TL;DR: Baby's open-heart surgery in August. Dad's cancer diagnosis in May (spine literally broken). Stem cell transplant coming. Help them focus on healing, not bills.

Nick's seventh vertebra was gone. Dissolved. The cancer had been eating his spine and sternum for years while doctors prescribed painkillers, antacids, and what turned out to be dangerous physical therapy.

Nick and Christina are the couple whose door was always open. Their place, Tortuga, became where everyone gathered - game days with the smoker going, New Year's parties, random Saturdays. When part of my wedding party had a family emergency, Nick stepped in. That's the kind of people they are.

They tried for three years to have a baby. When Christina finally got pregnant, their joy was infectious. Then an ultrasound revealed their baby's heart wasn't forming properly. He would need surgery just days after birth.

Sam's arrival was traumatic. Six attempts to intubate him while Christina hemorrhaged, requiring transfusions. She couldn't see her baby for 18 hours. When she finally did, all she could touch was his tiny foot. Two days later, surgeons opened his chest to rebuild his aorta.

The months that followed: COVID causing respiratory failure. Nineteen hospital visits. Six months of quarantine. Christina living at the hospital while Nick pushed through worsening pain everyone called stress.

This spring, Sam finally turned a corner. They could take him to parks, have normal weekends. Then one morning Nick couldn't walk to the kitchen. An MRI revealed Multiple Myeloma had destroyed his spine. His neck was literally broken.

Mayo surgeons reconstructed his spine with titanium and carbon fiber. Nick started chemo in June, which has already led to one ER trip. After four cycles, he'll need a stem cell transplant. 100 days of complete isolation. He'll miss Sam's first birthday and maybe first steps or words.

But his cancer is classified as normal risk. The doctors expect remission. That means years to watch Sam grow up if they can make it through the rough patches.

Right now Christina's working as much as she can while caring for Sam and managing Nick's treatment. They’re lucky enough to have a nanny to assist sometimes, but that means trading money for help. Nick's on disability and his income has been cut by a third as expenses explode. Multiple Mayo Clinic trips from Des Moines add up. Whatever insurance calls "your portion" of two catastrophic conditions is still a big bill. It has to feel crushing!

I know everyone has their own struggles. But a baby's heart surgery and dad's cancer in the same year? If you can help financially, they can focus on healing instead of bills. Can't donate? Share this. Even a message matters during months of isolation.

These are the people who fed us, hosted us, showed up for us. The community has already showed up for them: let’s keep it going!

Written by Shea Daniels for the Stanbrough family