The Fight We Didn't See Coming

Life in the Making:

Author

Ashley Joves
January 27, 2026

Hey!

As many of you know, our family has been in the thick of a battle since last July. When we first shared Brian’s diagnosis and subsequent surgery, we all breathed a sigh of relief. We did the work, we followed the path, and we truly believed he was cancer-free.

But as I’ve learned recently, the "making of" a life doesn't always follow a linear script.

If I’ve been quiet lately, it’s because just three months after that initial "all clear," we received the news no one is ever prepared for: The cancer was back.

Beyond the "All Clear"

This week, I’m back in the booth with Collin to share the details of what has happened since December. We aren't just talking about a recurrence; we’re talking about the shift from a Stage 1 battle to an aggressive Stage 3 reality that hit us just a week before Christmas.

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what happened after the cameras were off and the updates stopped:

  • The Second Biopsy: Why I couldn't ignore my gut feeling when the first "post-clearance" tests came back negative.

  • The Paradox of Health: Navigating the shock of an aggressive recurrence in a "poster child" for health like Brian.

  • The "Kitchen Sink" Approach: Why we’ve moved past simple surgery into a grueling regimen of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

  • The Toll of the Soldier: What it’s really like to navigate trauma as a provider, a wife, and a mother when the fight gets harder than you ever imagined.

This is a different kind of episode. It’s raw, it’s heart-wrenching, and it’s a vital clinical reminder that complacency is our greatest enemy in the operatory.

Listen to the full update on

To this community: thank you for walking with us through the first chapter, and for standing by us as we fight through this one. Your support is the fuel that keeps us going.

With love and gratitude,

💛 Dr. Ashley Joves

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts—it helps other dentists find us and fuels this mission we believe in so deeply.

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