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Julie is three years out since her breast cancer diagnosis in July of 2021. Here’s the latest.

Support my ride for cancer research and care.

If all goes well, this will be my last letter from the chemo suite.

I witnessed a long-absent expression on her face today as she undressed and removed the bandages to take her first post-surgery shower.

We couldn’t have been more relieved — more thankful. Still are. You don’t realize how much you desire a long life with someone until it feels like it could be cut short.

Have I forgotten what it felt like to go through a day and not talk about Julie’s pain or think about all she has lost? All we have lost.

The trouble is that while I had cast myself into the typical wedding-Dad role, I had failed to realize one crucial thing. I wasn’t writing the script.

Among the early fears when Julie was diagnosed last summer was the possibility that breast cancer might spoil Greta’s wedding. Even the thought of it weighed heavily on Julie’s mind.

Today marks exactly a year since the words “breast cancer” first echoed off our kitchen walls. Twelve months later — every day for 365 straight — that phrase has continued to reverberate in our home.

There aren’t any scans or tests for beating cancer in your mind, and I suspect it may actually be a lifelong battle. But she needed to take this hallowed beach back. Reclaim her personal oasis.

To beat the enemy back, she had to essentially poison her own troops then start sacrificing body parts. It sucks. That’s the honest truth. Get ready.

Little did we know they had more than breast cancer in common. They also had the Karen Wellington Foundation in common, and Julie woke to a special message this morning.

It was maybe our oddest anniversary in a quarter century of marriage and 32 years together, but we still spent it together.

Our whole family got to celebrate Julie’s recovery during the Unsung Hero Awards sponsored by Cancer Family Care May 3.

Local 12 featured our story this week in preparation for Cancer Family Care’s Unsung Hero event on May 3.

The two words we’ve ached to hear since Julie’s cancer diagnosis last summer finally came today: CANCER FREE

As silly as it may seem to some to put cancer and sports in the same breath, I’m thankful that this season — one often dominated by disease for our family — has also included a couple of unlikely Cincinnati football teams who have given us so many reasons to celebrate. So many reasons to keep fighting. So many reasons to hope.

After two days of testing, an MRI, a mammogram and an ultrasound, it was finally time to find out the status of her breast cancer.

The tradition on the third floor of the UC Health Breast Cancer Center is to hit the gong in the lobby to signify the end of chemotherapy treatment for patients.