As many of our friends and family already know, Dan was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer the week before Christmas 2024. We took him to the ER for what we thought must be food poisoning or the norovirus making the rounds in Austin. 36 hours later, he was undergoing a right side colon resection, removing his cecum & appendix along with what we lovingly call "The Facehugger." ;) (Dan has a photo for those curious.) 72 hours after the surgery, we had the initial pathology back and an official diagnosis. The surgeon said the mass in his colon has likely been growing over the last 15 to 20 years. Dan and I met in March 2009, so it's been growing alongside our family these last 16 years. It is metastatic, meaning it has spread into his lymph nodes, throughout his liver, and possibly into his lungs. Stage IV is like Big Boss Level, ya'll! On January 6th, 2025 he started his first cycle of chemo, which included 6 hours at the clinic and then wearing a pump at home for 2 additional days. The current plan is to do this every other week for a total of 6 infusions and then take new scans. We also have several well-known surgical teams at NCI cancer centers to hopefully find a way forward that is more aggressive such as surgical options. I don't think anyone is ever prepared for something like this to happen at only 45. We also have two sons; Julian is only 9, and Sebastian is 7. Dan is still the center of their world and the reason he is planning to fight harder than he's ever fought in his life. On top of being young, they are 2E (gifted and neurodivergent), so they come with their own unique challenges and medical needs to navigate, and we have to work as a team to get through our days. Possibly raising them alone is a scary thought. Everyone around us has been so supportive and ready to jump in to help us. People we haven't seen or talked to in ages have been some of the first to share their experiences. It's been overwhelming, and we are still daily struggling to figure out what we do need help with, but we are also so genuinely thankful for all of the offers and help we've gotten so far from taking the boys when he had to have surgery, keeping us company at the hospital and bring bribes for the nurses to doing work around the house for us. The nudging of friends and family for things like Amazon lists (which I finally did), meal trains, gift cards, and GoFundMe. We have been posting updates to Facebook and trying to organize things like help with the boys via text and Google spreadsheets, but this page will hopefully allow us to combine our efforts into one spot, so giving it a try. Thank you all from the bottom of our quirky little hearts and souls for all your support and everything you've done for us so far as we begin this battle! Even if it's just sharing this GiveInKind or our GoFundMe page, that is more than we could hope for. Tabitha, Dan, Julian & Sebastian