My name is Erin Azalea Moen, and I’m creating this GoFundMe campaign on behalf of my sister Bronwen and her partner Carl as they navigate Carl’s ongoing battle with terminal brain cancer. This fundraiser is for the renewed support needed going into the second year since Carl's devastating diagnosis.

The dream is that money is not something they have to worry about through this time of so many other worries and stresses; for them to be able to focus on the time they have left and the freedom to say yes to wonderful experiences that can bring Carl joy in his remaining days.

A brief history of the situation so far:

(To read the full history, please visit the GoFundMe page for Year 1 )

One year ago, on May 18th 2025, Carl was rushed to the hospital after experiencing a series of seizures. Scans revealed several brain tumours. The next morning, Carl underwent emergency brain surgery to remove part of one tumour, both to relieve symptoms and to determine what kind of cancer he was facing. Thankfully, he survived the surgery and eventually returned home to recover with a large incision and 36 staples in his head. About a week later, we received devastating news: Carl was diagnosed with Grade 4 Glioblastoma, an aggressive and terminal form of brain cancer.

To say this was devastating would be an understatement. We’ve all known Carl as such a strong, passionate, creative man with so much energy! For anyone who knows him, it seems impossible to imagine the world without him in it. And for Bronwen - after losing both of our parents not long ago, she has to navigate this awful situation and lose her life partner. The grief has been immense, and the journey so far has consisted of one impossible situation after another.

From the moment of diagnosis, both their lives changed overnight. The past year has been a whirlwind of constant appointments, tests, treatments, scary moments and constantly adapting to Carl’s newest challenge as glioblastoma took more and more from him. Bronwen has had to become a more than full-time caregiver. Contending with making major decisions, and moving them out of their home and into a new house that could better accommodate his mobility challenges, all while coordinating complex, constantly changing daily schedules and also somehow finding space to create magic and joy in Carl’s life while processing her own grief.

One year in, she is caring for Carl's increasing medical needs every day with so much compassion and love. While there has been so much valuable support from family, friends and community, the constant demands on Bronwen have left her exhausted, physically and emotionally.

Where we are now:

About a month ago, Carl unfortunately had a couple of falls. Thankfully, he didn’t fracture or break his hip (we weren’t sure for that first week). While the bruising and swelling have gone down, unfortunately, his mobility has not returned, and so Carl is now fully wheelchair bound. This change in his mobility has meant that he needs one-on-one, 24/7 support with everything single thing he does each day. It is amazing how much of the day gets taken up by things that you barely even think about when you are able-bodied (eating, showering, etc), they all become very energy and time-consuming.

Despite all of that, Bronwen and I and the wonderful care team do our best to make sure that his days are also filled with fun, adventure, beauty and interest. Lately he’s been enjoying adventures to our favourite ice cream place in the beautiful spring days, watching the Habs games or his current favourite show (it rotates between Anthony Bourdain’s travel shows, Brooklyn 99, and a new favourite Shrinking), going on afternoon adventures to places like Jardin Botanique and the Biodome and of course visits with family and friends.

Carl's Prognosis

A year ago, when Carl got his diagnosis, the doctors told us they had seen patients live just months after diagnosis, all the way up to 5+ years, but that on average their patients lived 12-18 months after their diagnosis. The challenging thing with glioblastoma is that they can’t really tell you much in terms of prognosis because it is so different for every single case based on where in your brain the tumours are, your health going into it, and how you respond to treatments.

The one similar thing is that in most cases, the end stage takes on a similar pattern, there is a point where things begin to shift, and from there it is a quick decline (3-6 weeks for most cases). We haven’t gotten clear timelines from his medical team, but we’re preparing for the possibility that we could take that turn in the coming seasons.

He currently has a new tumour in his cerebellum that is growing based on his last MRI, and his speech, memory and cognition are already declining fairly rapidly. At this point, he is still on chemo to slow tumour growth and his decline, but the majority of his care is more palliative in nature (meaning it is more focused on making him comfortable and improving his quality of life instead of focusing aggressively on fighting the disease).

When he and his team feel like the side effects from chemo are outweighing the good they’re doing, OR if chemo stops working, he will stop chemo and move fully into palliative care. At that point, we are hoping and planning for him to move into a beautiful hospice house nearby that will provide him with round-the-clock care so that we can turn the attention we’re currently putting into physical caregiving towards mental, emotional and relational caregiving as Carl makes that transition.

Until we reach that tipping point, we’ll continue to do our best to make sure he has everything he needs and his days are filled with love, laughs, nature, beauty, cat cuddles and as much fun and magic as we can.

We are so grateful for how the community has and continues to support Bronwen and Carl.

Financially, the past year has only been possible thanks to the generosity of each one of you, contributing over $96000 to date. When this started last May, both Bronwen and Carl had to stop working completely while continuing to pay rent at home and at their studios (though no longer at Carl's as of earlier this year). They've had to pay for specialists and specialized testing, travel and accommodations to work with specialists, medical supplies and equipment, therapy, and personal support worker salaries out of pocket (finally, as of April, we’ve been able to get a government subsidy to go towards caregiving, but it will only cover about 20% of the caregiving hours moving forward). After a full year of many added expenses and no income, they are coming to the end of these funds and will soon need our renewed support.

On top of that, in March, their car kicked the bucket! Since then, we’ve tried to make do with CommuneAuto (a car-sharing organization in Montreal), but with Carl’s decline in mobility since then, it has proved to make every little trip into a logistical marathon and we’ve come to the decision that they need to have a dedicated and trustworthy car to get through this.

For many reasons, it has been a difficult discussion with Bronwen over whether to ask the community for more support. Already so much has been given, it feels hard to ask for any more. It's also painful to think about how much more support is needed as we head into the second year of this, not knowing how much time is remaining. While no one can exactly answer that question, what is clear is that Bronwen and Carl will need more funds to continue covering their basic living expenses, the additional medical supplies and treatments not covered, the care workers that they're paying out of pocket for, a reliable car and to hopefully fill the rest of Carl’s life with joyful experiences like Airbnbs, movies, adventures around town or special food treats.

The goal:

My continued dream is:

How you can help:

Let’s continue to take care of these two wonderful beings who mean so much to us!

Thank you in advance for all your support!