Funeral Arrangments

Philip Ray Brown

There will be a viewing on Friday, August 27th, 6:30-8pm at the Buttercup Chapel.

An additional viewing will be on the morning of the service from 9-9:45am.

Services will be at the Buttercup Chapel at 10am on Saturday, August 28th.

Buttercup Chapel - 1600 E. Buttercup Dr., Sandy, UT, 84092

Philip Ray Brown passed peacefully away in his home at 8:30 on Sunday morning, surrounded by his family. We are grateful to have been blessed with such an incredible father in our lives. We are grateful that he was able to pass so quickly and are happy that is finally reunited with our mother - Netta.

If anyone makes a comment on this blog or emails us - we are reading them to Dad and really feel as though he can hear and understand them. We have loved reading them to him. We feel like they have been a huge comfort to him and to us - so please keep them coming.

Dad took a turn for the worse yesterday. He went into a diabetic coma with seizures after spending the night throwing up and being too tired to drink/eat. His blood sugar, oxygen level, and blood pressure are all scary low today.

Since he has decided to no longer treat the cancer, his body is shutting down. He wants to die soon, peacfully and painlessly. All we can do is offer him pain medication and cold water until his body shuts down. He can't respond to us, but he can hear us. He is sleeping deeply.

I'll keep you posted if anything changes good/bad.

Please pray for Dad. That he will pass away soon without much pain and be with Mom again.

Thank you.

Dear Family and Friends,

Our father, Philip Ray Brown, has opted to forgo a second chemo treatment and would simply like to enjoy the time he has left. If you would like to send notes of encouragement or anecdotes, letters of love and appreciation, pictures, or even jokes that you know he would enjoy, he would love to hear from you!

You can leave a comment on this blog - we will make sure he sees your notes.

If you would like to email please send it to the following: bhofmann46@gmail.com.

If you would like to send a letter or note by mail please send it directly to him at:

Phil Brown

1824 East Abbedale Lane

Sandy, Utah 84092

Thank you in advance,

With love and sincerely, Phil and Netta's kids

Recent conversation with Dad

He called me last week for my birthday. I know that I give my family a hard time but they really aren't too bad at remembering. So he called and told me Happy Birthday which somehow turned in a story. With Story-time Phil - this wasn't a stretch BUT this story had to do with how he remembers my birthday every year.

Apparently in November or December of 1989 (around the time that the Vegas temple was dedicated), Dad and Mom were asked to come to Vegas to be interviewed by L.Tom Perry. They had previously been interviewed by their stake president for possibly serving as mission presidents. So Mom and Dad had an interview with President Perry in which at the end, he said that was going to recommend them to serve as mission presidents. He said that if they were called they would know by the second week of January.

(Still wondering what this has to do with my birthday? - it does have a point, I promise). 

The second week of January 1990 passed without any calls. My parents were honored to have been considered but thought that they were not going to be called. 

BUT on January 22 (really the best day ever), my Mom received a phone call from Brother Allred who is President Hinckley's secretary asking to speak with my father.* Mom said that he was at work and gave Brother Allread the phone number. Then she hung up and called my Dad and said, "Don't take a bathroom break - President Hinckley wants to talk to you!" (The bathroom break warning was valid - Dad did take a lot of bathroom breaks). 

So Dad waited patiently by the phone. Brother Allred called and put him through to President Hinckley, who proceeded to give my Dad a small interview. He asked him how he was able to relate to young men - can he be patient? Can he be a good example? Would work allow him to take time off? He asked him all sorts of questions about his background and finally said that he would like to extend a calling for him to serve as a mission president for a Portuguese speaking mission. He said that the mission would be assigned at a later date.

So his mission president assignment is why he remembers my birthday every year. In all honestly I completely forgot they got that call on that day until he reminded me. But it was a really good day for my Dad. He was extended the calling to serve a mission with his wife and family. 

* This is the funny sidenote - Jacque had gotten her wisdom teeth out and was laying on the couch on this particular birthday AND Brother Allred had called but my Mom didn't answer the phone. One of the kids answered the phone and when he had asked for my Dad - the kid called out my Dad's name and put the phone down. Totally forgot about it. The poor man waited on the phone for a few minutes before my Mom happened to walk by and pick up the phone. She was sooooo embarrassed. Slightly funny but that is what I remember from that birthday day. 

Ps - this is Nikki - I have the January 22nd birthday. 

Dad's Christmas Letter

I am posting Dad's Christmas letter now because I just got it in the mail. But I liked it, even though it was about 3 weeks late.

Dear Family & Friends, 

2008 has had its ups and downs.

* I was heartbroken in June. I lost my dear little brother, Brent Brown, to cancer.

On the brighter side, though, as I attended the funeral, I was grateful that although I was a down winder, at least I didn't have cancer.

* Days after Brent's funeral I found a lump and was diagnosed with stage four Multiple Myeloma, a type of bone cancer.

On the brighter side, though, being a father to 11 children finally paid off because I have plenty of care givers (slave labor). They are taking great care of me and it is sweet payback for all of the diaper changing and trouble they have caused.

* When I had radiation treatment, the radiation burned my esophagus so severely that I couldn't eat anything solid for a few weeks. 

On the brighter side, though, I was finally able to lose some of that extra weight. I am ready to start a series of info-mercials for Radiation Therapy, the miracle weight-loss solution where you too can actually lose 45 pounds in ONLY 6 weeks. 

* My cancer is responding well to the medications and should extend my life. I am feeling much better after a rough few months. Stage 4 means that I cannot be cured from it. This makes me sad when I see all of my young, beautiful grandchildren.

On the brighter side, I have a firm testimony that Christ has made it possible for me to see and live with my beautiful wife again. So no matter what happens, I feel at peace. 

In this season when we celebrate Christ's birth, I hope we cal all feel the peace He offers through all lifes ups and downs. 

Merry Christmas

With love,  

Phil

Health Update

So much has happened and finally I am on the blog with good news to report! Dad is doing quite well. Here is a list of things he can do that even 1 month ago seemed pretty impossible:

• Breathe without an oxygen machine.
  
• Breathe deeply without extreme pain.
  
• Walk with a cane (we have graduated from the walker).
  
• Socialize with his family - he joined us for Thanksgiving in his glider rocking chair. Then he impressed all of us when he watched us play frisbee dodgeball for a few hours. 
  
• Stand up (but still not straight up - but he is standing). 
  
• Join us for dinner at a noisy burger joint and have him insist on paying for dinner - it's a Christmas miracle! 
• Telling more jokes and stories than usual. 
• Laughing harder at his own jokes than usual - I saw him throw his head back a few times! 

Most importantly Dad is in good spirits. He was in the hospital then a rehab center but as of right now - he is at home.  He had a list of infections from viral to bacterial. The latest infection was on his foot. BUT right now he is infection free. His immune system seems to be working again. He recently met with his oncologist and was told that he responded to the treatments "better than expected." His protein levels are low (which is good) and the doctor said, "You are in remission!!!!!!!" 

Round 1:   Cancer vs. Phil = PHIL WON!!!!!! WHOOOEEEE!!!!! 

Turns out he has more Whiting blood in him that we initially thought. This makes Dad our little miracle. He has had prostate cancer, a heart attack, spinal surgery, multiple myeloma - he is one heck of a fighter. 

We are grateful for the prayers and faith from all of you. Dad current health is proof that prayers can be answered.  It certainly was a little scary for a while but as of right now we are all taking a sigh of relief. Phew. 

And again - thank you to the siblings in Utah who all take turns making sure Dad has the best care possible. They are washing laundry, cleaning, cooking and administering medicine to Dad. It is a full time job and they have worked tirelessly. Dad is well. We are safe and sound and grateful for the holidays, grateful for family, blessings and most importantly the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. 

More from Buffy

Dad is looking better. He is eating and drinking. They hope to have Dad out of the hospital by the end of the week. He had bacterial pneumonia and also a viral infection from the CMV. CMV is a virus that 98% of the population is exposed to at birth. It is something that typically is never activated, but when you have an weak immune system - it shows up. Surprise!!! He is on an anti-viral medication for at least month. But he is responding well to the medication for his bacterial infection. 

He was feeling well enough to tell a joke: 

 

A man is in a bar talking to friend and said, "My friend Roscoe is here. He knows everyone!"

The friend replied, "He can't know everyone!" But the friend insisted saying, " I really think he does." 

So the man is introduced to Roscoe and he asks him, "Do you really know everyone?" And Roscoe replied, "Well, yeah, I think I do." The man asked if he knew the Pope and Roscoe said, "Oh yeah! I am going golfing with him tomorrow - I need to see him to change the tee time."

The man refused to believe that he could know the Pope, so Roscoe finally invited him to go and meet the Pope. 

They got on his private jet and Roscoe told him that he was going to talk to the Pope before he went out on the balcony 

to talk to the congregation. 

The man waited in the courtyard with the crowd of people who had gathered to see the Pope. Finally the Pope came out and right beside him was Roscoe! The man could hardly believe his eyes. He asked the man next to him if he knew who was up on the balcony and the stranger said, "Well, I don't know that guy in the funny hat but he is standing right next to Roscoe!" 

Hospital Update

This is a new update from Buffy (more to come later today).

His pneumonia is getting better. His injured lung is not getting worse - it is in a holding pattern. He is on a machine helping inflate his lungs (but not a respirator). As of yet it his lung has not fixed itself. 

Dad's lungs are affected by the Cytomegolovirus (CMV) Infection. It is a virus that usually affects immuno-compromised patients. He is on anti-viral medications to help treat CMV.