Chad & Stacie's Cancer Healing Fund

February 14th, 2025, Valentine’s Day:

Cancer has delivered us another heart-wrenching blow.

I’m writing this message at 5am as Chad is in his new adjustable bed hooked up to oxygen, attempting to find a comfortable elevated position and doing anything to stifle his painful cough.

Chad spent the past 11 days back in the hospital after struggling with shortness of breath and extreme fatigue.

The imaging and tests showed that his main lung tumor had generated over 6L of fluid in the chest, completely collapsing his left lung (lung wasn’t visible on scans!)

Six hours in an overcrowded LA Emergency Room, and 24 hours in a random hospital hallway due to lack of beds/ rooms, he was finally transitioned to his own room at Cedars where he has been a resident for almost two weeks.

Between brain surgery and blood clots in the fall of 2024, this is Chad’s third long-term stay at Cedars.

Once the pulmonary team diagnosed his collapsed lung, they completed a thoracentesis, a needle procedure to remove an abundance of fluid. The first procedure removed 2.5 liters and his left lung slowly started to re-inflate.

Docs performed two separate thoracentesis procedures to give Chad short term relief, attempt to stabilize his breathing and invite his lung to slowly start expanding again.

They drained a total of 6L from his chest.

The longer term strategy is called a PleurX, a catheter that is inserted into his chest between his ribs allowing the fluid buildup to be manually drained at home. This has been a slow (and painful) process as Chad has been navigating the sweet spot for how quickly and how frequently the fluid needs to be drained.

Too fast = extreme cramping and pain (we learned that the hard way).

Chad has been on oxygen for two weeks, and will be for the foreseeable future.

It was determined during his hospital stay that due to the speed at which the lung tumor continues to create fluid, the best option is chemo.

Chad went straight from discharge at Cedars on February 13th to his oncologist’s office where they prepared for his first round of chemo.

The reality is that cancer has been hitting us financially for quite some time, and it’s getting tougher to keep going forward without some kind of help.

________________

Chad is now approaching year three of this cruel and dynamic disease.

He continued to work until he physically could no longer work. His brain surgery, radiation to his hip and brain, multiple blood clots and ER visits, and now a completely collapsed lung quickly took us down to a single income.

While I’m writing this GoFundMe on behalf of my husband Chad, things are extremely difficult, and we’ve finally given in to friends and family who have urged us to launch a GoFundMe.

I have personally applied for short term leave from my company to help take care of Chad these next few months and stay focused on his care, and this has brought our single income down even further.

Here are the ways Chad and I plan to benefit from a personal GoFundMe:

We have always been responsible with money but the truth is, cancer brings any family to their knees and there’s nothing we did wrong to get to where we are today.

Thank you for sharing this post, for your generous contributions to our GoFundMe, on behalf of Chad and I, we are incredibly grateful for reading our story and being part of our journey.

Much love,

Chad & Stacie Vanags

Ventura, CA

__________________

For those who are new to our story, below is some history of Chad’s cancer journey that I published on my Instagram in Dec, 2024, before this recent lung collapse development.

__________________

For the first 18 months, Chad was on a Targeted Therapy, a once-daily pill. His quality of life was incredible.

He completed his first ½ Ironman, filmed a TV show with his bro in India, we traveled to Jordan, Israel, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, did Crossfit, surfed, etc.

The LA Times published an article on the flower farm and our journey, they didn’t believe Chad had cancer, we had to provide medical proof. So grateful for this first year of good health together.

Here comes the windy road part.

Chad's 1st line of treatment worked for 18 months, then his scans showed his brain mets went from 5 and stable to 40+ mets almost overnight, (result of an entirely new mutation). As a result of this new mutation, they switched him to a Clinical Trial.

This trial, another daily pill, accompanied harsh side effects, a gnarly all-over-body rash and a lot of physical discomfort.

Chad was a good sport despite the constant stares he received from strangers.

Since the cancer was growing in Chad’s brain, neurosurgery was recommended, and on Sept 4th his brain surgery was deemed successful. We were home within three days, a sigh of relief for all.

The first few weeks of healing post brain surgery were going ok, then Chad complained of a ‘bruise in his calf.’ A trip to the ER confirmed a blood clot in his leg (DVT) and blood clots that had traveled to his lungs (PE). Blood clots + ER visits happened 3x over 2 months, with clots in his legs, lungs and arms until they could find the right blood thinner dose.

After the clots finally cleared up (on a permanent blood thinner now, a shot to the stomach 2x a day).

Next course of treatment = radiation.

Hip = 10 radiation sessions

Brain = 5 radiation sessions

Three weeks back and forth to LA, various airbnbs, etc.

Expensive and exhausting.

For the first time since his diagnosis, Chad was in an incredible amount of pain and struggled to walk.

We struggled financially.

He’s currently recovering and slowly gaining strength. His lung tumor continues to be prominent and we are figuring out next steps.

And / but…despite all these updates that feel heavy and complex…I want to end on a celebratory note….

1. Chad is still here.

He has pushed beyond the ‘average survival of stage IV lung cancer.’ I haven’t Googled survival rates in 2 years, it reflects between 4 - 13 months.

Devastating for those who have lost loves ones, our hearts go out to all of you, truly.

2. Chad started a meditation practice the past 12 months, he attributes much of his stability to what he calls ‘mental work.’

We both agree we aren’t sure if he’d still be here without this tool.

It’s hard to explain, but I hope someday Chad will have the energy to share his process and how this supported him.

We know the brain plays a critical role in the healing process.

This is uncharted territory that Chad works tirelessly to chart.

Thank you for all of your ongoing support, good vibes, prayers, we have received them all with much gratitude this past year.

I know this update is a lot, I wish I had more courage to communicate as we were going through it all the past 9 mo, we continue to be so grateful for friends, family, community, colleagues, caring doctors, gut instincts, following our own curious threads, body workers who support the things we cannot reach, and so much more.

In closing this chapter, we are turning our gaze to 2025.