I graduated from Yale University in 2005 with a Masters in Public Health and have spent most of my career working to strengthen our health care system. I am a husband, dad, and grandpa!

MCS (My Cancer Story)

In November 2022, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. This was a complete shock! I was 46 years old and living a healthy, active life in Hawaii with my wife and children.

My only symptom was blood in my stool. I knew enough to go to the doctor and was referred for a colonoscopy - my first. Waking up from the procedure, almost the first words I heard were "they found a mass"!

So began my cancer journey. I went through radiation (25 treatments), chemo pills, all kinds of tests and scans, surgery, installing(?) an ileostomy, side effects (blood clotting, pneumonia, and a pulmonary embolism), and

rehospitalization.

And I'm not done yet!

I lost my dad (thyroid cancer) and father-in-law (lung cancer) to cancer in January 2025. Both my mom and mother-in-law are breast cancer survivors.

What I have learned through all this is that the hardest part of the cancer journey is often not the treatments. It's the mental and emotional ups and downs - the anxiety, stress, fear, and grief - that are part of the cancer experience.

One thing that helps is walking with others who have been on the same path. I have benefited from so many people who I have had the privilege to meet and learn from!

I started Cancer Courage when I was recovering from cancer to help others affected by cancer — patients, survivors, and their loved ones — reduce anxiety and stress and rediscover joy and peace through my Call to Courage coaching program, grounded in positive psychology principles.

I wish you well on your cancer journey, and look

forward to sharing some small portion of your walk with you!