About Us: Why I Started This Blog
The story behind this blog began on March 17, 2025—the day our world tilted.
I had just walked into a beautiful condo on the Cumberland River when I saw a missed call from my husband’s director. Seconds later, Mike called to tell me he’d had what he casually described as “an episode,” and that EMS was already on the way.
That was the moment everything changed.
What followed were sirens, hospital corridors, scans, neurologists with careful expressions, and a sentence that felt like the floor dropping out from under me: “It appears to be a tumor.”
More tests confirmed it was a primary brain tumor. Two agonizing weeks later, we met the neurosurgeon who would save his life—and on April 10, Mike underwent a total removal via awake craniotomy.
Recovery was brutal. Two weeks in the hospital, months of rehab, and an avalanche of questions we didn’t yet know how to ask. And then came the pathology: at least a high-grade astrocytoma. A very aggressive brain tumor. The kind that rewrites your future whether you agree to it or not.
While Mike worked to regain movement, strength, and independence, I found myself unraveling and rebuilding at the same time. I started writing simply to keep friends and family updated. But very quickly, the updates became something else—my release valve, my processing tool, my lifeline.
Writing became the only place where the fear, grief, hope, and grit all had somewhere to land.
And now?
We’re on the other side of the hardest part. Mike has finished radiation and is in maintenance chemo. He’s feeling more and more like himself again—laughing more, moving more confidently, doing “normal life” things even on the tough days. We’re still navigating the unknowns, but we’re doing it together, day by day.
This blog is no longer just updates.
It’s a story of survival, love, advocacy, resilience, and the kind of messy optimism that only comes from walking through hell and realizing you’re still standing.
If you found your way here because your world tilted too—whether from illness, caregiving, grief, or something unnamed—please know this:
You are not alone.
We didn’t sign up for this, but we’re showing up anyway.
And you can, too.
If you want the whole saga (the good, the gritty, and everything in between), hit All Posts.
If you’re just here for the freshest updates, tap Latest Posts and dive right in.
