What a great day, I finally played some golf with my good friend Rich Ross this morning. :)
It felt great to be outside and actually make some decent contact with the ball. It has been a long time coming for me to be back out there, and just have fun playing golf again.

My distance is a still a little off, but in due time I will get it back, but then again I really dont need much distance to blow it by my hack friend Don Timm :)

Thanks to Rich for coming out this morning and teeing it up with me. We would of finished the 9 holes, but I had to go to a meeting. I did get tired, but I could of finished if we would of had time. Needless to say it was a great morning.

Take care to all.

Rich :)

Hello everyone, yes it has been sometime since I lasted posted, but it has been a wonderful winter. I am slowly starting to get my strength back, and finally putting some weight on. I can proudly say that I am holding my weight at 154 lbs. Its been a long time coming. I started out at 178 lbs when I first got sick, and dropped to as low as 136 lbs. It sure feels good to start tasteing my food again and eating more as well.

I am having labs and chemo monthly and happy to report that all my counts that are suppose to go up, are, and all my counts that are suppose to be down, are.

With the weather warming up, I am ready to get outside and start teaching and playing golf soon. :) I have started teaching again indoors and it sure feels good to work again. I should be ready to go outside at Pheasant Run as soon as the weather breaks. I am hoping to be outside sometime in early April.

I have been doing a little yard work with the weather as nice as it has been, and I am finding that I can not do as much yet as I want. Patience with myself has never been a strong point. :) I am starting my own little work outs, which feels good again. Mainly I have started to hit baseballs inside my shop, this feels really good. I have also hit golf balls as well. I started stretching out a few months ago, and oh my gosh, was the painful. I did some leg stretchs early in December and I couldn't walk to well in the evening. It was hard to have my 3 year old grand daughter yell at me to "SUCK IT UP". But, it was worth it.

Thank you all again for your support, and prayers.
I promise I will to keep you updated sooner.

Thanks again to all.

Rich :)

Hello Friends :) Sorry I haven't posted lately, I was a little sick for a while, but I am back. After the good news of my cancer being in remission, I caught a cold, and that was no bargain. I was just starting to put some weight on and then I got sick. I was up to 148 pounds, but after my cold I dropped to about a 140. The doctors have also put me on a maintenance program, which means I get a chemo shot once a month along with some other meds. They gave me Ritalin. Why? I guess its suppose to help with giving you some energy for a while, so I can start moving around a little better in the mornings. Well, it didn't quite work so well for me. It took away my appetite and got me drowsy a little. That and not eating, got me down in weight to 136 pounds. Not Good. I got to the point again where I couldn't drive or do much of anything for a while. I am off that now and putting some weight back on. Feels good to be somewhat healthy again. My hair is coming back slow, but it is coming back, as well as my beard:) My mustache and my eyebrows are doing great.:)

I don't have to see my doctors at Northwestern again until December 28th, which is great. All I have to do is just put some darn weight on. I am starting to get a taste for food again, which helps. The foods that I seem to eat well are: shrimp fried rice, beans and rice, and ham and cheese sandwich from Jersy Mike's. Some days thats seems to be all that I can eat. This week Raisin Bran seems to be going down well. I am so hungry for a nice steak, I just can't wait for my taste to come back.

Once again thank you for all you thoughts and prayers. See you all soon.

Rich:)

Good news!!!!!! I had a bone marrow biopsy done last week, and I got the results back today. My Doctor said that he did not see any cancer cells in my bone marrow, which means that its in remission and I am good to go for a while:) All my counts that are suppose to go up and down are all doing well, he said that I do have some kidney damage, but I will be ok.

My weight got down to 138 lbs, and as of today I am at 143lbs, whooooohoooo. I am on my way back. Slowly but surely:) I still can't eat much because of the metal taste in my mouth still, I just can't quite get rid of the chemo taste yet.

If the weather stays ok, I will be giving my first lesson of the summer tomorrow. I am so looking forward to that. I tried hitting a few chip shots this week as well. It sure felt good to hit a golf ball again, even thought it was just a chip shot.

Next week I have to go back to Northwestern to see my doctors downtown, then I will see what kind of a maintenance program they will put me on.

Once again, thanks to all for your prayers and well wishes. Please say an extra one for a couple of my friends as well. Anna Daley, high school girl who plays for St. Charles East, and an old friend, Jay Griffin. Jay and I grew up playing golf against each other.

Till next time.

Rich Flores:)

Almost 3 weeks after the golf outing now, and my wife and I still can not get over the awesome event. I can never thank all of you enough for attending and showing the love and support that I have received.

To all the volunteers, who helped out, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Words can never really show how much all of you mean to me.

Thank you to Pheasant Run Resort for a wonderful dinner and event, you are 2nd to none.

Good news, yesterday I got my catheter (sp) removed from chest, which means, that I no longer have to go to dialysis. Whoooohoooooo. Its only a matter of time now before I can start to put some weight on and get my strength back so I can get back to teaching. My weight before I got really sick was at 168 lbs, now after 6 or more weeks of dialysis is at 141lbs. Not good. But I know that now that I am done with this, the lbs should start to come back. The doctor is telling us that all my blood counts look real good and that my kidneys are recovering well. Men, never take for granted peeing standing up:)

I just want to make sure that I thank ALL OF YOU, for your prayers and support through all of this. I could not of had gotten through this without them. On this note, I would like you all, if you could send a little prayer to a student of mine who has just come down with an illness that is not good. Her name is Anna Daly, she is 17 years old and she is heading into her junior year of high school, she needs our prayers, please help me in this.

Kane County Chronicle | Flores golf benefit adds a second venue

Kane County Chronicle | Flores golf benefit adds a second venue

Home Sweet Home

After 33 exhausting days, my uncle is finally home from Northwestern! He is glad to be home, sleep in his own bed, eat some home cooked meals (as much as he can), and be with family, of course! He's had 7 kidney dialysis so far, he has one more, and then the doctors will decide if he needs to have more. The kidney dialysis is no fun, it makes him feel really weak and sick afterward. Now that he is home, he is mostly resting and trying to gain strength so that he can do what he loves most... play golf! He is looking forward to seeing everyone at the golf outing and hoping he will be able to walk around and socialize as much as possible!! As always, his spirits are high and he's still fighting the good fight!

We are so grateful for all the support and help we have received through this whole process. The golf outing is has exceeded our expectations, we have filled Pheasant Run and Mill Creek has offered for us to use their golf course for people who still want to golf. It will still be a shotgun start but will start at noon at Mill Creek which will give everyone ample time to make it over to Pheasant Run for dinner and the silent auction!

Your positive energy, thoughts, and prayers make my uncle stronger. So keep them coming!!

Until next time,
Becky