Hello world. Chris Cates here (When Where What Founder & CEO). As you may have heard, I was diagnosed in January with Stage 4 colon cancer that spread to the liver. Life comes at you fast.

I started When Where What almost 11 years ago now, and it's been my greatest joy in this lifetime to run WWW and to interact with all of you every day. This Austin/WWW community is SO special and I’ve had so many thousands of people reach out with support and encouragement since the start of this battle. It truly makes a giant difference and fills my soul. I’ve poured my actual heart and soul into WWW for over a decade now, always community first, by the people for the people, and the way y’all have showed up for me when I needed you this year is beautiful beyond words.

I began chemo in early February, and am about 6 1/2 months deep into treatment. Thanks in large part to this awesome WWW community, I've been able to stay mentally strong and power my way through this first checkpoint - next week is my 13th round, the LAST of this first batch of treatments. I am battered but far from broken, and feeling hopeful and motivated. As of June scans, everything’s shrunk by over 50% and it’s been all positive momentum. Luckily I've been able to work through chemo, for the most part, but life has changed dramatically for me and every day is a struggle in some way.

I hate to ever ask for help, but the bills have been piling up and have put me in an impossible position - and it looks like the road ahead will just get more expensive. So I am here asking the WWW community for help. The blue square has been my life for the last 11 years, every single day, and will be for many many more if I have anything to say about it. But to cover all these costs of chemo, radiation, possible surgeries, doctor appointments and beyond, and to stay at all afloat, I have come to the conclusion that I simply can't do it alone.

My next scan is this month and hopefully shows even bigger progress. Excited to give my body a little break after half a year of chemo hell. The battle is far from over and I still have Stage 4 cancer, but as far as kicking ass is concerned, been doing that. Whatever it takes. NEXT UP: radiation to blast these tumors, then back on more chemo to keep heading in the right direction as the plan comes together.

Idk if this means more radiation/chemo, surgery, clinical trials or all of the above. But I trust my team and I’ll keep battling every single day til I’m on the other side of this.

I will beat this. No matter what. My spirit stays on 1000 and y'all are a huge part of that. I take so much joy from running WWW - again, it's become my whole world and every one of y'all that I interact with on a daily basis, and have for the last decade, brings my immense happiness and purpose.

I love you all, and thank you so much for any support, any messages and shares, any thoughts and prayers - every little bit helps as I juggle covering all expenses on the road to recovery. It means the absolute world to me and I need y'all now more than ever.