Hi, my name is Nickolas Neel

And this is my beautiful family of 4: my 10-year-old daughter Jordin, 8-year-old son Knoxin, and my best friend and wife of 17 years, Sabrina. About 4 years ago, I was offered a welding position with a relocation package in Iowa. Together, we agreed that the pros outweighed the cons, and as long as we had the 4 of us together, home is where the heart is, and home is what you make it. It has in no way been easy, but like I always say, if it was easy, everyone would do it, and anything worth having takes hard work. We have lived in 5 different towns and have lost all our possessions twice, but today we are stronger and have learned a lot about what is important in life. All the things we have lost over the years are only as important as we make them, and the truth is, it's all just stuff, and stuff can be replaced. Through our journey, we have uncovered many lessons in the pain, most of all that with God and each other, we can accomplish and overcome any obstacle tomorrow may throw our way.

With all that we have gained and experienced during our journey, nothing could prepare us for what we face today. Nine months ago, our mama bear, out of nowhere, was diagnosed after a trip to the ER thinking she dislocated her hip or something of that sort, only to find she had cancer, rare round cell liposarcoma, and that she had two tumors growing in her upper thigh and one in her rear. She received chemo and radiation, and they then proceeded with the surgery to remove the grapefruit-sized tumors from her leg. After five months and 4 surgeries, we thought we were making headway, and they were going to start chemo again due to the remaining tumor and newly discovered ones in her lungs. Well, in the past two weeks, she lost all feeling and mobility from her waist down. We knew something was wrong, went to the ER, and they did an MRI which revealed that the cancer had, in fact, spread to her spine, and there is now a softball-sized tumor in her liver. So after 5 days of radiation, hoping for some positive news, we received the words we thought we would never hear: there is nothing else the doctors can do. They will send her home on hospice. She has had three blood transfusions in the last week and has MRSA. I have taken the kids out of school so they can spend as much time as possible with her. I would really like when she comes home for us to be able to embrace and enjoy, most of all for her to be happy, maybe take a family trip or something we can remember. I've been out of work taking care of her, so financially, things like that are not possible. It's up to the man above now, and we need all the prayers we can get. Everyone counts, and thank you for taking the time to read our story.