06/11/2026
Five.
Tonight marks five years since we were told Brady had cancer.
But tonight marks so much more than a number.
As I look at our boy I’m just overwhelmed by what tonight means.
When you go through a battle like childhood cancer you know that they don’t track much past five years or at least they never did for cases like his.
For kids with extremely aggressive cases like Brady, to make it to five years post diagnosis seems impossible. In fact, the likelihood they do is often less than 5%.
So tonight is more than just a celebration, it’s more like witnessing the impossible come to life in front of us.
And Brady isn’t just surviving, he is thriving.
And today was filled with our norm. On the go all day long.
An hour rock wall climbing together with his cousin, then playing pickleball before grabbing lunch and bowling the rest of the afternoon.
As if that wasn’t enough, he headed to a strength training class before eating dinner and going to his hour and a half swim practice tonight.
Keeping up with him is almost impossible these days.
And what a humbling honor it is.
This morning he climbed the inverted rock wall with such ease. At one point he lost his footing and hung by just his finger and grip strength for what seemed like forever before his feet found their way back to the wall.
But two huge things have happened for him this spring.
First, with the guidance from his team in Philadelphia, Brady’s weekly IgG infusion dose has been doubled. This has proved to be a huge win for his overall health.
Second, Coach Ryan Cheek invited him to come try out Momentum athletic performance training. They train youth athletes in speed and strength.
After day one Brady was all in. He calls Momentum his “happy place” and tries to get there as many days a week as he can in between other practices. In the past three months we have watched as his strength and overall athletic abilities have improved dramatically.
He is quickly gaining back all the time and strength that he had lost being sick for so long and now his confidence is growing with it.
So to coaches Ryan, Simon, and Mike, thank you. You three have made an enormous impact on this stage of Brady’s life in ways you may never fully understand. Thank you for believing in him and pushing him. Thank you for encouraging him and being a place where “everything in the world feels right” when he is there.
And to everyone who has been given a gut wrenching diagnosis, we have been there.
We have sat there and heard the impossible statistics and outlooks.
We have sat there as next to no viable treatment options remain.
We have been there. But now we are here.
Miracles still happen.
I promise.
The lyrics to Brandon Lake’s song ring even truer today than they did a few years ago.
“I shouldn't be alive
My future was six-feet under
One foot in the grave
No hope to be saved, yeah
I shouldn't be alive
But I'm a miracle child
Defied every diagnosis
And as close as it came
I can stand here and say
I'm a miracle child
Death, where is your sting?
My Savior's word is final
I am resurrected
Blood-protected
I am a miracle child”
He’s a miracle God.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
If today were Brady’s final day, he’d still be a miracle.
In ten years, still a miracle.
We won’t ever stop thanking the Lord for all this precious, undeserved time we have gotten with him.
Lord tonight we praise you. Not just for the storm that you brought us through and not for the miracle of Brady still being with us. But Lord we also praise you for being a light leading us. Showing us how to walk through our hardest and darkest days. You made a way and we just followed. Lord tonight I pray that anyone reading this who has been faced with worst feels your strength. I pray they never lose hope, they never pull away, they never surrender their joy. Father I pray that they can be illuminated by your love in a way they have never felt. In a way that gives them the courage to say “numbers are only numbers and statistics are only statistics.” I pray that their hope and joy is found in you. Amen.
Shields up.
Swords out.
Living in bonus,
Kristin
Momentum Athletic Performance
