A Note of Clarification & Gratitude from Our Family

Hi everyone - We wanted to clear up some confusion regarding a post that was accidentally shared to our SupportNow page and has since been deleted.

We want to be very clear: that post was never intended for SupportNow or for this community, and it should never have been posted here. It was written specifically for a completely separate organization run by a friend of ours that helps create personalized bedrooms for children and families who have been through difficult or traumatic circumstances.

Our friend graciously offered to help make Evan’s room special as we transition into our new home. In order for her to put our family through her organization’s process, she asked us to write up and share our family’s story. That is what the post was created for. It was accidentally shared to SupportNow, where it did not belong, and it was never intended as a request for additional financial support from this community.

We would never ask this community to fund Evan’s bedroom or home furnishings, nor would we ever want anyone to believe that the incredibly generous financial support we have received for Dana’s cancer journey was being used for that purpose.

We completely understand how seeing that post on SupportNow without this context could have created confusion or given people the wrong impression, which is why we wanted to address it directly and transparently.

We also want to be completely clear about the financial support our family has received through this community. Every dollar has gone toward helping Dana continue receiving the medical care she needs - both here in Colorado and at Duke. That has included flights and hotels for her monthly treatments, MRIs, lab work, medications, local medical care, unexpected emergency trips, and the many additional expenses that come with ensuring she can physically get to Duke and continue receiving the treatment that has been so important to her.

It has not gone towards anything else.

Thankfully, Dana continues to have clear scans, and we are incredibly grateful for that. But clear scans don't mean that life has simply returned to the way it was before brain cancer. We are learning what our family's "new normal" looks like.

Dana has significantly less stamina than she did before. Heat and sun can affect her balance and overall well-being, longer drives can be exhausting, and activities that once would have been routine can now leave her needing significant time to recover. As a result, Josh has taken on considerably more of the day-to-day responsibilities for our family while also making sure he can be available for doctor's appointments, Evan's activities and transportation, trips to Duke, and whatever unexpected needs arise.

That reality is also influencing the kind of career Josh is pursuing next. Flexibility and the ability to be present for family have become necessities in a way Josh never could have anticipated before Dana's diagnosis. Some of the decisions we're making about our home, work, and lifestyle are about adapting responsibly to that reality - not about using anyone's generosity for something it was never intended to support.

We know that perception matters, which is why we didn't want to leave any room for people to wonder.

Most importantly, we remain incredibly grateful. The financial support has helped us tremendously, but so have the messages, meals, rides, prayers, encouragement, check-ins, and simple reminders that we aren't navigating this alone. That positivity has lifted our spirits during some incredibly difficult moments and continues to mean more to our family than we can adequately express.

We would never take any of that for granted.

Thank you for continuing to love and support our family (Dana, Josh, and Evan) as we navigate this next chapter. ❤️