We decided having our first kid was too easy, so let's throw in some cancer!

Hey all, In January 2026, we welcomed our first child into the world, Magnolia. Toward the end of Melissa’s pregnancy, doctors noticed something in her chest that raised a few eyebrows, but we initially wrote it off as an existing fibroadenoma (a benign tumor she’d had before). Turns out, after a biopsy, it was not that. It’s carcinoma—currently stage II. We got the official news on March 16th, and it’s been identified as triple negative breast cancer. In plain terms: aggressive, fast-growing, and not responsive to the usual hormone-targeted treatments. Not exactly the overachiever you want in this situation. The plan ahead is roughly 6 months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery (about 2 weeks of recovery), and then 6–8 weeks of radiation and immunotherapy. So yes, we’re basically booked solid through the end of 2026. Jokes aside, it’s been a whirlwind of diagnostics, scans, appointments, and more appointments. We’ve learned more medical terminology in two weeks than we ever wanted to in a lifetime. Apologies if you’re finding out through this page instead of a call or message—we’ve been a bit tied up between the newborn phase and, you know, casually dealing with cancer. We could definitely use some help in the coming weeks and months as Melissa gears up to take this on head-on (and yes, the irony of “breast first” has not been lost on us). This is where we could really use some help. If you’re able, here are a few things that would make a big difference for us: Meals (drop-offs or delivery) — especially on chemo weeks when energy is low and cooking is…not happening Help with Magnolia — short visits to hold her, give us a breather, or help during appointments Rides to/from appointments — chemo days in particular can be rough Household basics — groceries, light cleaning, laundry, or just resetting the house so it doesn’t feel like a crime scene Check-ins — texts are great; responses may be slow, but they’re appreciated more than you know Flexibility — plans may change last minute depending on how Melissa is feeling If none of that works for you, honestly just showing up in whatever way you can means a lot. Even dark humor memes are considered a valid form of support at this point. I’ll do my best to keep updates here as things progress, but fair warning: this journey is going to be hard, messy, and at times, probably pretty dark. We’ll take the wins where we can—and if we can laugh at the absurdity along the way, we will. Thanks for being in our corner.