Loving Support of Amanda Cohen and Family

06/01/2024

CrossFit 321 in Topsham, Maine was a special place for Amanda. It wasn’t just a place where Amanda developed a love for the sport and developed physically as an athlete, it was also a place where she forged strong lasting friendships and an incredibly supportive community. As her husband I witnessed her not only develop a physical strength that endured, but more importantly, she enhanced her already tenacious ability to take on hard things. Today I received the attached images. Shawn Thiboutot and Ernie Elliot hung this mural today in Honor of Amanda.
To say CrossFit321, the people that make it run, and its athletes have been a support over the last 6 years is a dramatic understatement. Every corner we turned CrossFit321 was there. There were many many scary times we faced, but the love, support, and generosity that poured out of there and the greater community is hard to comprehend. Thank you Shawn, Ginny and all of the friends and members for your support over the years. And thank you for honoring Amanda is such a spectacular way.
With the greatest gratitude, thank you.

David & Jacob

05/12/2023

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=886616022985085&id=100049100875819

07/11/2023

It would be difficult for me to thank everyone for the support and kindness we have received over the last several days and feel like I could never adequately show the level of gratitude I have. Thank you for the kindest of words, wishes, shared sorrow, and stories about Amanda. The last six weeks have been the hardest I have had to live here on earth, but in someway they provided Jacob and I a way to show our love for Amanda in the grandest way. I don’t really have the words right now, but I wanted to thank everyone for the love and support and let you know how much I appreciated everyone that was able to come to
visitation and grieve with us at the services. Your presence was felt in a strong and powerful way. With much love and gratitude. Thank you.

02/11/2023

https://www.brackettfh.com/obituaries/Amanda-Barrett-Cohen?obId=29790444

View Amanda Barrett Cohen's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

01/11/2023

Hello Friends, early this morning Amanda passed away peacefully. The sadness and weight of loosing Amanda is immense. It is lighten only by the knowledge that we have been blessed by her beautiful, kind, and loving spirit.

It is difficult to adequately express how grateful we are for the love and support we have received over the last six years. Thank you.

Amanda was gentle, peaceful, and filled with love in her heart until the very end.

Exceptional to the very last moment!

I will post details of Visitation and Services when they are available.

Much love,

The Cohen’s

11/10/2023

Good morning, I wanted to provide an update on Amanda. After exhausting all treatment options the decision in June was made to discontinued treatment in an effort to have quality time as a family. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy a couple of months without any debilitating breakthrough symptoms. In fact, once the chemo had been discontinued and out of Amanda’s body, there was several weeks where Amanda was feeling better then she had in sometime and kept asking her Hospice Nurse if she could go for a run.
At the end of August, Amanda started to have some symptoms that indicated disease progression and it started a steady challenge for Amanda’s mobility as well as the development of other symptoms of her cancer advancing. It is hard to really wrap my head around because for 21 months things would change and we would adjust and adapt. Now the changes are coming at a faster rate.
Our Hospice team is top notch and has prepared us for what lays ahead in the upcoming weeks.
I should note that we have enveloped Jacob with a team of people that include family, incredible friend’s, counseling, and many people from the school that have helped us in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
Amanda and I have been together for 19 years. It has become commonplace for Amanda to stare down challenges with a courage and strength that is beyond understanding. This last month and a half has been no different. She continues to move through this time with strength, courage, beauty, kindness, and dignity that undoubtedly has always been the defining characteristics of my Sweet Wife.
Thank you to everyone that has helped and stood with us. We are grateful for the love and support.

21/07/2023

Hello everyone, wanted to share some information. Amanda’s most recent scans unfortunately show evidence of cancer progression. This means the treatment / Chemo is no longer working. We have run out of options and treatment has been stopped. Our focus now will be on enjoying a beautiful Maine summer as a family and making sure Amanda is comfortable. As you can imagine this heavy news brings a level of sadness that is difficult to describe and process.

Our team has prepared us for the next several months and what they will look like. Amanda has continued to stand tall, fierce, peaceful, and brave in the face of this information. Her courage unwavering and her heart as big as ever.

The outpouring of love and support we have received over the last 6 years has been beyond amazing and helpful in ways we can’t begin to describe. The support we have received is truly a testament to how many lives Amanda has touched and the radiant light that Amanda shines wherever she goes. I have included some recent family pictures as well as some I personally love from the past. We recently celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. The honor of sharing time with Amanda and raising our son Jacob will forever be the hallmark of my life. If you wish to leave a message for Amanda I will read them to her. Please understand that we may not be able to respond and we are incredibly grateful for the love and support we have received.

31/05/2023

Jacob has been doing well. As the school year comes to an end we have been really grateful that this year has been relatively smooth. Jacob participated in Spring Track and really enjoyed school this year. We found out he is a book of knowledge when it comes to Greek Mythology and the American Revolution. We could not be more proud of the young man he is turning into. Some pictures included are of a recent trip to Boston. We rode an Amtrak and took the green line. It was an Awesome trip!

31/05/2023

Good afternoon friends. It’s David, Amanda’s husband. It has been awhile since this page has been updated so I wanted to share with you how Amanda is doing as well as share some pictures.

As posted last September the chemo that was available for Leptomeningeal disease stopped working and we were given two options. One option was try a new treatment that had been recently approved for Amanda’s type of breast cancer with the hope that it could help with the leptomeningeal disease. The second option was to stop treatment. There is no cure for Leptomeningeal Disease and prognosis is dismal, but the hope for the new treatment was an extension of quality time.

Since taking the new treatment in September Amanda has been stable. She has two tumors, one in her brain and one on her spinal cord. Both tumors have neither grown or shrunk. In short the new treatment has provided us with a good amount of “progression free” time while still allowing for quality of life.
Amanda gets scanned every 8 weeks so that we can best understand where we are at.

All this being said, Amanda is doing well and is stable for the time being. As can be imagined, the treatment is exhausting and is not without a host of side effects. Many cancer patients are not only tasked with living with the disease and the treatment side effects, but have to be brave and courageous while often times wearing a happy face. Amanda always walks tall with the utmost of dignity. We are all doing our best at, “living in the moment” and hoping for a great summer.

We have had incredible support walking this path from so many friends and family members and we could not have had this time without all of the love and generosity that has been shown to us. We are grateful beyond words.

I will do my best to keep this page updated and wish everyone a beautiful start to summer.

With much love and gratitude,

The Cohen’s

04/10/2022

David set Amanda’s easel up on the deck so she could enjoy this beautiful fall day. Keeping warm in her fabulous coveralls. Who else can make those look good but Amanda❤️

01/10/2022

Amanda did not waste one day of our beautiful Maine summer. There is not a more beautiful, kind, strong and brave woman on this earth❤️

01/10/2022

It is with a very saddened heart that I write this post tonight. Amanda’s latest scans have revealed that her brain tumor has returned and she has multiple tumors all along her spine. The doctors have offered her a “hail Mary “ chemo treatment that may give her an additional month with her family. There are no guarantees. The treatment is very new and also prevents her from being able to access hospice benefits. Thankfully she has four ever present nurse friends and we are her personal hospice squad. We are all treasuring every day that we get to spend together. We are hopeful but realistic.
I have watched Amanda walk this road for over 5 years and I am amazed every day by her strength, courage and grace. I have watched David become the most determined advocate for Amanda and for Jacob. The love that these three share is a beautiful thing to witness.
I will be sharing some photos from the summer in a few days. Amanda was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and as expected she looked Absolutely Fabulous every single day 👑
If you would like to contact Amanda the best way is by mail. She loves getting cards and letters. She is not up to text messaging and feels bad if she can’t respond.
Please keep Amanda , David and Jacob in your prayers❤️.

23/08/2022

I just want to say thank you again to everyone that has provided meals for Amanda and her family. It is a huge help for David !!!!! Thank you all so much. She had a great weekend enjoying the beautiful summer we have been having in Maine. ❤️

13/08/2022

Every day with my friend is a great day. Today was extra special. Amanda got to share a new experience with Jacob this morning. Then we had a girls night with a manicure , dinner and a visit from one of Amanda’s oldest and dearest friends.… and see that beautiful painting, it’s an AC original of my backyard at sunset and I got to take it home tonight. The doctors tell Amanda she is on “ borrowed time” , she is cherishing every day and making each one count. ❤️

13/07/2022

I think some have misunderstood this mornings post. Amanda’s scan is clear which means still no regrowth of her brain tumor. She has a scan every 2 months. She still has terminal brain cancer. Leptomeningeal disease is terminal. Her chemo and the whole brain radiation she had in January destroyed the solid tumor but nothing will eradicate the cancer cells in her cerebrospinal fluid and the membranes covering her brain and spinal cord. Every update that states scans are clear is great news because it means the chemo is keeping any new tumors from growing❤️

13/07/2022

Mondays brain scan was clean … the daily chemo is still working 👍👍 Amanda continues to amaze her team of doctors but those of us that know her are not surprised. She is the strongest and most courageous person we have ever known. She will fight for every day. We are in the beginning stages of planning a September fundraiser. I’ll post more info as we get things in place but get your trail sneakers out …. You may need them 💖

12/07/2022

Crossing the finish line together 💖 Amanda said she was ” still riding high on all the love from yesterday”. it was a very long day for her and both she and David totally forgot that they had a brain MRI this morning and had to hustle to make it. If anybody has any photos from the event please share them here. I will be seeing her tomorrow and I know she’s looking forward to seeing photos.

10/07/2022

Very emotional morning at Tri For a Cure. We love you so much Amanda💖