Free the Stone: Kevin's Fight with Brain Cancer, 2000 Circle of Hope Dr (2026)

16/05/2023

Come celebrate 5 years with us!
Saturday May 20th 3-7 PM open house
Fun for the whole family with bounce house, games, nachos, ice cream, and more

At Neddo residence in Sandy. Message me if you need the address.

09/05/2023

FIVE YEARS. I can remember it like it was yesterday. 5 years ago today is when Kevin had his first grand mal seizure, when I called 911 for the first time in my life, when they told me he was just passed out drunk, and I had to fight for people to believe that something was wrong.
5 yrs ago today that I waited in the emergency room while several drs ran to help Kevin when he had his 2nd seizure during the middle of his MRI and I had no idea what was going on.
A lot followed in those first couple months and year
10 hour awake brain surgery - where they could only remove a small portion of the tumor
Finding out the diagnosis of Anaplastic Astrocytoma Brain Cancer
Given ONLY 5 years to live...possibly a few less or more
Learning there is no “cure”
radiation 5 days a week for 3 months
9 months of oral chemo
Fertility treatments so we could possibly have more kids
Genetic testing
More seizures
Figuring out seizure medication AND side effects
Kevin not being able to drive for 9 months
Having a 1,4, and 6 year old to take care of
Having amazing friends and family in our lives do incredible things for our family and being so blessed

The four years after that we have still had our challenges
More 911 calls and ER visits
Ongoing seizures and still dealing with those darn medications (Kevin takes 6 pills a day every day for them)
Lots of ongoing MRI’s and dr visits
Kevin still having a stubborn 10 cm tumor that takes up most of his left side temporal and frontal lobes which effect Kevin’s memory, emotions, impulse control, problem solving, social interaction, motor function, voluntary movement, expressive language, understanding language, memory acquisition, face recognition, object recognition, perception and processing auditory managing, higher level executive functions including the capacity to plan, organize, initiate, self-monitor and control one's responses in order to achieve a goal.

With all this, all I can express is how grateful I am. Kevin, by all our dr’s predictions, should not be alive or doing as well as he is doing right now.

Yet, Kevin is doing great, works full time, coaches our kids sports, is involved with the young men at church, takes care of the house, yard, me, and the kids so we all don’t fall apart, and so much more. When people meet Kevin they would never know he has brain cancer. While it is not perfect, no one’s life is and everyone is dealing with something. Kevin is my daily miracle and I feel so blessed at the time we have together and with our kids. Over the last 5 years we have been able to make so many great memories together and cherish them even more than we would have. We plan to keep that up.

I continually want to express gratitude for all the blessings and ongoing miracles we have in our lives, for our amazing loving and supportive family and friends, and for incredible doctors and medical advances.

10 yrs here we come!

22/11/2022

Today is a day to celebrate and be thankful. We have officially survived a year without an emergency room visit or a call to 911 for Kevin!
My family knows that one thing I’m really sensitive about and “triggers” me is when I see an ambulance. Every time I hear the sirens and see the flashing lights my heart breaks and I get overwhelmed with all the feels. My kids know that whenever we see an ambulance, we pause and say a prayer. We pray not only for the person that the ambulance is called for, but for the person or people who witnessed the event and who had to call 911.
The strongest feelings of loneliness and pure intense fear I have ever felt have been during those times I was alone and I needed to call 911 for Kevin. An ambulance is sometimes a daily reminder of those emotions, feelings, and memories. My heart goes out to all of those involved in those times.
Seizures.
It’s not something people talk about often. They are scary and I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy. Kevin says he’d rather go through a year of radiation and chemo again instead of dealing with seizures.
When is Kevin’s next seizure coming? Will I be with Kevin when it happens? Will Kevin be alone with the kids? Will someone be there to help him? I find myself almost always having a plan. Recently we were on an airplane flight. I went through the whole scenario in my head of what I would do and who I would ask for for help if he had a seizure on the plane. I don’t want my kids to see it, so in this specific scenario I tried to prepare myself that if it happened I would need to stay calm and be as discreet as possible as to not alarm my kids.
Sometimes when I’m sitting next to Kevin or in bed and he makes a slight move or tosses and turns, I’ll wake up in a panic dreading that another seizure is here.
Kevin will be on lots of seizure medication for the rest of his life. Multiple pills every morning and night. Fear if he ever forgets to take them. We are grateful for the medication, but it hasn’t come without it’s complications and other hard symptoms.
If you have made it reading this far, you can join us in another big celebration! Today Kevin had an MRI and that darn 10 cm tumor in his brain is still stable!!! We’ve officially passed the 4 1/2 year marksince diagnosis. Kevin’s initial prognosis was about 5 years. When he hits that five mark in May, you better believe we are throwing a huge party that you are all invited to!
So much to be grateful and thankful for. We appreciate all the continued love and support we constantly feel 💕

19/01/2021

Results are in. Tumor is stable! The circled section (the lighter areas) is the portion of Kevin’s brain that still has remaining grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma tumor in it. I’m super hopeful that the longer his tumor remains stable the more likely they are to find better treatments and possibly even a cure. 💕💕💕
We couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present for Kevin this year 🎉

16/01/2021

MRI is happening right now. While waiting for Kevin in his MRI, it’s often a time I use to reflect.
One time the Dr. asked us if we think about Kevin’s cancer a lot. Me and Kevin both looked at each other like that was the stupidest question. Of course we think about it a lot. Every day! The doctor told us overtime we would hardly ever think about it. We are waiting for that day to come.

We think about Kevin’s cancer when Kevin has trouble with his memory and forgets the littlest things or forgets really big important things. We think about Kevin’s cancer every time he has even the slightest headache. We think about Kevin’s cancer every morning and night when he takes an abundance of seizure medication. We think of Kevin’s cancer because of all the side effects Kevin has from taking all the seizure medication. We think of Kevin’s cancer because of job opportunities he’s given up or had to pass. I think about Kevin’s cancer when I mourn the loss of future children I am not able to have. We think of Kevin’s cancer because of lost opportunities and places we haven’t moved to. We think about Kevin’s cancer when Kevin gets twitches on a daily basis, and wonder when the next big seizure is coming. We think about it when we think about our future near and far. We think about it when people talk about what their life will be like in five or 10 years. We think about it when we hear stories of people celebrating their anniversaries or seeing dads dancing with their daughters at their weddings. We think about it when we watch movies and plays because more times than not something hits home. We think about Kevin’s cancer when we think of all the new people we have met and the struggles they face dealing with their own cancer. We think about it every time we get a new medical bill in the mail. We think about it every time we hear of someone we know getting a cancer diagnosis, or someone celebrating being in remission of cancer. We think about it in our daily prayers and when others tell us they are still praying for us. We think about Kevin’s cancer when we see and realize all the miracles, tender mercies, blessings, and friendships that have come in to our life because of it.

I think it would be safe to say that it somehow affects almost every aspect of our life on a daily basis. I don’t think they will ever come a time where we don’t think about it. To be honest I am glad I think about it every day. It reminds me of what is important, how fragile this life can be, and to try to live better. For these reasons, I hope we never make it to the day where we don’t think about cancer.

06/01/2021

Ugh! Insurance issues are the worst. Kevin should have had his MRI this morning, but we ran into huge insurance problems and are trying to get everything sorted out. Thank you to those of you who reached out to us with your thoughts and prayers. His MRI is now rescheduled for the 16th and hopefully🤞 we will have the insurance mess sorted out by then!

30/12/2020

Kevin has his next MRI 1 week from today. I wish I could say with confidence that I know it will be okay. I can hope more than anything it will be, but the truth is, until I hear it from the dr's I will always worry.
When Kevin's tumor starts growing again (and they told us it is when and not if) that basically starts the countdown. The countdown to either another surgery, more treatment, more possible disabilities, etc. Kevin often describes it like feeling he has a ticking time bomb in his head. He knows it is there, but he doesn't know when it is going to be detonated.
Good news is, as of now, Kevin is doing great. We just have to keep it that way for a long time!

09/07/2020

Kevin had his MRI yesterday. There was NO new tumor growth! 🙏😅
There has been a lot more anxiety and worry leading up to this scan than I like to admit. The two-year MRI was kind of a big deal for us. I can’t explain it, but life kind of stops until you get the green light to go ahead to keep living for a minute. I can finally sigh a breath of relief for the next couple of months. I know Kevin has angels and warriors watching over him, one more added this week. 💗
We are continually blessed with miracles and feel everyone’s love and support. We truly appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. 💕💕

09/05/2020

Two years....
Two years ago I thought I was losing you. I laid next to you in that hospital bed not knowing what life had in store for us next. Little did I know what was to come.
What came next was finding out what truly was most important in life. To me it is spending time together as a family, living in the moment, and going on all the adventures. This other picture is yesterday while we were having a blast in Moab. I read this quote the other day and fell in love with it. “I refuse to tiptoe through life just to arrive safely at death!”

Four months ago we planned to have a huge thank you celebration today for everyone that has helped us in any way these last two years. I had the place booked and everything! While we may have to postpone a celebration with everyone til next year, me and Kevin still want everyone to know how grateful we are for the love and support everyone has shown Kevin and our family. I especially could not have made it through this without you all.

We still get lots of questions on how Kevin is doing. So a quick update:
Kevin is doing great and working full time. The only medication he is on right now is for seizures. I notice changes and the side effects all this has brought for Kevin, but if you were to meet him, besides the scar (which is getting less and less noticeable), you would never know what he has gone through. Kevin is absolutely amazing and we have and continue to be blessed by so many miracles.
Kevin still has a 4 inch tumor in his brain that they are unable to remove. It is a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma. Right now his tumor has remained stable 🙏He has MRI’s every so often to check for new growth. Next MRI is in July. While the prognosis is still scary and haunts me all the time, I try to control what I can and put my trust in Heavenly Father for the rest.

25/02/2020

Sometimes it’s my daughter’s kindergarten book that brings all the feels. I’m thankful everyday for everything that Kevin’s brain is able to let him do.

23/01/2020

MRI TODAY....I cannot believe it has almost been one year since Kevin has finished all his chemo treatments! It almost feels like a lifetime ago that he was diagnosed. Maybe that’s because our lives have drastically changed. Mostly for the better. Now before you think I am crazy, Kevin and I both feel things have changed for the better. We love deeper, have open hearts, and don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. We take chances, support one another, and don’t wait for tomorrow’s for the things that we want to do today. Life is a gift and we celebrate every little thing. Like today we
celebrate STABLE MRI results!

Find a reason to celebrate every day!

10/12/2019

It has been awhile since I've made a post here. I just wanted to say thank you again for those of you who continually have Kevin and our family in your thoughts, prayers, and acts of service. It doesn't go unnoticed! We feel it and it helps more than you know. So thank you! Dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis has a lot of ups, downs, and in betweens. Kevin has been feeling pretty great lately and we feel so blessed. We have had so many uplifting experiences and met so many truly inspiring people.

Free the Stone: Kevin's Fight with Brain Cancer