What kind of cancer do you have?
I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that begins in the lymphatic system. It’s an aggressive disease, but also one of the more treatable cancers, especially with modern therapies.
What treatment are you receiving?
I started with N+AVD chemotherapy and transitioned to Brentuximab Vedotin + ICE, an intensive combination used to prepare for autologous stem cell transplant.
It's a long and hard road, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but it’s a road with purpose.
What helped you make sense of your diagnosis and treatment?
Book: Living with Lymphoma by Tim Krause, honest, unflinching, and deeply personal. It felt like someone had written my story before I even lived it.
Support communities: Not all fit, but when you find one that does, whether in a clinic, online, or among friends, it helps steady the storm. Believe it or not, Reddit and Facebook have a great support system.
Writing: This site is part of that. Words have helped me reclaim some control.
What has surprised you most about the journey?
The calendar changes. Life used to revolve around birthdays, sports, and weekend plans. Now, it’s chemo days, lab work, and moments between the next scan.
The quiet strength of others. Especially my kids. They hold me up now, sometimes physically. But always emotionally.
How grief and gratitude can co-exist. Some days I ache for who I was.
Other days I’m simply amazed to still be here.
What advice do you have for others newly diagnosed with blood cancer?
Ask all the questions. You deserve to understand what’s happening to your body and why.
Write everything down.
Bring someone to every appointment. You won’t remember everything, and it helps to not be alone.
Track your symptoms. Even the weird stuff. Especially the weird stuff.
You are allowed to grieve and still fight. Strength doesn’t mean smiling all the time. It means showing up, even if you cry your way through it.
What role has your family played?
Everything.
My wife has been my anchor: steady, unwavering, always there.
My boys are my reason, each of them holding up pieces of me I didn’t even realize were slipping.
My parents, in-laws, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles have surrounded us with a net woven from love, support, and sheer presence.
This illness doesn’t happen in isolation. It echoes through every room, every routine. It reshapes a household.
But love, real love, adapts. It expands. It finds new ways to hold you.
What are “Shades of Insight”?
They are the fragments of clarity that come, sometimes in pain, sometimes in joy, when life strips you down to your essentials.
This site is where I put them. Not to offer answers, but to offer presence. To leave a trail marker for others who wanted to see my journey and my experiences.
Before the Diagnosis: Dads & Legacies
This space was meant to be something different. I was developing a podcast called Dads & Legacies. The concept was simple: honest conversations about fatherhood, identity, the chaos of raising kids, and what it means to leave something lasting behind. I had episodes 1 through 4 outlined, interviews scheduled, and a mic waiting.
Then the diagnosis came.
Cancer has a way of halting your plans and clarifying them.
The podcast is on pause, for now. But the heart behind it remains. The idea of legacy, of presence, of being a father not just in strength but in struggle, that theme has only deepened.
So, while this site may no longer launch with soundwaves and studio edits, it still tells a story. A father’s story. A legacy in progress.
Can I reach out?
Yes. If something here resonates with you, or if you're walking your own version of this path, you're not alone.
You can message me here:
