Noe Rodriguez

In April 2019, Noe underwent major surgery to remove stage 2 lung cancer, causing him to lose the lower lobes of his right lung. Post-surgery he did all the things he needed to recover- eating healthy, walking daily with mom around the neighborhood, going to physical therapy, and generally fighting like crazy to regain lung capacity before chemo and radiation were started.

He never got back his full stamina but dang-near close. He went back to working 10-12 hour days, only taking breaks to go to his chemo or radiation appointments, and successfully completed them both without much disruption to his work.

Life was mostly back to normal with some minor tweaks to his stamina and getting used to constant medical check-ins. He began embracing the fact that the weekend or days in between a scan and the results would be stressful and anxiety-inducing. It’s not something you get used to. Ever.

After only two scans they found something and scheduled a PET to get more detailed views. On Monday, July 6th we received the news that he has stage 4 cancer and that it has spread into his ribs, shoulder blade, spine, and hips.

We were devastated but at that moment, he had a choice. And like all things in life, you can lean into the dark; into your feelings and let them eat you up OR you can get up and out of it and lean into the light; make the best of it and trust in your faith. Dad, as usual, leaned into the light.

He’s had his moments of sadness but ultimately comes back to the same place- “I trust in God and my doctors and I will do whatever I have to do to fight this.”

We'll be journaling his battle and updating this site as frequently as possible so feel free to sign up for updates or check in regularly. He will see your messages of love and support so feel free to comment under the most recent post if you'd like.