It’s funny how life works sometimes.

I started writing this update weeks ago, but never finished it. Looking back, that seems fitting. Life wasn’t slowing down long enough to let me sit and process everything that was happening.

After surgery, we finally got the pathology results.

The good news was that the melanoma on Kobe’s scalp was removed with clear margins. Hearing those words was a huge relief after everything that had led up to surgery.

The pathology also showed that four of the thirty lymph nodes removed were positive for melanoma. There was still concern about possible microscopic satellite lesions on his scalp, and unfortunately there wasn’t evidence that the immunotherapy had done what we had hoped.

That wasn’t the news we were praying for.

But it also wasn’t the end of the story.

Because of Kobe’s BRAF mutation, the team recommended moving forward with targeted therapy instead. The plan is a year of oral medication while continuing close follow-up with scans and appointments.

Cancer has a funny way of teaching you to celebrate the wins while still carrying the hard parts.

Clear margins? We’ll celebrate that.

A treatment plan moving forward? We’ll celebrate that too.

A head wound that’s healing a little more every day? Definitely celebrating that.

Would we have chosen this path? Not for a second.

But here we are, learning that sometimes “good news” and “hard news” can exist in the very same conversation.

Since then, life has continued doing what life does. The food trailer has served pizzas, the remodel has kept inching toward the finish line, school wrapped up for the year, and somehow we’ve found ourselves balancing oncology appointments with everyday life.

We’ve celebrated one bridal shower, have another just around the corner, and are getting ready for two weddings. There have been food trailer events, doctor’s appointments, family celebrations, and more miles on the road than I can count.

That’s probably been the biggest lesson through all of this.

Life doesn’t stop.

It simply asks you to carry a little more while continuing to move forward.

Some days you’re sitting in an oncology office. Other days you’re helping plan a wedding, making pizza, or figuring out centerpieces. And sometimes all of those things happen in the same week.

So that’s what we’re doing.

One appointment.

One celebration.

One pizza.

One prayer.

One day at a time.

With grateful hearts & hopeful tomorrows ☕🤍
– Stacy