August 27th will be a day I remember forever. A year ago today our lives changed forever. Our morning chaos started like any other day, except on that day Caleb had an early morning MRI before work. The scan was just a precautionary follow up for the visual disturbances and slight headaches he’d been having some afternoons. 

Like the rest of the world, we were already dealing with all the changes covid had brought to our routine when cancer uprooted our lives. Over the last year, we’ve experienced all the dark thoughts you can imagine and have had so many depressing conversations one would never expect to have in your early 30’s! but the GOOD we’ve been provided with has kept us going - the boys are healthy and happy, our careers are going strong, we’ve remained covid free *so far*. We’ve found ways to simplify life, to limit unnecessary stressors, and to ask for help!

But most of all, God has shown us how well loved we are - the outpouring of love and support from distant friends/family across the country to our literal next door neighbors has been shocking. Y’all rallied around us, making the unimaginable possible, day by day. We couldn’t have survived this year without each of you. 

So in a month, Caleb will go for another MRI - we’re praying to hear the same news as the scan in June. His tumor is now “stable” - meaning they don’t expect to see anymore shrinkage from the chemo/radiation but there is no new growth! While there is still a fair bit of the tumor remaining, the important part is that there is no growth. He’ll have MRI’s every 3 months through the end of 2022 and then they’ll be a little more spread out to continue watching for growth. 

Cancer will forever be a part of our lives, but we're determined to not let it run our lives. It’s a daily battle to stay present and positive, but we’re holding on to hope that this next year will be full of better days!