How We Got Here

After I went on a vision quest (4 day fast in the Inyo Mountains), my Chandler got pregnant. We found out on 8/12/25 which was the 1 year anniversary we lost our first baby. Eight weeks later, Chandler had fetal genetic testing done to check for any abnormalities. The results came with “atypical findings of maternal origin” meaning something was wrong with the mother's DNA. This sent us into a tail spin - blood work, full body MRI, biopsies, colonoscopy - all while pregnant and quite nerve wracking. 

After Chandler's colonoscopy and liver biopsy and the suspicion of metastasis, she was sent to UCSF Health because they're an industry leader not only in all cancer research, but also in cancer research and treatment in pregnant women.

November 12th we arrived at UCSF for a consult, Chandler was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver and nearby lymph nodes. We also found out that her malignancy is of the BRAF mutation subtype, meaning chemotherapy alone doesn’t work to fight it (which is the only safe way to fight cancer while pregnant). We then had to make the hard choice to terminate the pregnancy in order to save Chandler's life with the prescribed treatment because if she opted to continue the pregnancy, there was no guarantee for either of them, and more likely than not, neither of them would have survived.