Making the Most of a Second Chance

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My family loves traveling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we started a tradition of visiting national parks. Long road trips became our thing.

At this point, our two kids have been to 50 of them! 

Interestingly, one of those road trips took us from our home in the Bay Area in California through Memphis, Tennessee, during the summer of 2023. It was just another pin on the map. I never imagined we would return under such different circumstances — or that we would end up living there for nine months the following year. 

Around Thanksgiving in 2024, my 12-year-old daughter, Anika, developed what looked like an eye stye. We did hot compresses. We waited. But it kept getting worse. In February 2025, her doctors ordered additional tests and found out it was myeloid sarcoma, a rare cancerous tumor most common in people with acute myeloid leukemia. 

A few weeks later, Anika was accepted to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® after meeting the criteria for a new treatment. 

Within days, my wife and I, along with our children, moved to Memphis. 

Those first months were hard. I remember that, as a scientist, I was frantically trying to figure things out and asking, “What can I do to help?” But as a father, I felt very powerless, not knowing what her treatment response was going to be or what the routines would look like.

But being part of the St. Jude community was amazing. 

I was struck by how the hospital worked with our entire family. I felt so much appreciation for the housing we were provided that allowed us as parents to keep working remotely. We’d never seen anything like that before.  

Through it all, it felt like a safe place to be. 

Anika formed friendships with other kids who were on treatment as well.

She took inspiration from the stories around her — learning why so many people chose to work at St. Jude and how personal their motivators were. 

One moment that stayed with her was meeting Haley Arceneaux, a St. Jude cancer survivor and now physician assistant who became the youngest American to orbit Earth and the first pediatric cancer survivor in space. My daughter saw her as a hero. 

After tests showed there was no more evidence of cancer, my wife and I began splitting time, traveling back to California for short stretches. When I stayed in Memphis with Anika, we grew closer. We went shopping together and ate ice cream at our favorite place near the hospital. It was uninterrupted father–daughter time — time that, under any other circumstances, we might never have had. 

That was very special. You don’t want cancer to ever happen. But since it's happened, it’s almost a responsibility to make the most out of this second chance.

Now we’re home. Anika is thrilled to be back in school with her friends. Her hair is growing back. While I once hoped we could simply put this behind us, I feel different now.  

This experience changed her. It changed me. And I hope we never forget the lessons it gave us.