Friendship of any kind has its path of twists and turns, and a friendship of almost 40 years has a journey of many stories. When Stephanie Grant and Kate Ashley met at Princeton High School in 1985, little did they know of the twists their friendship

Healing

Stories

A Journey of Kindness and Grace

Scott Swayne is many things to many people, but above all, he’s a family man. He met his wife Paige in high school—they married 33 years ago and have four children. “They’re the epitome of cute parents who just love each other,” their daughter Hannah

Family links arms and walks towards camera

A Father’s Support System Helps Heal on Long-Distance Health Journey

For Katie Staley and Betsy Olesen, finding out they were pregnant was a dream come true. “We were really excited, of course,” said Katie. “And we were really excited once we learned it was a boy. Because you weren’t talking about a baby, you were tal

Community Becomes the Heart of Baby William's Health Journey

Sarah-Marie Henson has always been a daddy’s girl. “Dad has always been supportive. He is my biggest champion and encouraged me to dream my dreams,” Sarah-Marie said. “And then life fell apart in the blink of an eye.” The second of eight children, Sa

Unbreakable Father and Daughter Bond Strengthens Through Adversity

Community can take on many forms and it’s something we all need. Robin Yoder learned the importance of community when she was just 18 years old. A high school senior and star basketball athlete, Robin had hopes to play Division I in college. That win

The Power of Community Comes Full Circle for Cancer Survivor and Family

Pictured above are Mara, Tia, Sidney and Todd Newcomer in a 2022 Family photo. As parents of young children know, juggling a toddler while also being pregnant can be an exhilarating and exhausting experience. Then there’s a cancer diagnosis. For Tia 

Cancer Recurrence Reminds Family to Make Each Day Count

To honor hundreds of thousands of patients and family caregivers who use CaringBridge every day, we have been working with a National Geographic photographer and filmmaker to capture stories of hope and healing, even in times when cure was not possib

Helping

Expert advice

A Framework for Healing: Believe, Belong, Be

CaringBridge has served as the world’s witness to good stuff that comes out of bad stuff since June 7, 1997, when founder Sona Mehring, of Eagan, MN, launched one website to support two college friends whose daughter was born prematurely. Baby Brighi

Exploring the Topic of Healing

Playing with her Barbies, some sporting bold home haircuts, 9-year-old Priya Janae Smith of Burnsville, MN, mentions matter-of-factly that she has nearly died multiple times while hospitalized. She also makes clear that breathing through a tracheosto

Army of Support Stands With ‘Princess Warrior’

Between 2019 and 2020, Courtney Lamb of Marlborough, MA, went through chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries to treat Stage 3 breast cancer. Then she got long COVID before vaccines were available and faced a pandemic-related furlough from her nursin

Mom’s Approach to Breast Cancer: Keep it Positive

After living with multiple effects of long COVID since March 2020, Kelly Keeney of Beachwood, NJ, has this message for the world: It’s real. And it’s really awful. A career mortgage processor who had been hoping to turn her passion for dog-training i

Long-COVID Wish: ‘We Want to Go Back to Normal Life’

Moms sleep lightly, and with four kids under 10, Kate Erickson hardly remembers deep rest. But the sound that makes it possible for Kate and her husband, Rob, to close their eyes at night is the steady hum and hiss of the ventilator keeping their dau

Family Fights as One for Twins’ ‘Best Possible Chance’

Jennifer Ndegwa and her husband, Nic, were living 8,700 miles apart in August 2020—not by choice—when Jen had to break the news via WhatsApp that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a heartbreaking conversation, made worse by distance. 

A ‘Hakuna Matata’ Hope for Healing After Breast Cancer

Going on four years since the death of his wife of 21 years, Ann, to melanoma at age 47, Dave Dickey of Edina, MN, will tell you he is doing well. With an asterisk. Their kids are good—two daughters, two sons. “Somehow, they’re fed, they get to schoo

Living Through Loss of Wife and Mom is ‘Long Game’ for Family

After Sam Rodriguez lost his 39-year-old wife to leukemia and their young son was diagnosed with lymphoma six years later, feeling resentful toward God, doctors—and the world—could have been a natural response. But instead of thinking, “Why me?” Sam 

In its Wake, Cancer Leaves Space for Change, Healing

Reina Haug is taking it all in. Happy and playful, there is also a calm awareness about the toddler. Just starting to grasp language at 17 months, you look forward to hearing what she will have to say. It’s too soon for sentences or for Reina to tack

Return to ‘Normal Life’ After Child’s Cancer: It Takes Time

Bernie Goldblatt’s greatest fears include feeling closed-in—he’s claustrophobic—and being unable to breathe. The 6-foot-4 husband, dad and grandfather, a man of large presence and voice, had to face both fears, and so much more, over four months in 2

COVID-19 Survivor: ‘I am Infused With an Unbelievable Sense of Gratitude’

On April 22, 2020, Areya Borsellino was born 13 weeks early, in the midst of a global pandemic, and spent her first months in a Minneapolis hospital NICU close to where George Floyd died in police custody. To get to their baby during the civil unrest

Through Pandemic, Civil Unrest Baby Brings ‘A Ray of Sunshine’

Brenda DeAnda’s plans for summer 2020 did not include a diagnosis of COVID-19, pneumonia, respiratory arrest, having a ventilator breathe for her, and now that she is finally back home, a portable oxygen concentrator that may be her constant companio

2020-09-McLain_Second-132-2400x1350-web-1

Long-Haul Effects of COVID Will Not Take Her Breath Away

The vanKoeverden sisters of Rochester, MN, want you to know they were Ana and Elsa way before the Frozen franchise came along. And to answer what starstruck little kids ask all the time: No merchandise. No millions. Not even free movie tickets. Like 

Sister Act: Facing Cancer, and the Future, Together

Cat Thisius of Rochester, MN, is a preschool teacher by day and a roller derby blocker by night who goes by the name of “The Mad Catter.” Her profession and pastime fall into the category of “challenging,” but not compared to an out-of-the-blue diagn

Roller Derby Helped ‘Mad Catter’ Skate Through Breast Cancer

At her 7-month prenatal checkup in Minneapolis, MN, in November 2018, Sarah Hanan was focused on passing her glucose screening so gestational diabetes could be crossed off her list of expectant-mom worries. “I passed that test with flying colors,” 30

Words of God Gave Mom-to-Be Peace Through Cancer

 When Vincent Lynick, was born in 2014, his parents, Sally and, Michael, of Burnsville, MN, did not know anything was wrong with his leg. But when he was 2 days old, doctors told them Vincent was missing the tibia bone in his left leg. That’s the big

After Leg Amputation, Child Re-Defines What it Means to Risk Life and Limb

With the hope of showing patients and family caregivers everywhere that healing is possible, and valuable, regardless of health outcome, the CaringBridge team, in collaboration with National Geographic photographer and filmmaker David McLain, has bee

Expert Advice on Healing

Juan Martinez of Uvalde, TX, is a firefighter and EMT who says his wife, Judy, is the strongest person he knows. But this dynamic duo didn’t feel brave or strong when their 2-year-old son, Jaxson, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, an aggressive cance

Juan Martinez: Stick by Your Faith; God is Always With You

Fourteen years after barely surviving a drunken-driving crash in which he was a passenger, Sean Carter of College Station, TX, still closes his emails with the words, “I will talk. I will walk again.” And if you’ve ever met Sean, you wouldn’t bet aga

Sean Carter: Sometimes Life Just Happens

When Davis O’Donnell of Fulshear, TX, was diagnosed at 4 months with retinoblastoma, cancer in both eyes, his parents, Lianne and Doug, questioned the expression, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” “We felt really overwhelmed; this was no

Doug O’Donnell: Find a Group of People to Walk Beside You

 Jeff Edwards of Herman, MN, fell from roofs and crashed dirt bikes as a kid, parachuted into dangerous places with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and faced potential harm for 13 years as a sheriff’s deputy and SWAT-team marksman.  So breakin

Jeff Edwards: Do the Best You Can, With What You Have

 Fourteen years after barely surviving a drunken-driving crash in which he was a passenger, Sean Carter of College Station, TX, still closes his emails with the words, I will talk. I will walk again.” And if you’ve ever met Sean, you wouldn’t bet aga

For Passenger in Drunken-Driving Crash, Healing is ‘Forever-Long Journey’

 Jeff Edwards of Herman, MN, fell from roofs and crashed dirt bikes as a kid, parachuted into dangerous places with the U.S. Army’s 82 Airborne Division and faced potential harm for 13 years as a sheriff’s deputy and SWAT-team marksman. So breaking h

After Spinal-Cord Injury, ‘Protect and Serve’ Takes New Shape

Just 18 months old when a drunk driver plowed into her in the front yard of her suburban San Antonio, TX, home in 2009, Ava Lopez remembers nothing of a trauma impossible for her family to forget. And with Ava, now 11, still facing effects of a traum

After Child’s Brain Injury, Family Looks Ahead, Not Back

When her parents ask Olivia Hammond of Bryan, TX, to show what her little brother’s heart looks like, the adorable 4 year old makes the familiar shape with both hands. Then she takes half of it away.  That’s a quick explanation of Hypoplastic Left He

‘A Miracle in Front of Us Every Day’

 When Davis O’Donnell of Fulshear, TX, was diagnosed at 4 months with retinoblastoma, cancer in both eyes, his parents, Lianne and Doug, questioned the expression, “God won’t give you more than you can handle. “We felt really overwhelmed; this was no

Family, Friends Help Carry ‘Burdens of Life’

Over four years, 6-year-old Jaxson Martinez of Uvalde, TX, endured three cancer surgeries, seven rounds of chemo, 18 radiation and immunotherapy treatments, and 40 blood and platelet transfusions. But his family’s faith never wavered. In fact, it bec

Faith Carries Family Through Son’s Cancer Journey

CaringBridge is a sacred place in the online world. It is beautiful. And rare. I say this as a National Geographic photographer who has seen many beautiful and rare things. But nothing quite like CaringBridge, which exists to quietly, selflessly help

Photographer’s Lasting Image of CaringBridge: A ‘Sacred Place’

When Tanya Bailey of St. Paul, MN, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016, her husband, Peter, saw it was his role to support her through what they both knew would be a grueling course of treatment. It was. And he did. With Tanya now on the other s

Caregiving

Advice

Caregiver’s Advice: Take Care of Yourself, Too

Five years since his legs went out from under him during a tennis doubles match, Mike Hart of Alexandria, VA, doesn’t know why he still struggles to walk and talk. Many scary possibilities have been ruled out, but the closest to diagnosis Mike has co

WATCH: Father Shares Thoughts on Being a Primary Caregiver for Adult Son

Six months after Tanya Bailey’s throat cancer diagnosis, the St. Paul, MN, resident was done with treatment. Her chemo port and feeding tube were gone, she had an “all-clear” PET scan, and had returned to work and graduate-school studies. Life was go

Inspiration

Caregivers Talk About Struggles and Gifts of the Heart

Throughout the course of my nursing career that spans many decades, I have had the privilege of being with people during both joyous and vulnerable times in their lives. I have been with people who have suffered inexplicable losses, received news of 

Reflections on How We Heal

We have always known, instinctively, that something powerful shines through the love, hope and compassion that are the essence of CaringBridge. But about the only science available to back-up what we have observed, across hundreds of thousands of web

Why is There So Little Science on Healing?

While life is, indeed, full of events we do not expect and cannot control, we play an active role in determining how our life stories unfold, by the moments we choose to focus on and remember, and how we remember them. When it comes to health, we can

Storytelling: One Approach to Healing

People plunged into a serious health crisis typically can’t pause to take a deep breath, never mind take a step back to reflect. So to help look at all the ways in which people heal, more in the aftermath than in the midst of critical medical moments

The Difference Between Health vs. Healing

 Well-worn pair of cowboy boots, size 13, and a 2003 Chevy Silverado, with a lift kit and mud tires, helped Kevin Amundson of New Prague, MN, heal after a “heart attack of the mind” led him to attempt suicide in September 2014. Age 20, and suffering 

‘That Truck is Going to be How I Get Through This’

While fighting a rare melanoma that has cost him his right eye, Gulf War veteran Thomas “Tomo” Riley of Hastings, MN, sometimes tapes a paper target with the word “c-a-n-c-e-r” scrawled in black ink to a backdrop in his garage. Then he takes aim with

Gulf War Veteran Puts His Cancer in the Bullseye

Dressing to the nines, with embellished bags for her portable oxygen tank, and gorgeous gloves to protect fingers damaged by disease, has helped heal Lovette Russell of Atlanta, GA, as she lives with two incurable illnesses.  Diagnosed a decade ago w

Look Good, Even When You Don’t Feel Good

Holding onto her sense of humor has helped heal 14-year-old Grace Bunke of Marietta, GA, through the bone cancer that has taken her hair, some of her hearing, and part of her left leg. Grace’s hair grew back, her hearing aids work just fine, and she 

Acceptance—and Hope—Help Family Heal Within Cancer

Steps in the Right Direction: Movement and Exercise

After losing her 35-year-old husband, Spiro Pina, to glioblastoma multiforme, the worst kind of brain cancer, in 2009, Meritxell Mondejar Pont changed careers to become an oncology nurse. “It was hard at the beginning, because it was so close to my o

Widow Becomes Nurse After Losing Husband to Cancer

Michael Bischoff of Minneapolis hopes for a cure from brain cancer, and for a long life. But with little ability to control his prognosis, Michael’s main focus is on finding wholeness in each moment. Simply put: He has chosen to heal. He said, “My un

Healing Gifts Come From Nature, Art, Community … Love

Seeing her 14-year-old son, Andre, play second base and centerfield for the Somerset Spartans Babe Ruth team after an off-season of treatment for recurrent kidney cancer represents more than Amy Beasley of Somerset, WI, can put into words. “We though

He’s Not a Kid With Cancer, He’s a Second Baseman

A fluffy rescue-turned-service dog named Halo has helped Cyteria Knight of Charlotte, NC, heal after suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm and stroke in her daughter Raquanza’s kitchen in January 2017. Excellent doctors and nurses got the lifelong soci

Dog Named Halo Becomes Family’s Godsend

Having her chickens come home to roost helped heal Tanya Bailey of St. Paul, MN, during and after treatment for cancer in her left tonsil, at the base of her tongue and lymph nodes. Real chickens. Silkies. In a back-yard coop, built by Tanya’s husban

Therapy Chickens Deepen Healing of Therapist

Ashley Gleitz of Cold Spring, MN, turned to music after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, at age 24. “Singing and being able to worship and really just cry out to the Lord in those times … I really believe that is what brought me my healing

Fighting Cancer, She Sang Her Way Into Choice and Truth

A series of pictures of Chad Methum of New Hope, MN, taken in the year following Chad’s liver transplant in 2015, creates a record of what healing looks like—on the outside. In every photo taken by his longtime girlfriend, and primary caregiver, Tris

A New Liver—and Mindset—Bring About Healing

Louie and Nancy Grams of Eagan, MN, have been married for 46 years. For most of those 46 years, Louie has been chronically ill, with countless MRI and CT scans, hundreds of invasive procedures, and 35 surgeries. Multiple System Atrophy, in the Parkin

‘I Always Feel Better After I Finish Writing’

After a horrific car accident on the way to spring break in Florida, the path to healing for the Schwab family of Alexandria, VA, looks somewhat like the x-ray of 10-year-old Teddy’s skull after he was gravely injured in the crash. Jagged cracks and 

After Car Crash, Family Re-Wires Approach to Life

Molly Sturgis of Chaska, MN, needs neither ruby slippers nor Glinda the Good Witch to know there’s no place like home. Her son, Telford, better known as Telly, was treated for acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed at 16 months. He relapsed 7 months later,

Home is Where Healing Happens

Bryan Joas of Eagan, MN, doesn’t think much about the hit-and-run driver who slammed into his bike from behind, just before sunset on March 8, 2016, sending him to the hospital for 90 days, with a broken back, hips and ribs, damaged lungs, liver, kid

Hit-and-Run Victim Moves On, Without Anger

Temporarily turning over “care and feeding” of her only child to his grandparents helped heal Nicole Wills of Cramerton, NC, after complications from pulmonary fibrosis catapulted her toward a double lung transplant in 2016. “It went from ‘I had a bi

Double Lung Transplant Forces Mom to Put Herself First

Eleven-year-old Gavin Pierson of Ramsey, MN, has been fighting “Joe Bully” since he was 5. That’s what he has named his rare brain tumor, a growing mature teratoma, because of the way it breaks the rules and has threatened his life. Gavin’s zero-tole

Karate Kid Delivers Roundhouse Kick to Brain Tumor

Between 2005 and 2012, Paula Gleeson of Edina, MN, lost her only daughter, Molly, to a heart attack at 26, her oldest son, Spiro, to brain cancer at 35, and then her husband, Paul, to sepsis, at 62, after an ear infection. She would prefer not to hav

Goodness of Being Together Makes Family Whole Again

Homemade slime has helped make whole again the Bratland family of Shoreview, MN, after 4-year-old Trip suffered devastating injuries in a car crash in April 2013, on the way to preschool. Jars of the slimy goop and empty bottles of its main ingredien

Family Made Healing Choice to Just Slow Down

The words of Kat Schilling of Eau Claire, WI, pierce the heart: “As much as I don’t like the fact that I lost a child, it is exactly that … a fact. I cannot change it, no matter how hard I wish I could.” Five years since the death of her son, Zach Ha

In Her Son’s Honor, Mom Finds the Good Within the Bad

Mike: Don’t Feel Sorry for Yourself, Just Keep Moving

Tomo: Music for Me is the Best Medicine

Tomo: Fight with Every Ounce of Your Being

Seeing her 14-year-old son, Andre, play second base and centerfield for the Somerset Spartans after an off-season of treatment for recurrent kidney cancer represents more than Amy Beasley of Somerset, WI, can put into words. “We thought there was no 

Amy: Connection is a Huge Part of Healing

Tanya: Cancer is Transformational

Ashley: Choose Joy, Not Negativity

    Michael Bischoff of Minneapolis hopes for a cure from brain cancer, and for a long life. But with little ability to control his prognosis, Michael’s main focus is on finding wholeness in each moment. Simply put: He has chosen to heal. He said, “M

Michael: Trust Your Own Intuition

Chad: Find Your Motivation

Bryan: Don’t Dwell on Things You Can’t Change

Nicole: Take the Time You Need to Heal

Claire: Healing is More Than a Band-Aid

Louie: Writing Helps Me Process What is Happening

Gavin: If You Believe It, You Can Do It

The words of Kat Schilling of Eau Claire, WI, pierce the heart: “As much as I don’t like the fact that I lost a child, it is exactly that … a fact. I cannot change it, no matter how hard I wish I could.” Eight years since the death of her son, Zach H

Kat: Random Acts of Kindness Make It a Good Day

Molly: You Need Someone to Not Forget About You

Erica: You Can Choose How You Look At Tragedy

Supporters like you have long shared that using CaringBridge has been healing. But how do we define healing? How do we share our collective knowledge of it? To delve into this complex issue, we set out on a journey with David McLain, a National Geogr

How We Heal: A Short Film

Dressing to the nines, with embellished bags for her portable oxygen tank, and gorgeous gloves to protect fingers damaged by disease, has helped heal Lovette Russell of Atlanta, GA, as she lives with two incurable illnesses. Diagnosed a decade ago wi

Lovette: Positive Attitude Helps You Live Longer

A well-worn pair of cowboy boots, size 13, and a 2003 Chevy Silverado, with a lift kit and mud tires, helped Kevin Amundson of New Prague, MN, heal after a “heart attack of the mind” led him to attempt suicide in September 2014. Age 20, and suffering

Kevin: Before Suicide, Think of All Who Care

“Never stop fighting. I will never get rid of my depression. It will always be there. But that doesn’t mean I can’t fight it.” – Kevin Amundson, attempted-suicide survivor Read More of Kevin’s Story

Kevin: Depression Will Never Go Away, Never Stop Fighting

Grace: Never Give Up, Go For Your Dreams

Meritxell: It’s OK to Talk About Cancer

Meritxell: Don’t Stare and Say Nothing, We Are Still People

After suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm and stroke in January 2017, Cyteria shares how she is able to find a way to look at the positive. 

Cyteria: After Illness, Find a Way to Look at the Positive

Cyteria: Take It One Day, One Hour at a Time

Mike: Persevere, Just Keep Moving

During National Family Caregivers Month in November, we honor family caregivers who sacrifice so much in a noble, magnificent act of love.

There is no template for family caregiving, and no perfect way to do the hardest job no one ever applies for. But good advice can come from those who have also walked the path.

To shine love and light on the most challenging—and rewarding—work a person may ever do, family caregivers talk about how they manage, so you can, too.

The CaringBridge bookshelf highlights authors who have experienced a health journey firsthand as a caregiver or patient themselves, ad have used CaringBridge to help surround them in support on that journey.

With the simple hope of helping others, CaringBridge users across the country have been sharing their stories to show that healing is possible, and valuable, even when cure is not an outcome.

We know that family caregivers and the support they provide can improve patient outcomes. CaringBridge is dedicated to surrounding family caregivers and their loved ones on a health journey with support every step of the way.

CaringBridge is an inclusive space that empowers individuals to share their unique stories, connect with others, and find strength in the collective support received for functional, social, and emotional needs.

Family caregivers and their loved ones on a health journey are at the heart of everything we do. We encourage caregivers and patients to share their unique stories to build a supportive community that helps everyone feel less alone.

Among the goals at CaringBridge is to close the gap between those who need help but hesitate to ask, and those who wish to help, but don’t know what’s helpful.

If only someone could show or tell us exactly what to do to get through a health journey, life would be less complex. But maybe what has worked for others could help you, too.

Diagnosis, illness, injury and all the hard health things that can happen don’t come with maps and directions. So hearing how others have managed might help keep you going.

Believing that the only wrong thing to say is nothing at all, patients and family caregivers offer perspective on words that can be helpful, and not so helpful.