Health update! Big day! I start PRRT today. A lot has happened since our update last month. Another trip to the ER, introduced the pain management team to my care team, a battle with insurance, a cluneal nerve block. But it wasn’t all bad, I also got asked to speak at another cancer conference and am making progress on a Good Scan Cans short film. Busy month, challenging month. Thank you to everyone who has checked in with me. Keeping this update short as I am currently in the waiting room and about to be called back. Gonna hop on stories on my personal page a little later to dive a little deeper into PRRT and pain management. All love over here. We got this. 🧡

a lot happened last week. it’s been a minute since we really dove into the nitty gritty of it all, so let’s get busy. first up, scans. we had a bad one. i had a little bit of a setback on thursday as an MRI confirmed tumor growth in my liver. unfortunately, this was the second consecutive scan showing tumor growth. what’s this mean? time for a new treatment. i have a PET scan this week that will help us determine what my next treatment will look like. in all likelihood, i’ll be ditching chemo after 25 months. while tumor growth is, obviously, a bad thing, i’m not exactly upset about leaving chemo in the dust. living my life in these little two week increments like i have been doing for the last two years has been a difficult challenge, and i am looking forward to not being so limited by my treatment schedule. didn’t even have time to fully process those scan results before friday came and we were at the med center’s cancer survivorship conference. i was humbled to be recognized with the dr. elizabeth reed cancer survivorship award for outstanding work being done in the cancer community. i’m inspired by so many people in this community, being recognized for anything myself is something i take seriously. not sure i’m even at that level yet. most days i just feel like a guy trying to cope. to close out the conference, taylor and i also spoke on the patient and provider panel, where we answered questions such as, “how do you celebrate small wins and bounce back from set backs?” and “what support is most helpful for caregivers?” we’ll link that panel talk when it’s released online next month. taylor nailed it as the first caregiver to speak in conference history. though i have to say the highlight of the conference were all the 1-on-1 conversations we had. patients. nurses. caregivers. the good scan cans booth was packed and it was cathartic to swap stories with everyone while educating people on neuroendocrine cancer. if you came out and stopped by, thank you so much. overall thoughts continued in the comments…😎

A cool thing to share! For the past few months I have been working with Nebraska Medicine and the Fred and Pamela Cancer Center as part of their Cancer Survivorship Advisory Board. What does this mean?! I have been meeting with doctors, nurses, researchers, scientists and other survivors to help plan for our big Cancer Survivorship Conference, Surviving and Thriving Together, which is being held on June 13 at the Scott Conference Center. Not only was I humbled when asked to be part of this board, but I was also humbled to be informed that Good Scan Cans will be receiving the Dr. Elizabeth Reed Cancer Survivorship Award, which is given to an organization that has done positive work in the cancer community. We’ll also have a little booth set-up (still tossing around ideas for that) along with a bunch of other great organizations, but what I am most excited for is that Taylor is going to be featured as a panelist for the panel talk that wraps up the event. The board wanted a caregiver to be part of the patient portion of the panel, and I don’t know if there is anyone better at that job than her. Anyway, this event is FREE, and can be attended in person, or via Zoom! Registration is required, and again, totally free. Scan that QR code to register! Some other cool event details: 🥞 Free breakfast and lunch for in-house attendees 🏃‍♀️There will be a mini-marathon held by @26.2stepminimarathon. Visit their page & website to learn more about their unique and fun mission 👩‍⚕️ANCC continuing education contact hours will be provided (slide in my DMs for more info) 💪This conference is for survivors of ALL cancers 📚Topics covered such as: GLP-1 for cancer prevention, cancer genetics, the importance of exercise for bone health following cancer treatment, managing mental health with cancer, and marijuana and cancer. I hope to see a couple familiar names on the registration list. Peace!

We have some GOOD news x2! 1. We just received this letter notifying us that Good Scan Cans is officially a 501c3 non-profit! A lot of work goes into getting this piece of paper right here and Taylor definitely did a little happy dance upon opening and reading it. We are hopeful this recognition opens some additional opportunities for us to do more good in our community and beyond. 2. With YOUR HELP, we raised over $10,000 for neuroendocrine research. WOAH! It’s gratifying to see how much good our small group of supporters can do. There are lots of new and exciting things happening with neuroendocrine research and contributions like these directly influence the future of available treatments. We talk a lot about celebrating the little victories in the fight against cancer, but today we are celebrating two BIG victories. Cheers!

Today is World Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Day and our first official fundraiser, Fight for Your Stripes. Nervous, but grateful for the opportunity. I’ve said it a million times and I will say it a million more, but nothing is possible without a community that supports you, and for us, it all starts right here. This is our final pre-event meeting session last night featuring Taylor’s sister and my mom, who both flew in to help with the event, Taylor’s parents, and Wilder. Doors open at 4 today at MULA. We hope to see you!

Wouldn’t be a fundraiser if you couldn’t walk away with some seriously good prizes. Take a look at just some of our prize packs that we will be drawing for this Sunday at Fight for Your Stripes. A staycation, gift cards galore, some stuff for fams and kids and plenty more for adult kids lookin for a good time. Also a sneak peak at a couple games we will be running through the event. We have 17 prize packs in total, so this is not a complete list but just a taste. Fight for Your Stripes is on Sunday! From 4-7pm! At MULA!

Good Scan Cans invaded Boston last week! @netresearch held their 2024 Research Symposium last week, which is designed to bring together researchers from around the world to learn from each other by sharing the most current neuroendocrine cancer research. They kicked off their week of collaboration with a welcoming reception and photo session featuring some Good Scan Can props! We are excited to be part of NETRF’s pursuit for neuroendocrine cancer progress and can’t wait for World Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Day THIS SUNDAY.

We are getting close! Fight for Your Stripes is only 12 days away. A couple things! First, we want to make sure that everyone knows that this event has an open invitation attached to it. No need to register or pre-purchase tickets. We have gotten a few questions on that so just wanted to make clear that we want you, yes you, to be there. Second. The support for this event has been incredible. It quite literally would not be possible to pull this off without our community and because of that, we want to shine a quick light on our sponsors. Genuine thanks to: @mula_omaha: a Jake and Taylor staple for 10+ years @marias.mexican.ralston: an icon of Ralston and the Omaha metro @heartsandfire: no one knows furniture and decor like they do @brettbrooner: a good friend and Jake and Taylor’s go-to photographer @10forward402: an intimate dance club and rental space @hazelcounselingcenter: Jake’s Mom’s practice GoodmanRo Realty: the only people we will let touch our house Swipe through if logo slideshows are your thing. And PLEASE, if you have any questions about Fight for Your Stripes, please reach out. 🧡

I had to go and get a Good Scan Cans tattoo. When the diagnosis is permanent, so is the tribute. This tattoo was done by Gabriella at her @t.wenty47, who is also one of our generous raffle donors for Fight for Your Stripes! Great person. Great artist. Twenty47 specializes in fine line tattooing and permanent jewelry and we’re stoked to have her support along with everyone else in the community who has been lending us a helping hand. Fight for Your Stripes is 3 1/2 weeks away!

My Patient Story with the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation is now live! Link in bio. We’re even on the front page right now! They interviewed me about my cancer journey, the past, present and future of Good Scan Cans, and why raising NET awareness is critical. There are a few reasons I am partnering with NETRF in the lead up to the Good Scan Can’s fundraiser next month. 1) They were founded in 2005 by Boston attorney Nancy Lindholm O’Hagan. She was just 29 at the time of her diagnosis, just three years younger than me when I was diagnosed. Since 2005, NETRF grantees have published 180+ manuscripts, has 5,000+ scientific citations, and conducted 20 clinical projects and trials. Since 2017, they have received 8 patents and established 5 industry partnerships and spin-off companies since 2017. 2) NETRF is the leading global funder of neuroendocrine research. Since 2005, NETRF has invested $36.7 million funding research across 71 institutions in 16 countries to unlock the underlying biology of neuroendocrine cancer, advance new treatment targets and bring them to clinical trial, and bring us closer to cures. 3) NETRF-funded efforts have directly contributed to major advancements in the field such as identification of new mutations in pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer and next generation radioligand therapy. 4) The 3-year survival rate for NET cancer in 2005, when NETRF was founded, was 50.4%. From 2015-2018, the 3-year survival rate was 85.4%. I just crossed year 3 so go ahead and include me with the 85%ers! Any donations directed toward the Neuroendocrine Research Foundation is a win for Good Scan Cans and the NET community. I’m proud to be working with NETRF and look forward to becoming even more involved with the incredible, tight-knit community they support.

BIG health update plus a BIG announcement! For the first time since starting chemo 17 months ago, my tumors have shrunk. We’re keeping this great news going by announcing our first fundraising event, Fight for Your Stripes, which will take place on World Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Day on November 10. And where else would we throw this celebration than MULA? Our fundraiser has three goals: 1) Raise funds for neuroendocrine cancer research, which is severely underfunded. 2) Raise funds for families in our community effected by cancer. 3) Be part of a nationwide campaign that we have been working on with the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation. I will have much more on this partnership in the coming days! What we want you to know right now is November 10. MULA. 4pm. We’ve been working hard on this for three months. We’ll have food provided by Maria’s, music provided by 10Forward, games and raffle prizes that have been donated by our amazing community, and support from a handful of generous sponsors. Check out the video, which pretty much says what’s above, but in a much more chaotic, juggling-your-toddler-who-didnt-nap-plus-your-dogs-are-barking-at-everything sorta way. Stay til the end for bloopers. Swipe for the event flier! If you could please RSVP using either the Eventbrite or Facebook links in our bio, that would be a tremendous help. And, of course, if you would like to contribute to or help with this event in anyway, please reach out. Cheers!

It’s a BIG week! It’s Scan Week. These are my first scans since starting chemo 3 months ago and the results will determine our best path forward. Gonna be honest, although chemo is rough, a Good Scan would be a huge W for the team. To get the week started on the right foot, this morning we distributed over $500 in food gift cards to individuals and families fighting cancer. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted names to us or showed support for the cause in other ways. I’m leaving the submission form up on our website, so if you know any cancer fighters who could use a good meal, please keep submitting. If you’d like to contribute financially, the donation form is at the bottom of our homepage. Scans are Tuesday. Results are Thursday. Check back in later. 🧡