A cancer diagnosis, a global pandemic and a car accident. For Loveland local Nikki Houser there was life before -- and life after.
Everything started with a phone call received in the parking garage of a Denver hotel. It was the tail end of a work trip for her husband that the two had turned into a fun couple's weekend away from their two young kids back home.
On the other end of the line, a doctor confirmed what Nikki had been fearing that winter in 2020 -- it, in fact, was cancer. She looks back at the work trip getaway now as the "last hurrah before a wild ride."
In late April 2025, from inside a log cabin near Breckenridge, she fought back tears recalling the news of her diagnosis.
Nikki was brought to Breckenridge thanks to a vacation donated to her family through nonprofit Domus Pacis Family Respite. One of the nonprofit's board members, Pam Dumonceau, said the organization looks to provide this experience to 130-150 families a year.
"It's an organization that uses underutilized vacation homes -- because we all know that they sit empty for weeks and weeks a year -- and matches them by donating them to families that have a terminal or sick loved one," she said.
Nikki's now 13-year-old daughter, Dalia, was swinging in a hammock chair on the back deck. She just found out she made the varsity cheerleading team at the high school, making her one of the only incoming freshmen to accomplish such a feat. Just five years ago, a series of unfortunate circumstances left her as only one available to be her mom's legal caretaker, helping her survive cancer at the age of 8.
Nikki shook her head almost in disbelief recounting her life five years ago -- now sitting at the cabin's granite counter surrounded by windows opening up views to the Blue River. She said while trying to figure out how to deal with the diagnosis, she was simultaneously working to create a sense of normalcy for her children.
Both of her parents experienced cancer. A gene mutation passed down from her mother caused Nikki's breast cancer, doctors say. She knew what the journey could entail, so she booked a trip to Disney World for Dalia and her brother Damen before her treatment began, not knowing what her future would hold. The onset of COVID-19 canceled that.
As she waited in the pre-operation room on March 17, 2020 for her bilateral mastectomy to begin, the surgeon broke the news that operation rooms were given orders to shut down and life-threatening emergencies had to be prioritized.
"My husband's in the waiting room. He's not even allowed to go in with me. I'm about to lose my breasts, and they're asking me if I want to move forward because there's this COVID thing and I could probably die (if I were to contract) the virus," she said.
Waking up from the mastectomy sent her into a mental health episode. She was booked overnight for psychiatric help.
While the world around her went into lockdown and started working from home, her essential-worker husband, James, didn't. He was out working the construction field, balancing two kids and a wife in crisis. She said it felt like life kept doling out hits to the family, and at the time she didn't realize things were about to get worse. It wouldn't be long before a pizza delivery driver preoccupied on their phone while looking at directions hit Damen outside the Nikki's home.
These events made both Damen and James unable to care for her, leaving Dalia as the sole option. Dalia said she doesn't remember too much of the day-to-day logistics of taking care of her mom, but she does remember her effort to remain joyful during it all.
Today, Nikki is cancer-free, but health journey isn't over. The surgery and treatments she underwent had some adverse effects, causing daily discomfort and pain. She must go through another significant surgery, with an expected 6-week recovery, this August.
"I am tired of taking the victim role now. I'm ready to move past that in so many ways," she said.
These days her focus is using her condition to create a future where the world knows more about what caused her cancer and the slew of health problems she lives with: the ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene. The gene mutation is thought to be associated with a range of cancers, and there's still a lot of question marks around it, she said.
Whenever she can, Nikki participates in clinical trials and genetic research. The gene carries a strong likelihood of being passed down to an immediate generation, so she says she wants to find answers for everyone, but especially her kids if one of them ends up testing positive for it.
Life has settled a bit for the Housers, at least compared to what it was from 2020-22. James explained how the family was doing at the end of 2024.
"It's just one of these things in life where we were finally at a point (of wanting) to put the past five years in the rearview mirror and truly turn the page," James said.
That's when the recommendation came from a social worker through a hospital to check out a Summit County nonprofit, Domus Pacis Family Respite. The Frisco-based organization set the family up with a vacation in Breckenridge thanks to a local home donor and other community partners. They were greeted at the house with gift cards donated from places like Mountain View Coffee Bar and Columbine Cafe.
Nikki said it was the first breath she was able to take in a longtime.
Dumonceau, the board member from Domus Pacis, said the generosity of the community fuels the nonprofit's program and has been doing so since 2008.
When Susan Lytle decided to make her family's Summit County real estate investment that they were long-term renting more of a vacation home, she knew she wanted the home to go to good use when they weren't using it. Her job at Slifer, Smith & Frampton, a local real estate agency, put her on to Domus Pacis and the work it does. She became a home donor at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's an organization I really trust. I don't have any (worries) about them letting strangers into my home because it's always been a fulfilling experience," she said.
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