 I
feel extremely fortunate to be able to call Rich Flores a friend.
That friendship goes back some thirty years, when I had first
started to play golf. Rich was not only incredibly good at
playing the game, he was even better at teaching it. I know
for a fact that I am only one of the many hundreds -- perhaps
thousands -- who have benefited not only from Rich's
instruction, but from his passion for the game, his dedication to
make others better at it, and his infectious positive attitude
toward all things.Growing
up, I never had the slightest clue as to just how many strange and
debilitating afflictions existed in the world. The older I got
however, the more acutely aware I became... From Asthma to
Alzheimer's, Malaria to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Crohn's Disease to
Cancers (a seemingly endless variety of them), it would seem that
there is not a single human in this world who has never fallen prey
to one disease or another.
Just recently, I became aware of another strange new illness I had
not heard of when my close and long-time
friend was diagnosed with something called Primary Amyloidosis, and it has
hit him hard. Although Amyloidosis -- at least according to
the
Amyloidosis Foundation -- "is not cancer, it is very serious."
And according to information supplied by the
Mayo clinic, suggested therapies for the disease include
chemotherapy agents also used to treat certain types of cancer.
That's appropriate, since in Rich's case, there is
plasma cell
cancer involved.
Rich has been subjected to more tests and hospital
stays than I would have thought possible. He has also withstood an
intense bombardment of nasty chemicals in ten -- at last count -- encounters with chemotherapy,
with perhaps only two more to go... before he must undergo a
three-week hospital stay to replace bone marrow and stem cells that
were previously harvested from him, in order to fight what has been
going on in his blood and vital organs. And he has done it all with the
trademark smile and gutsy attitude that makes him one incredible
competitor on -- and off -- the golf course. He is the
consummate
fighter though, and is doing well (likely better than most of us
under the same circumstances).
We are all well
aware that wars come with a hefty price tag. Rich's war
against Amyloidosis
is no different, the price tag for doctors, hospital stays,
procedures and treatments is growing exponentially. This website is one way that we can help; we want to make
Friends of Rich Flores aware that they can help, too.
We hope that there are many of you out there who are willing to come
forward and help in any way you can. So what can we all do?
On this page we have listed several options; surely there are many more.
If you have any ideas, be sure to let us know!
By Richard C. Ross
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