Hey friends! It’s been a minute. And by a minute, I mean almost two years! Wow. It’s been three years since Molly Margaret’s initial diagnosis – it feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once. We think about all of you often as you were the ones who carried us through our darkest days. This community that was built around us is so special to us. I wish I had the words to accurately articulate what each of you mean to us. We wanted to let you know how things are going now and what life looks like for us on this side of cancer.
As for Molly Margaret, she is doing so well! December 2023 was the last IVIG infusion she received (this was the treatment to address her autoimmune brain disease, OMS). We originally were planning to extend this treatment until October 2024 but the side effects we were seeing from the treatment were increasing in severity so with her doctors we decided to end this treatment in December. In March 2024 we went through scans again, an MRI and MIBG. Again we praise the Lord as these remain stable with no concerns appearing. That was a huge milestone – crossing the two year mark since finishing active cancer treatment. In April 2024 Molly Margaret had her port removed which felt absolutely wild. Truly the closing of a chapter. Finally feeling like we were stepping out of the fog of treatment. And we haven’t been to the hospital since! Which is just absolutely crazy. We go back soon for a check in but other than that we won’t go back until yearly scans next March. When our oncologist told us he wouldn’t be seeing us for six months we were thrilled and also immediately said “are you sure??” After spending the last three years in and out of the hospital it felt exciting and also scary to not have eyes watching Molly Margaret to ensure we weren’t missing anything. But since then, she has been doing great! She officially turned four in September and loves all things pink, ballet and princesses! She is wise beyond her years, so nurturing and has a level of understanding that we truly believe has come from “growing up” in the hospital setting. Not to mention she is hilarious, joyful and full of life. Seeing the world through her eyes is one of our greatest privileges.
So what does life look like for us now? Truthfully, learning how to navigate life after cancer is complicated. You’re in survival mode just trying to get through and then suddenly you’re spit out and sent back into the world as if the whole thing is just normal. It’s wild. Our lives look nothing like they looked like before. Simply put, we had a life before cancer and now we have a life after cancer. We can’t be those people we were before. Which is simultaneously painful and so beautiful. There’s a depth and appreciation of life now that wasn’t there quite as richly before. We’re taking it a day at a time and each getting the help that we need to process what we’ve been through and allow it to shape who we are now. It’s hard work but it’s worth it. I used to just want to pretend it never happened but you can’t. It just isn’t possible to walk through the fire and come out the same. I think a lot of people don’t talk about this side of it. Because you’re just so grateful there is a “this side of it” and you’ll never take that for granted. But the triggers are everywhere and they knock you to your knees without warning. Day by day, we’re learning how to cope with them better, how to acknowledge them, lean into them when needed and also put them in their rightful spot where they don’t absolutely gut us every time.
Coming out of active treatment, we were talking about our experience and asking ourselves what do we even do next? We were sitting at our dinner table reflecting on the ‘believe’ shirt we made during Molly Margaret’s journey. We truly had no idea the movement that shirt would start. The way hope would suddenly infiltrate our tiny infusion room when people would tag us in photos wearing their shirt or send a text with a photo of them in their shirt. The way strangers became friends because the shirt opened a door for conversation. The way we felt seen in our darkest most isolating moments by people wearing their shirts. That t-shirt built a community around us we didn’t even know we needed. This led us to a question – if a simple t-shirt impacted our family this much, why couldn’t we replicate that for other families? In that moment, the Lord gave us our life’s greatest mission and Good & Glory was born. We founded Good & Glory, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, as a way to walk with families who find themselves in similar situations to where we were. We partner with families who are facing a life-altering pediatric diagnosis to provide them with financial assistance as well as to build community around them. We do this through the design of a t-shirt to represent the family’s unique story. We then sell the shirt on our website, handling all logistics, including procuring and printing shirts, packaging and shipping. After the sale of the shirt we write a check to the family with the proceeds from the shirt for them to use however is most helpful. What we’ve seen is these shirts are catalyzing a movement allowing people both near and far to rally around a family building community around them in a very isolating time.
We wanted to share this with you to say thank you. YOU were the inspiration behind this. The way you cared for our family and rallied around us, purchasing and wearing your believe shirts to remind us we didn’t have to walk alone was more impactful to us than we could have ever imagined. You chose to enter the hard with us, to be the Lord’s hands and feet and care for us. Through you, the Lord showed us a way we could uniquely care for families who are hurting, facing a life-altering pediatric diagnosis. We will forever be grateful for this special community and how you carried us over the past three years. It is now our life’s mission and great privilege to walk alongside other families building community around them in their hardest days. This spring we heard the Lord speaking clearly to us and asking us to trust Him and step into this work together full-time. While we were scared (& still are, to be totally transparent) we took the leap and decided that the risk of disobeying the Lord was far greater than the risk of trusting Him to provide for our family. We had so many reasons why this didn’t make sense (that were valid!) but we knew we had to take this step of obedience. In May, Neal stepped away from his corporate job and we stepped into this ministry full-time together. What an honor it is to get to wake up every day and serve another family.
We are planning an in person event to gather people together and celebrate all that the Lord did and continues to do through this community. We’d love to share our testimony, get to talk with you in person and spend time worshipping the Lord together! If you’d be interested in attending we’d love for you to fill out this form so we can have your contact information and make sure you are sent the details as they are finalized! Again, we truly cannot thank you enough for praying for us over the last three years and for taking the time to follow our journey. What a gift it is to be held by the body of Christ.
Neal & Mackenzie O’Quinn
If you’d like to follow along with what we’re doing at Good & Glory you can find us at the places below:
Instagram: @realgoodandglory
Facebook: Good & Glory
Molly Margaret's Miracle 
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