Morgan

 

My Story is about Brandon Stone

This event took place from 03/15/2023 to 09/23/2024

The Discovery

While we were on a family vacation in Colorado my husband, Brandon, was diagnosed with stage iv pancreatic cancer. This was after months of misdiagnosis in our home state of Iowa.

This is My Story

Brandon was a husband, and father of two beautiful children that he adored and they adored him just as much. Our cancer journey started on a family vacation in Colorado (we live in Iowa). The day before his diagnosis he was walking around the Garden of the Gods with our 6 year old on his shoulders. He was in pain, but had no idea why, and knew that his daughter needed help or it was going to be rough for everyone. 4 days after he was admitted and 1 day after diagnosis we left for Iowa, by car. We didn’t tell our children. It was a real hard car ride. Unfortunately, in Omaha he got sick and we landed in the hospital for 4 more days. We were discharged on my 39yh birthday. Brandon was in a band that is based out of Des Moines and travels, mainly, around the Midwest. The band came and picked us up in the tour van, so that he would be comfortable. He always said, at every show, “best weekend ever!” It’s become sort of a catch phrase with fans of the band and in certain circles.

The Impact of Time

Time. Time has a very different meaning to me now. During his treatment days, time went so slow, but I never wanted it to speed up, because we knew what that meant. Caregiving for him, and two children was hard. I would not change it for anything and would give anything to be back in the throws of it with him.

Time of early detection is vitally important. Looking back, Brandon had symptoms months before he finally went in. When he did go in, he was misdiagnosed by 3 doctors I’in 6 weeks. Even with abnormal blood work. If we would have found out 6 weeks earlier, could there have been more time with him? Could we have caught it a little sooner? Those are questions that will haunt me forever.

Brandon was an otherwise healthy 42 year old when he was diagnosed. We were given 18 extra months with him. He was able to help me raise our (then) 6 and 9 year old for 18 more months. He got one more birthday with everyone. We were able to go on really great trips together. Time and togetherness is a gift. We were also “lucky” that he had targetable mutations that gave us extra time, and also will give me the gift of teaching my children how to advocate for their own health because of his.