Good to Know: Grim diagnosis spurs Kent couple to sell possessions, plan RV trip of a lifetime
For Kent couple Mark Dailey and Melissa Cairns, it was always Plan B.
They would take to the road and see the sights.
Colorado, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Glacier National Park, then up to Banff National Park in Alberta.
From there down the Pacific Northwest.
It was a nice plan, but for another day.
That day moved up and Plan B became The Plan when Dailey received a terminal cancer diagnosis last year.
Bad news on Christmas Eve
Dailey was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in December 2020, two months after they married.
He found out while attending a holiday party with family.
"On Christmas Eve, I [was] reading the email from my doctor… I'm reading this on my iPhone," he said.
Things moved quickly, and a month later, Dailey had a kidney removed.
Then, for a time, Dailey, 56, and Cairns, 44, hoped he had beat the cancer.
"I had fairly good reason to believe it was a one-and-done surgery," he said.
Preparing to see the sights of America
For three years, he had no reason to suspect otherwise.
But a scan last summer found new growth and Dailey had surgery to remove tumors on the kidney.
And then came the diagnosis — Stage IV renal cell carcinoma.
Cairns said the long-term prognosis for cases like her husband's aren't good, with five months being the typical lifespan.
"Every day we have from this point on is an extra blessing," she said Thursday.
Getting Plan B in high gear
When the couple processed the latest diagnosis, they decided to move Plan B to the top of the list. They started saving money and divesting themselves of most of their possessions, including their home in Kent. They bought an RV and recently quit their jobs as they moved toward departure day.
It hasn't always been an easy process, Dailey and Cairns said in a recent interview at their RV home in Kent.
"[There were] weeks where we'd go from sobbing to [being] flat," Dailey said.
'This is the time'
The adventure will begin in about a month, after a 5K run May 26 to benefit the Collin Cares Cure Cancer charity. Dailey and Cairns are both scheduled to run in the 5K, and days later, they will check their list for the last time in Kent, load dogs Aphrodite and Zeus into the RV, and take to the road.
"If there's ever a time to do something crazy, this is the time," Dailey said.
Dailey, who spent 35 years as a paramedic saving lives, said his goal has always been to help people.
"I want to be that person that safeguards other people," he said.
The two met at EMT school in 2015: He was the instructor and she was the student exploring another possible career.
"From the moment I met him, I knew he was the person," she said. "I just want him to have the life he worked so hard for."
The couple start their new chapter in the second week of June when they leave Kent and head for Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.
They plan to document their travels with podcasts and are hoping to interview people they meet along the way.
"We're hoping to inspire people," Cairns said. "Life is not just about being part of the grind."
Do you know an interesting person in Greater Akron who would be Good to Know? Send suggestions to Alan Ashworth at aashworth@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cancer diagnosis prompts Kent couple to sell home, plan RV trip
