Saturday, July 29, 2017, at Weber High’s track at 8:00 AM, there will be a charity fundraiser in support of the Brent Muno family and PMP cancer research. We hope many will come! This event is family friendly! Kids will have supervised obstacle courses and activities on the football field. There will be music, food trucks, raffle prizes, and, of course, FUN! Come participate in a worthwhile event to support a member of the community.
For several months, Brent Muno was experiencing stomach aches. Eating or drinking seemed to make things worse. After 6 months, he was searching for answers with medical assistance. During an appendectomy, Brent’s surgeon found tumors growing throughout his peritoneum.
In the beginning, his surgeon told him he had 6 months to live. Brent says, “I felt that my solution to this whole ordeal was to keep this event personal and avoid any attention.”
After speaking to his LDS Bishop to make him aware of his condition, Brent soon learned that, within his new ward amazing people just happened to be looking for a way to benefit others in need through an activity or fundraiser. So, the Walk-a-Thon was conceived. Brent did not want the publicity, but in turn wanted it to be something to also benefit others as well.
Brent tells us, “I now realize that in all the blessings, prayers, fasts and miracles I have experienced, if I don’t share these with others, I am denying or hiding from them.”
Many miracles have occurred for the Muno family. Miracle number one is that this town of Ogden has a board of surgeons at McKay-Dee Hospital and they were able to correctly diagnose Brent’s very rare cancer known as PMP (Pseudomyxoma Peritoneum). “I count this as a miracle because this one in a million case is so often misdiagnosed,” he says.
Much research went into learning about his condition of PMP. Brent says “I began searching online for a better solution than a 6-month life expectancy. I found there are a handful of doctors in the U.S. that do believe treatment is possible.”
In the end, Brent searched out the services offered by Dr. Andrew M. Lowy located at the UC San Diego Health which is part of the Moore’s Health Clinic.
“I saw my diagnosis as a blessing. All the unimportant things quickly left focus—leaving me with my family, my Father in Heaven, and my Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The next miracle came from Brent’s insurance company. Due to excellent health all of his life, Brent has not needed the aid of his health insurance until now. In particular, he was granted approval to go to California to seek further help. For this reason, he is so grateful for Select Health and the value of good health insurance.
The Muno’s have a daughter, Madison, who is currently serving an LDS mission in California. They also have two sons, Kellan and Teague. Until there was a plan in place, they didn’t want to tell their family unless there was hope and a plan. According to Brent’s wife, Jackie, “Since then we have found so much hope and love, from not only Heavenly Father, but from so many of our wonderful friends, family, and neighbors.”
There is always much worry and wonder with early diagnosis. Jackie also says, “We talked about what would happen to us eternally and what would happen to the kids and myself. Brent is so selfless and his only concern, through this entire journey, was that of his kids and myself.”
Giving tribute to his employer, Brent says, “When you are worried about something as serious as your health the last thing you want to worry about is how you can financially accomplish your goals. I can tell you one of the greatest blessings for me is that my employer is one of the most Christlike people I know.”
With the help of Lindee Bess and Heather Fuller, along with many members of the North Ogden Ben Lomond 11th Ward, the Muno family would like to express sincere THANKS to all who have helped in preparing for this Walk-a-Thon Event. “We have felt the love and prayers from so many people in our lives. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.”
