We’ve gone back and forth for months on when or if we’d share this publicly. We wanted to protect Mom’s privacy while also knowing the incredible power of love, prayer, and community during hard times. After much thought and prayer, Mom has decided she’s ready to share her journey, and she asked Lauren to help put it into words.

Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in May. Things moved very quickly after her initial biopsy, and she had surgery the first week of July. During surgery, they did find that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. We are so grateful it was caught when it was, and she’s been facing it with so much strength. She is now about halfway through her radiation treatments and has been such a trooper through it all.

This season of life has been incredibly hard not only with her diagnosis, but also with Johnathon being many miles away with the Marines, unable to be here. Duane has been on the road working since before Johnathon left, doing everything he can to help with the financial toll this has taken. He wants so badly to be home with our family.

We ask most of all for your prayers for Mom’s healing and strength, for Johnathon as he processes all of this from afar, and for our family as we walk this path together. Please also be mindful that we have not shared any of this with the grandkids in order to protect their little hearts from worry.

For those who have asked how they can help, we’ve listed Mom’s Cash App below.

$aprilstutz as well as the go fund me Between the many appointments, medical bills, and daily radiation treatments in Fort Smith expenses have added up quickly. Any amount is deeply appreciated, and even if you can’t give, sharing this post and keeping Mom in your prayers means the world to us.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your love, support, and prayers