Dakota’s Story

Site created on March 28, 2021

On March 17, 2021 We were hit with news that rocked us to our core…. At 26 years old Dakota Brower was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. We have had a couple of weeks to absorb the news and come to terms with it and now the real work begins. Dakota has a worrier spirit and the most amazing positive attitude about this journey so its time for us to ask our family and friends to join us in supporting him, his wife Lauren Danielle Brower and their sweet 1 year old son Oliver in knowing that he will be victorious in this battle. We have set up this site for everyone to keep up on the latest developments in his fight,
#thebiggmiracle 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Michelle Sabell

One year ago today my hero walked into battle with his head held high and a fierce determination to teach cancer a lesson about messing with the wrong guy and indeed lessons have been learned but in a very different way than we expected……

1. We are blessed:  
As a family we love HARD, it’s both a blessing and a curse but I wouldn’t have it any other way and we each express it in our own unique way. We have learned to love so much deeper and embrace the compassion, love and support from our extended BIGG MIRACLE tribe.
2. Every day is a new day:
Things have gone from one extreme to another in the last year, one day Dakota is being told there is an end in sight for chemo only to be told at the next appointment that treatment is no longer working and to start looking for trials.  Now they are lowering his dosage because most of the tumors are responding and some have even disappeared altogether.  Each new day brings with it its own challenges but also hope and opportunity for great things.
3. What true courage looks like:   
Courage looks different now, it used to be an image of a knight with sword in hand, brave and fearless and now it looks like a young father and husband walking into chemo joking with the staff and proudly sharing stories of his sons recent adventures the whole time knowing that the procedure just ahead brings with it several days of unbearable headaches, sleepless nights and hours spent on the bathroom floor. He knows that the very thing that brings this misery is what’s keeping him alive and that my friend is courage.
4. Live in the moment:  
We are learning to live in the moment, tomorrow is promised to no one, a truth we are learning to embrace. Time is such a precious commodity and we are becoming more focused on being fully present in each and every moment we have, we can’t change what happened yesterday and worrying about tomorrow only keeps us from fully experiencing today.
5. Not everyone deserves a seat at the table of your life:  
No matter the situation haters gonna hate and that’s okay, there will always be a table of mean bitter people who delight in the hard times that we face. The table of our lives is so full of wonderful amazing people that there is simply no room for them. A huge thank you to everyone who has been sitting at our table for the past year, we are so grateful for all of the gifts, acts of service, donations, friendship and prayers just to name a few. So much support has surrounded us we can’t say thank you enough but just know you will always have a seat at our table.
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