More Sullivan Family chaos

September -- time for more Sullivan Family chaos!

Mom and Dad Sullivan hit Helena last weekend for a quick four-day visit.  Took us the better part of a whole day to fly from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Helena, Montana, but once we lavished hugs on both Eric and J (and Aspen dog), we launched off on trail hikes with Eric and a visit to J's PT clinic and the Farmers Market.  Eric and Dad biked to the Carroll campus where Dad attended Eric's advanced Stats class and Prof Eric assigned Dad to a student work group. Even sent him a reminder to submit his homework on time.  Eric proved that he is much better acclimated to the Helena altitude while Dad huffed and puffed on his bike up the hills to home.

Aspen led us on several hikes on the mountain trails, both at sunrise and in the inky dark to star gaze.

But the biggest adventure was a many mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail.  Daytime breezes and a late-night shower had washed away much of the invading smoke from the West Coast fires. Eric got his head rubbed with a sprig of freshly picked sage -- that's supposed to ward off any nasty demons and maybe help him regrow some hair before winter -- and we danced around "Julie Andrews style"(Sound of Music) in a high up mountain meadow.

Lots of family time (along with J's parents) to tell stories, laugh, eat, and devise plans to deal with this next round of chemotherapy (starts this week) and its grueling side effects.  Chemo sucks!  More scans and tests coming.  But Eric and J are Sullivan Strong - taking it one day at a time with the incredible help and support of their many friends, colleagues, family and a great medical care team.

That's how we are all supporting Eric and J - Sullivan Strong together.  Family chaos is a good thing!