaster at New York New York over and over again while I wandered the shops. The twins were constantly smiling and in awe of it all. It warmed my heart to see the boys so happy and enjoying life in this fantasy land. It truly was the perfect break in the routine of cancer treatments and the monotony of this long, frigid winter. Now summer won't seem so far away and Italy will be right around the corner.
Chemo #13 is scheduled for next Tuesday, April 8th. Justin's second last treatment. The end is so close now I can see it! I can feel the excitement building inside me; looking forward to a summer with no chemo treatments, no central line care to worry about, no more shots to boost neutrophils. I am cautiously optimistic that this is it; the end of living with cancer in our house. That all of these chemo treatments have done their intended job and destroyed every single cancer cell in Justin's body. That he will live a long, healthy life with no short or long-term effects from the chemo. I, and many others, have been praying for these very things for the last nine months. It has to be so.
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