I prayed and prayed this wasn’t an update I’d have to make again but God has other plans. Some of you have been here this whole journey, for those of you who haven’t or are new here my brother, Jake, was diagnosed with a grade 4 astrocytoma in 2014 after he suffered from a seizure. This was a wild, unexpected situation that consisted of a brain biopsy, 2 brain surgeries in 3 days, 6 weeks of radiation and a year of chemo. He remained in remission for 8 years which is remarkable for the type of cancer he has. When he hit 5 years of remission he was able to switch and do yearly scans. In March of 2022, he had a regrowth in the original cavity. This treatment was another surgery, more radiation and chemo. For the last 2 years Jake has been receiving scans every 3 months due to the regrowth. Over the last year Jake has had an uptick in seizures despite being on anti-seizure medication- one of which happened while he was driving, he passed across an incredibly busy intersection and drove down the side of a semi. He suffered a severely dislocated shoulder and that too required a surgery.

All of that leads to the most recent update. At Jake’s most recent scan at the end of July in Houston the doctors noticed a change in his scan. He had to go to Houston twice, the second time for a specialized scan to see the “spot” better. His care team has spent the last few weeks deciding on his treatment plan. Jake is no longer a candidate for radiation-he’s already had it twice and now it will cause too much damage. At this point he is scheduled for surgery on October 9th, he will go back to Houston for this and he will stay there for about a week before going home to finish recovering there. His care team will then decide the next treatment, likely a clinical trial or more chemo.

This is definitely not an update I wanted to post or an ask I wanted to ask again but through the travel back and forth and being out of work recovering and once again fighting cancer for another unknown amount of time, this is such a financial stress on Jake. If you’d like to help there are a few options below but above all, please pray for Jake through his surgery and treatment. He will kick cancer’s ass again!

Venmo @Jake-Dirks or @Whitney-Knaff

Checks can be sent directly to Jake (message me for an address)

GoFund Me

If you have made it this far, thank you all for sticking with me. I know Jake has an incredible support system in all of those who love him!