The Trip of a Lifetime for Jesse Reid-Oliver

In April of 2022, Jesse, Sam, Kenzie and Everlee embarked on a two-week vacation in the hopes of experiencing life beyond “the normal” for a short glimpse of time. At this point, Jesse was three and a half years into his journey with brain cancer. Their vacation was filled to the brim with unforgettable core memories, and it allowed them to see our world a little bit more for what it was, together- a big, beautiful, simplistic place to be enjoyed.

As a community, we have the chance to send them to one of Jesse’s dream vacation destinations that would become a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We thank you so very, very much for helping this family - one who would truly do anything for anyone - to fulfill this positive experience as soon as possible.

All money raised will go directly toward the expenses of Jesse's dream vacation out West, with any additional funds not required, being used for Jesse's current and future medical expenses.

A message from Jesse’s wife, Sam & his sister-in-law, MacKenzie;

On October 4th, 2018, we spent the evening playing a ridiculously hilarious game of Bean Boozled around the kitchen table after dinner. We made a video out of it for Facebook, in hopes that others would find it funny… but, really, we just wanted to keep the memory of it. Our family then parted ways for the night, and within hours, Jesse had suffered two Grand Mal Seizures- something that none of us had ever experienced or witnessed.

From one hospital admission to the next, Jesse’s instantaneous brain tumor diagnosis led him into immediate full tumor resection, followed by six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. At this time, he was 26 years old, and he and Sam’s daughter - Everlee - was only a year old. While he recovered from this major operation in rehab, we learned that the tumor was a Glioblastoma - one of the deadliest types of brain tumors - where only 19% of patients live five years past diagnosis. However, after multiple MRIs showed no new tumor growth, Jesse was in remission for two entire years.

In October 2020, a new tumor formed, causing Jesse to undergo another full tumor resection surgery. The process of chemotherapy began once again. In November 2022, a third tumor formed. Jesse had been taking an IV treatment of Avastin every three weeks (immunotherapy) at the time of recurrence. He was able to complete two weeks of radiation from December to January and is currently recovering from the side effects of this round.

Some of you have followed Jesse’s journey for the past four years, and others have learned about it over time through the connection of friendship. Regardless, the care shown to our entire family in this timeframe has been unmatched and unexplainable. It has helped Jesse, along with all of us, process feelings and situations that seem unfathomable to anyone, especially young adults.

It has now been decided by Jesse, alongside Sam and his closest family, that he will discontinue all treatments, further surgeries and radiation, in order to give him a better quality of life. Our family has learned to live with the idea that the universe decides, and that the life placed in front of us is for adventure and exploration, happiness and pure joy in the small things. We commend Jesse beyond words for the years that he has spent withstanding the extreme effects of these truly life-saving technologies in the medical industry that perform miracles each and every day.

That being said, it is now time to take on the purity of life without the outside influence of medication and treatments that create added sickness, fatigue, pain, exhaustion, debilitation and negative feelings.

It is time to focus on living.

“The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.”