• Home
  • About Me
    • Featured
  • Contact
  • Motherhood
  • My Story
    • Two Against One
    • Choosing Hope
    • How We Met
    • IVF
    • Pregnancy
    • Twins
  • Community
    • Their Stories
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Coco's Caravan

Meet Mandie: A Walking Miracle, living twelve years past original life expectancy and thriving with a terminal illness.

in Caravan Community on 05/17/20

Welcome to Coco’s Caravan Community! I started this community in hopes of helping others. After sharing my story and hearing back from so many others who were dealing with similar trials I realized we are not alone. We are here to uplift and help each other make it through each day! I hope these stories help you in some way! Continue reading to learn more about Mandie’s story!

Mandie’s Story

Thirty years ago I was born with cystic fibrosis. Doctor’s told my parents I’d be lucky if I lived to eighteen. They mourned and grieved, then reset their focus on “living fully and not focusing on the life expectancy.”

They taught me compliance in and the importance of my disease care. They taught me to see the positive and look for silver linings in every situation. I handled my disease well. I understood it was terminal in my pre-teen years and still worked just as hard at long term goals; like attending college, as if I had no “countdown clock.”

I graduated from High School, then college. I fell in love and got married. My whole life I was told I wouldn’t have children. Three months into being newlyweds, we found out I was six weeks pregnant. I was even on birth control, it was truly a miracle! We immediately contacted my Doctor’s knowing my body and disease (cystic fibrosis) would need extra help during this time. Everyone shared their “Congratulations and smiles,” until everything shifted in less than a moment.

The words from my Doctor being, “My job is to keep you alive. My job is to keep you healthy. This threatens both of those things, and I encourage you to terminate the pregnancy.” She continued to tell us that she had been practicing nearly fifty years and had eight patients conceive, but not all of them made it to delivery. Just five months previous she had a woman make it that far…only for her and the baby to pass away in delivery.

We sunk, we were devastated. We told them we needed time to think. We counseled together, with our higher power God, and with the scriptures. We only ever received one clear answer, “This baby has to come to earth,” but never any clarity on what my outcome would be. We decided to move forward in faith.

It was a rocky road. There were many hospitalizations and ups and downs. Myself nor our baby should have survived some of those instances, but we continued to conquer and live past each hardship. At 37 weeks 2 days, I was experiencing hemoptysis – coughing up blood from the lungs. It was determined for me to be induced the next day.

I went into the delivery room knowing all the hard things I had done before and was ready to give it my all. Even if “my all” included leaving this earth. My husband and I walked into that room with faith. We knew God had helped us get to this point. We knew my medical team was intelligent and had all the right tools and knowledge to do their best to fight and keep me here.

Everything started, hours passed. We kept looking at each other with adoring tearful eyes. Our greatest moment, or our worst moment was just around the corner. Things started moving and getting intense, my Doctor was called and she came rushing to my room.

She walked into that room and our precious baby boy transitioned into this world. I heard him, I saw him through tears while simultaneously watching my MFM working, moving quickly, and trying to assess. Eventually our eyes met, and her words spoke, “you’re going to be okay” sealed with a kiss on my forehead.

What was the hardest thing you went through during this time?

The hardest part was not knowing the outcome. I knew the odds were against me; living with a terminal illness and having a baby. Then when we talked with my professional team of specialized doctors who shared that story of the women and her baby passing away during delivery, that hit deep and heavy. I knew my odds weren’t very high at survival. No matter how much we prayed, and sought insight, we never could receive a clear answer on if I was going to live or die during the birth and delivery process.

What advice do you have for people going through a hard time?

You have already been through so much. Think back on all the things you have previously accomplished. In the moment you might not have known how you were going to do it, but you did. You will get through this one too. You were born with the strength, find it!

What helped you the most during your trial?

Having a good friend to talk to. Someone who was “removed” from the situation. She wasn’t my spouse or an immediate family member. Someone I could cry to, ask questions, brainstorm, word vomit, and vent. She had two roles, listen or be my hype girl. I told her which one I needed before any conversation and she followed. Never sharing her concerns or own questions, just being what I needed her to be.

Share an update on your life now

Our son is 4.5 years old now! He loves jumping on the tramp, helping me with treatments and going fishing. My husband has a career as a Dentist and specializes in surgical dental implants. We live in my parents basement, which allows extra hands on deck to care for my cystic fibrosis and our child.

My bodies stability has been incredible and I have only been hospitalized twice, in a twelve month period for my cystic fibrosis. This is much different then every 6-8 weeks as we have experienced the last 3-5 years. I am working on receiving my Professional Public Speaking License.

What Quote or Motto got you through this difficult time?

My motto came from a stanza in a poem I wrote for a scholarship. In the poem, I was writing about all my dreams for the future. I wrote, “To conquer all that steps in my way.” Whenever new bad news is shared with me, or something is hard to digest. This motto pops into my mind, reminding me of my inner strength and all the things I have previously “Conquered”.

Mandie’s Story on Youtube: Living life with Cystic Fibrosis

Devin Super Tramp made the most beautiful documentary of Mandie’s life with Cystic Fibrosis and you can watch more of her story here! You can also read more of her story on her blog and follower her on Instagram HERE.

Please leave an encouraging comment for Mandie below! If you are interested in reading more Caravan Community stories click HERE

Tweet
Pin2
Share14
16 Shares

1 Comment

« The Best Toddler Apps
Healthy Kid Snack: Banana Fudge Cups »

Comments

  1. Lisa rush says

    May 17, 2020 at 3:58 pm

    Superwoman.Sending hugs from England 🥰

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join my caravan!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

welcome
Hi I’m Jenn, but my friends call me Coco. I recently lost the love of my life to cancer. I’m now a single mom of IVF miracle twin boys. I hope to help others as I share my journey as a new widow and mother of twins.

Instagram

cocoscaravan

It’s so much easier to shop online these days, e It’s so much easier to shop online these days, especially with two kiddos at home. Now because of @honey I prefer shopping online! I’ve been using honey for a couple years now so I’m really excited to be able to share it with you.

Honey is a FREE browser extension that scours the internet for promo codes and automatically test them when you’re checking out. I used to spend 20 minutes searching for codes before I bought something online. Now with honey I don’t have to do that anymore. It saves me time and money! 

I recently just bought some clothes for the boys. When I got to the checkout page @honey popped up and said I could apply some coupons.  I ended up saving $10 on the final order. Amazing! 

Check out my stories for more info and go to joinhoney.com/cocoscaravan to enter to win $500 when signing up for free!  #honeypartner #ad
The basement is slowly starting to turn into a hom The basement is slowly starting to turn into a home! This week I worked on organizing the kitchen and getting the table together! I love how everything turned out! We are still waiting on gold knobs for the cabinets and a gold faucet for the sink. I haven’t had my own kitchen since 2018 so I’m pretty happy right now! Just feeling so grateful ❤️ 

My mom pretty much picked out all the tile and design elements for the kitchen. She is so good at this stuff! She decided last minute to tile the whole wall and we were nervous it would be too busy, but it turned out sooo cute! 

Link to chairs in my stories and the table is from IKEA!
I’ve experienced different types of love my whol I’ve experienced different types of love my whole life, but there is nothing like a mother’s love. It’s beautiful to see how their happiness turns into my happiness. After losing Justin I didn’t realize how much I thrive off their happiness. That happiness has kept me going and living. It gets me out of bed each morning. It’s contagious and helps me get through some of my hardest days. That is the best description of love. Love makes you happy and makes you want to keep going and live your best life! ❤️ This is truly such a beautiful quote! So grateful I have the boys in my life!
I get this question often about if I’ll ever be I get this question often about if I’ll ever be open to love again. I’m sure this is a common question that people want to ask widows. I’m sure every widow feels differently about it, but wanted to try and answer in blog post about how I feel. Continue reading more of my thoughts about it on my blog. [link BIO]
I can’t believe a year ago I was in New York Cit I can’t believe a year ago I was in New York City❤️ I remember wearing a mask on the plane and feeling embarrassed. C*vid wasn’t serious yet, but it made me a little nervous to get sick before my concert so I wore a mask. 

My choir was able to perform at Carnegie Hall and because my sister lives there I was able to spend time with her as well. It was so fun! It was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to perform there and something I’ll never forget. We seriously lucked out on timing cuz not even a month later the world went into quarantine. I haven’t seen my sister since 😭 Can’t wait for things to go back to normal! 

Choir was such a good outlet for me ❤️ I miss it so much 

What was your last trip or travel experience before quarantine?
❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ I love putt ❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️

I love putting together these photoshoots! It’s been such a fun creative outlet for me! Plus I love to look back on these photos! 

My cousin @kindredduopro is in town and helped take the pics! It was sooo nice to have help because it’s getting harder to get them to sit still haha
My last Valentine’s Day with Justin was incredib My last Valentine’s Day with Justin was incredibly hard. It was also the day he was admitted into the hospital and that stay was the beginning of the end. 💔

As each new nurse came in and wished us a Happy Valentine’s Day, it stung even more that this was our life. (Cancer and hospital visits) All we wanted was one day to enjoy each other and forget it all, but no we couldn’t even have that. It was so hard! 

It’s hard for me to not think of that day whenever Valentine’s Day comes around each year. I think we both knew it was bad as we drove to the hospital that morning. Not the best memories come from that day. 

Luckily I do have some good memories of Valentine’s Day to equal out the one bad one. One time when Justin and I were dating he came over super early to make me breakfast before I went to work. He was so good to me! (I posted some pics on my blog post) 

I wrote a blog post my first Valentine’s Day without him. You can click on the link in BIO to read more about that day. 💔
I have new followers since I posted that reels vid I have new followers since I posted that reels video about the boys eyes. I thought I would introduce myself! ❤️

Hi I’m Jenn, but my friends call me Coco (nickname from college). My husband passed away from Cancer over two years ago. We were able to get pregnant through IVF. We put in one embryo and it split 😱! Justin got really sick right before they were born and we weren’t sure he would make it to their birth. We were able to spend a couple months together as a family before he passed away. You can read more about my story in the link in BIO☝️

The boys are 2 years old! 😱 Their names are Marshal and Everett. My parents finished their basement so the boys and I live there! ❤️ 

About my blog: I had a blog while my husband had cancer. It was just a space for people to get updated on how he was doing. After he passed away I stopped writing and my friends and family encouraged me to start again. I didn’t want my corner of the internet to just be about cancer or just be about life as a widow. I wanted to create a space I could share my all, but not be defined by my trials. 
So it might be a little different than  normal blogs. I love sharing motherhood stuff, as well as photography DIYs, but also life as a widow. It’s been such a great place for me! It helps me get out of bed and brings me joy! I’ve even been able to share other people’s  stories and help more people feel less alone in their trials. You can see more of their stories on my other account @cocoscaravancommunity 

I’m now starting to turn my blog into a business so I can be home with the boys! It’s been so wonderful and I have all of you to thank for that! It would also mean the world to me if you subscribed to my blog and follow along there as well! [link in BiO]

Thank you always for the love and support! I truly love the community I have found here! ❤️

📸 @kindredduopro
“Don’t Fear failure, fear never getting the ch “Don’t Fear failure, fear never getting the chance to try”-Lightning McQueen

Did you know this week is #carsweek We started the celebration by watching the @pixar cars movies 1-3 and playing with all these amazing new toys from @mattel & @shopdisney 

The boys love the @pixar cars movie and they know the name of every character. There is a scene where one of the cars jumps over another car and it happens in slow motion. The boys always say really loud “woah BIG jump.” It’s so cute I always have to pause what I’m doing to watch their reaction. I love how much they enjoy the movie!

Thank you @disney and @pixarcars for sending these awesome toys! The boys will be playing with them all week to celebrate! AD
We never thought he would make it to the twins bir We never thought he would make it to the twins birth. It truly was a miracle that he met them and was able to spend a couple months with them. Our first experience as parents was different than we expected. I could barely walk from my c-section and Justin could barely walk from his cancer. We had to rely on other people to help us take care of the boys and that was hard. We both wished so badly we could do it ourselves. 

There were a couple moments we were able to be alone just the four of us and this picture was one of those moments. We each had a baby in our arms and for a split second we forgot everything and just focused on them. They brought so much joy during a time of so much sorrow and anxiety. They were a good distraction from cancer. 

Oh how I wish we could have had a lifetime of these moments. It would have been so amazing to experience the twins growing up with my best friend at my side. 💔
What the what?! I woke up this morning to 100k and What the what?! I woke up this morning to 100k and I am blown away!😱 It was so sweet to wake up to messages from my followers telling me  the news and sharing their excitement for me. That made my day seeing how happy they were!  I have the best caravan! 
 
Thank you!! I started this account to help others and let people know they are not alone. When Justin was going through cancer all I wanted was to find someone who knew what I was going through. Talk to a spouse of a cancer patient, but there was nothing like that. I later found other widows who shared their story online and it helped me so much! I want to be that support for someone else! 

I know it sounds cheesy, but this account and my blog helped keep me going after Justin passed away. I got excited to put together a fun photoshoot of the boys and share the excitement with my followers of how cute the pic turned out. It helps me to write my feelings down about grief and in an odd way it’s been therapeutic. It’s helped me a lot! 

I know social media can be hard but it has always been a positive for me. I’ve been able to meet other widows through it and help so many others also going through a hard time. I love doing fun photoshoots of the boys or giving motherhood tips. It’s my happy place! 

I want you to know how much I appreciate you following along! I now can support my kids and help others along the way! I feel so blessed! Thank you!! 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️
I started unpacking last night because I couldn’ I started unpacking last night because I couldn’t wait any longer! The inspector came at 2 and I was moving in at 5. 🤣Haha It’s been so exciting to have my own space again. I haven’t seen my stuff in three years so it was exciting, but it was also hard. Justin loved cooking so most of the kitchen items were things he used. The pizza pan he loved and his mat he would roll his dough out for his famous German bread he would always make. Ugh the grief just hits you so hard 😭💔 I think the hardest was opening a box with his cologne. I kinda lost it at that point. Just the smell made it seem  like he would walk around the corner any minute. Like he was just here 💔 Ugh I think my life will always be happy and then sad just mixed up. I guess that’s grief
The basement is done!!! 🙌 I live with my parent The basement is done!!! 🙌 I live with my parents and they finished their basement so the boys and I could live down there and have our own little home! I have been in limbo since Justin passed away so this is truly a dream. My mom designed everything, she is amazing! We are still waiting on kitchen knobs and minor stuff, but I’ll be moving in this weekend! 🙌 

Justins parents were nice enough to come get the boys and take them for the weekend so I could focus on moving in! ❤️

Check out the before pics on my blog. You can find it in the “my story section” or there is a swipe up link on my basement highlight bubble
I just want you to know I read every message you s I just want you to know I read every message you send! It truly makes my day and means so much to me! Some of the messages I get are from people who have also been through a difficult trial or know someone who is. I’m grateful I can help in some small way. After Justin passed away I started following other widows here on Instagram. Reading their words helped me to keep going or get through a hard day. It helped to know I wasn’t alone. So I hope you know you’re not alone! ❤️
*New Blog Post* My blogging journey actually start *New Blog Post*
My blogging journey actually started during Justin’s cancer treatments. It was hard to have to repeat myself to each person we saw on how he was doing. It caused a lot of anxiety and we didn’t want to be talking about it all the time.
So I decided to start a blog to update our friends and family on how he was doing. It wasn’t until I started to write that I realized how therapeutic it was for me. I was always a little nervous for Justin to read them because I was so honest and opened. It was easier to write things down than say them out loud. He always read them as soon as I posted and I always got a sweet message from him about it ❤️

After Justin passed away I stopped writing until a friend encouraged me to start again. I started Coco’s Caravan to help others who are also going through a hard trial. I also wanted it to be more than just a place where I talk about being a widow, so I like to share stuff about my boys/motherhood. My blog is truly my happy place. A place I can escape. I find it easier to write my inner thoughts than express them verbally. I let it all go and it has been so therapeutic for me during my grief journey. 

So thank you for following along and being apart of my little caravan! ❤️ 

I reposted an old post from my old blog. It was right after we found out his cancer came back and he had to start chemo again. Click the link in BIO to read.
This was one of my first attempts to do my own ph This was one of my first attempts  to do my own photoshoot at home! How stinkin cute are they! 
I have a blog post on how to recreate this yourself and where I got all the props! 

Head to my DIY section on my blog to see it! 🙌 #happyvalentinesday 

I want to help you save money! With your phone and the right editing apps you can make it look professional! 🙌
New Blog Post I put together a list of the best to New Blog Post
I put together a list of the best toys to teach your child the alphabet. It’s always great to have some hands on learning! 🙌 Check it out! Link in BIO!
Monday Motivation ❤️ Just a friendly reminde Monday Motivation ❤️ 

Just a friendly reminder that there is no perfect way to be a mother. We are all trying our best and just trying to survive! We can do this!! 💪❤️
My little #colorado boy ❤️ Justin would be so My little #colorado boy ❤️ Justin would be so proud! Some of you might know this already, but Justin and I grew up in Colorado. We loved CO and always wanted to raise our kids here. It’s just fun to see the boys now living here and all decked out in CO gear. Wish so badly I could send this pic in a text to him and see what he would say. 💔

Also the slippers in this pic crack me up 🤣 Alright can you guess which twin this is?
🎉NEW BLOG POST!🎉 [link in BIO] I finally wr 🎉NEW BLOG POST!🎉 [link in BIO]

I finally wrote a blog post all about our new home! As many of you know the boys and I live with my parents and they are finishing their basement so we can live there! It will be perfect because we will have our own space, but I can also have some help when I need it! 

As you can tell we are very excited! I posted a ton of pics before we started construction. I’m also sharing some of my ideas on how I want to decorate and I’d love your help! 🙌
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Popular Posts

5 Tips for toddlers climbing out of the crib

Am I open to Love after Loss?

Sharing my old blog about Justin’s cancer journey Part 1

Categories

  • Caravan Community
  • DIY
  • Home Slider
  • Motherhood
  • My Story
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Join Us on Instagram

cocoscaravan

It’s so much easier to shop online these days, e It’s so much easier to shop online these days, especially with two kiddos at home. Now because of @honey I prefer shopping online! I’ve been using honey for a couple years now so I’m really excited to be able to share it with you.

Honey is a FREE browser extension that scours the internet for promo codes and automatically test them when you’re checking out. I used to spend 20 minutes searching for codes before I bought something online. Now with honey I don’t have to do that anymore. It saves me time and money! 

I recently just bought some clothes for the boys. When I got to the checkout page @honey popped up and said I could apply some coupons.  I ended up saving $10 on the final order. Amazing! 

Check out my stories for more info and go to joinhoney.com/cocoscaravan to enter to win $500 when signing up for free!  #honeypartner #ad
The basement is slowly starting to turn into a hom The basement is slowly starting to turn into a home! This week I worked on organizing the kitchen and getting the table together! I love how everything turned out! We are still waiting on gold knobs for the cabinets and a gold faucet for the sink. I haven’t had my own kitchen since 2018 so I’m pretty happy right now! Just feeling so grateful ❤️ 

My mom pretty much picked out all the tile and design elements for the kitchen. She is so good at this stuff! She decided last minute to tile the whole wall and we were nervous it would be too busy, but it turned out sooo cute! 

Link to chairs in my stories and the table is from IKEA!
I’ve experienced different types of love my whol I’ve experienced different types of love my whole life, but there is nothing like a mother’s love. It’s beautiful to see how their happiness turns into my happiness. After losing Justin I didn’t realize how much I thrive off their happiness. That happiness has kept me going and living. It gets me out of bed each morning. It’s contagious and helps me get through some of my hardest days. That is the best description of love. Love makes you happy and makes you want to keep going and live your best life! ❤️ This is truly such a beautiful quote! So grateful I have the boys in my life!
I get this question often about if I’ll ever be I get this question often about if I’ll ever be open to love again. I’m sure this is a common question that people want to ask widows. I’m sure every widow feels differently about it, but wanted to try and answer in blog post about how I feel. Continue reading more of my thoughts about it on my blog. [link BIO]
I can’t believe a year ago I was in New York Cit I can’t believe a year ago I was in New York City❤️ I remember wearing a mask on the plane and feeling embarrassed. C*vid wasn’t serious yet, but it made me a little nervous to get sick before my concert so I wore a mask. 

My choir was able to perform at Carnegie Hall and because my sister lives there I was able to spend time with her as well. It was so fun! It was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to perform there and something I’ll never forget. We seriously lucked out on timing cuz not even a month later the world went into quarantine. I haven’t seen my sister since 😭 Can’t wait for things to go back to normal! 

Choir was such a good outlet for me ❤️ I miss it so much 

What was your last trip or travel experience before quarantine?
❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ I love putt ❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️

I love putting together these photoshoots! It’s been such a fun creative outlet for me! Plus I love to look back on these photos! 

My cousin @kindredduopro is in town and helped take the pics! It was sooo nice to have help because it’s getting harder to get them to sit still haha
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 · Custom design by How Sweet Designs

Copyright © 2021 Jennifer Hanks · Custom design by How Sweet Designs
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Term and Conditions