A cancer diagnosis touches every part of life – especially for a young family. Children, careers, finances: everything shifts when ocular melanoma becomes metastatic. Joey and Tawna are navigating those challenges now, and the Eye on Grace Foundation is grateful to support them on their journey.

“Cancer has impacted nearly every part of our lives,” Tawna says. “It began with a diagnosis we never expected, and it has changed how we think about time, family, work, finances, and the future.

“Our family has adjusted to a life that revolves around treatments, scans, travel, and uncertainty. Joey’s cancer requires him to be away from home for treatment, while I balance being a wife, a mom, and the person who keeps everything else moving. Our son has had to face things no child should have to, watching his dad go through treatment and adjusting to periods when he isn’t home.

“Joey recently stopped working. He had built a career he was proud of but leaving it behind was a hard – and necessary – choice.”

Joey was diagnosed in April 2024 and received proton beam radiation therapy in Boston. By October, a biopsy confirmed the cancer had spread to his liver. They traveled to Madison, WI for Hepzato, which proved ineffective, and the disease began to spread beyond the liver.

Joey then completed months of Kimmtrak locally. When that stopped working, they went to Philadelphia for chemoembolization. He was later accepted into the IDE196 trial in Denver, which provided about nine months of benefit. Currently, Joey is enrolled in the SON-DP trial in Denver and must travel weekly for an infusion.

“With the rarity of my cancer,” Joey says, “being able to travel to specialists and treatments is extremely important. If I only had local resources, I would not have made it this far.”

“Having help with travel expenses through Eye on Grace has alleviated a lot of stress,” Tawna adds. “Some trials offer reimbursement, which is helpful, but it often takes months to come through. We have had to travel so much these past two years, and I am so grateful for Eye on Grace.”