Hanley’s Story: A Father’s Perspective on Caregiving & Hope

Diagnosis, Shock & the Start of a New Reality Hanley shares the story of his son Duke’s neuroblastoma diagnosis with the kind of detail only a parent can carry for decades. What begins as a snapshot of family life and a multigenerational business quickly shifts into a moment that changed everything, when Hanley noticed something was wrong and a frightening diagnosis followed just before Duke’s third birthday. From there, he walks listeners through the shock, the uncertainty and the sudden need to make life-altering decisions fast. Treatment, Caregiving & the Long Middle As the episode unfolds, Hanley reflects on the long stretch of treatment that followed, including chemotherapy, major surgery, relapse, stem cell transplant and radiation. What makes the conversation especially moving is not just the scale of what Duke endured, but the way Hanley remembers it through the small human details: early hospital mornings, the search for the right surgeon, the role of humor, SpongeBob tapes and the exhaustion that comes with loving a child through crisis. He also speaks candidly about fear, trust and the emotional toll that remains even after the hardest chapter has passed. What gives the episode its power is Hanley’s perspective now, more than two decades later. He speaks with deep gratitude about the life Duke has built, and with humility about how the experience changed him as a father, a husband and a person. The conversation becomes not just a story about survival, but a reflection on instinct, family, faith and the quiet ways hope keeps showing up when people choose to keep going.