Cancer is the one word that terrifies most people. Although it is not always deadly, lives change with a cancer diagnosis. So what happens when two people in one family are diagnosed at the same time? That’s what the McRaes from Oregon are currently dealing with. Both mom Britney and her son Jamon received cancer diagnoses on the same day. Now, the family is dealing with weeks of treatment that split them apart as mother and son fight for their lives.
Dad Jake McRae explained to KDRV that Jamon began complaining about headaches in October 2025. At first, the headaches weren’t too bad, but they quickly escalated to something more severe. After multiple trips to the ER and an MRI, doctors discovered that the 4-year-old had a mass near his brainstem. On October 8, the McRaes learned the tumor was compressing critical structures.
On November 3, Jamon underwent a 15-hour surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors originally anticipated the surgery would take half that time, but it proved to be more complex. And surgeons couldn’t even remove the whole tumor.
Days later, doctors discovered that what they believed to be a benign growth turned out to be what Jake McRae called “an aggressive, malignant type of brain tumor.”
The once vibrant and active preschooler now needs help walking. He also can’t swallow normally as a result of the surgery and has to use a feeding tube. Before another brain surgery on November 17, Jamon’s prognosis was a 50% survival rate. The removal of the rest of the tumor increases the prognosis to 70%.
Following his surgery, Jamon will receive six weeks of daily radiation in Palo Alto, California, and months of chemotherapy.
As the family navigated Jamon’s medical crisis, Britney McRae was experiencing one of her own. The eight-week pregnancy she was carrying turned out to be a complete molar pregnancy.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a complete molar pregnancy “happens when a sperm fertilizes an empty egg.” Instead of an embryo, the placenta fills with cysts or tumors. Additional testing revealed that Britney McRae had gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, a rare form of cancer that would require months of chemotherapy.
Jake McRae said the oncologist visits happened within an hour of each other. “Being helpless … like I can’t do anything for them … That’s probably the hardest part,” he said of the hard road ahead.
Life is changing for the McRaes, who also have two other children, ages 7 and 1. Because of Jamon’s treatment, they will have to travel between their home in south Oregon and northern California. It will require the mother and father to be in two different places and away from home while Britney McRae undergoes her own treatment, which began the same day Jamon had his second surgery.
Britney McRae’s siblings started a GoFundMe campaign to help ease the financial burdens on the family.
“Our sister Britney is the glue of our family — always the one calling and checking up on everyone,” the fundraiser states. “She and Jake have built a beautiful life together with their three children — Jamon, Sami, and Ellie. Their home is full of love, laughter, and the kind of joyful chaos that comes with three little ones. Right now, they’re facing the unimaginable.”
So far, the fundraiser has brought in well more than half of its goal.
