We are the Willcox Family – Preston, Sarah, and Conor. Preston, at 31 years old, was diagnosed Fall 2016 with Stage IV colon cancer. He went through 4 major surgeries. 12 rounds of intense chemo and a whole bunch of other things to get to “NED” – No Evidence of Disease – in August 2017.

Unfortunately, our relief was pretty short-lived… Preston has had more than a hundred rounds of chemo, several rounds of radiation, and even “Cyber Knife.” Due to advanced mets in his spine, he entered hospice care in March 2023 and passed away on May 4th, 2023.

FAQs:

31 seems pretty young for a colon cancer diagnosis.

Yup. That’s what they keep telling us. However, the further we get down this road, the more we hear about it. Listen to your body, friends. Preston’s symptoms at first were pretty generic – just some discomfort in his abdomen.

Did he have any family history?

Nope. We get lots of sideways glances from doctors and nurses about this. Seems to be just really shitty luck.

How’s he doing now?

Preston died on May 4th, 2023.

How can I help?

Conor and I would love your notes, cards and memories of Preston. If you have pictures, we’d love to see them! We’ve set up an email account – pscwillcox@gmail.com – that’s your best bet. Please don’t send flowers, but if you have a fun gift idea or activity for Conor, let us know and we can get you the right information.

If you already have my number, it’s OK to text, just know that I might not respond.

For now, the Joy Fund is closed, but we’ll let you know if we set up a new one. (Our thanks to all who contributed – Conor and I have some fun adventures planned.)

What should I know about interacting with y’all (and really, others in my life that are dealing with difficult diagnoses?)

Please know that we want you to stay in touch, but we might not respond right away. It’s not that we don’t want to hear from you, it’s probably just that things got hectic and we forgot. Stick with us. It means a lot.

Please don’t forget to share your life with us. What you’re dealing with “just doesn’t compare” to what we’ve got going on, but please don’t deny us the opportunity to empathize with you. I know that you don’t want to “burden” us with your problems, but please fight that urge and tell us anyways.

Please know that we are so very, very grateful to you, and that we are glad you’re a part of our lives.