Parents fight rare cancers, living each day with hugs and kisses from their young girls

Michigan couple, Ben and Shelby Offrink, are almost an ordinary couple on the street. They were childhood sweethearts who met in college and knew that they wanted to spend their lives together.

They both love kids, so before long, the newly-married couple’s home was brimming with love and laughter with two daughters, Maeve and Hazel, who are now 4 years and 18 months respectively.

What happened next in their love story, though, turned their lives completely upside down.

Not just a back pain

In February 2014, Shelby discovered that the back pain she was feeling all the time was a rare and aggressive form of cancer. This happened shortly after giving birth to a premature Hazel. The couple was caught off-guard as they were just starting to enjoy their two young babies.

As told to CNN, Shelby, now 31, remembers the day of diagnosis which spun the family into a huge shock. “I thought it was sciatica,” Shelby says of the back pain and the “odd” feeling that prompted her to go to the hospital. “But I couldn’t get the doctors in the ER to pay attention. So I went back the next day and told them that I was incontinent, and they did an MRI and there it was.”

“It” turned out to be an Intramedullary Glioblastoma, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. Shelby’s version was extremely rare, though, because it was lodged in her spine instead of her brain.

Surgery managed to remove 75% of those cancer cells. She was put on oral chemo and radiation to help keep her condition under control. They then received news of a second enlarged spot,  which meant that radiation levels had to be stepped up.

Due to the intensity of the medical treatment on her already-weakened body, Shelby eventually began to feel numb on her legs. That was the start of her wheelchair-bound life.

It was one of the darkest moments for this young mother. She yearned to be able to run around in the parks with her active toddler and enjoy mummy-bonding activities like dancing with her younger child. But how could she? However, she was thankful for the support of her husband and her mother, who took leave of absence from work to help care for her and the little girls.

Another blow comes

Still, there was more to come. In August 2014, Ben’s Hodgkins Lymphona, which was in remission, crept back with a vengeance. “It’s just shocking, you know? At first it just seemed like a terrible dream,” said Shelby’s younger brother Luke Tomczak told KSDK.com.

While both spouses are dealing with nausea, physical discomforts and everything in between, it’s evident that there’s so much positivity in them, especially when it comes to their daughters. “We voice how much we love each other as much as we can every day,” Ben told TODAY.com. “Our love is more apparent than ever and with the girls too. When Maeve tells me she loves me now, my heart melts more than ever before.”

The support is incredible and the couple feel blessed from all the love and care that they have received despite the circumstances that they have been pushed into. Ben and Shelby’s parents, as well as Shelby’s brothers, have been coming over to their home to help with this tight family of four.

As told to TODAY.com, Ben, 35, shares that it’s been a little hard for the girls to comprehend, since they are still very young. But he knows they get plenty of love from everyone in the family, and tries to have them involved where appropriate. For example, he tries to take Maeve and Hazel along when he makes his daily trips to the hospital to see Shelby.

“Maeve knows that mommy’s sick, but it’s hard to describe to an adult, let alone a 4-year-old child what’s going on,” he said. “We’re holding out hope and fighting every day,” Ben said. “We want to show our girls that there’s still a lot to love about life.”

To cope with the finances and to set aside funds for their children, an online fundraiser was launched by Shelby’s childhood friend, Elizabeth Malartsick. It has since raised about $184,000 to-date and they are hoping to get together about $250,000 which would ease things a little given the couple’s long term disability.

As the family fights this battle, we are heartened to see them keep an upbeat attitude, living each day with a smile on their faces. No one knows how things will turn out eventually, but we are certain that many of us around the world are keeping them in their prayers and hoping for a miracle.