Mom battling cancer, who was gifted boat earlier this summer, now in hospice care

WACONIA, Minn. -- Earlier this summer, WCCO introduced you to two Minnesota families now bonded by a boat. Lindsay Block was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at just 39 years old.

After that, the mother of three was determined to give her children and her husband the summer of a lifetime. That's when they were gifted a boat.

Since WCCO's last story, Lindsay Block's prognosis has changed. She's now in hospice care and wanted to share what it's like to truly savor life.

"It's a terrible diagnosis but we still felt blessed," said Joe Blocks, Lindsay Blocks' husband.

Blessed by a love that started at St. Bens — and St. Johns, they met the last week of college. 

"I think the hardest part is as your 'we,' we are the best versions of ourselves when we are together … And you can continue to try to be that person, but you can't be that 'we' anymore …  Me, that's the hardest part, that's the hard part," Joe Blocks said.

After a brutal round of treatment, they've changed course to end-of-life care — hospice.

Lindsay Blocks says she is feeling things deeper now.

"I'm definitely enjoying the little things more," she said. "So even, in the last couple weeks, a hug from one of the kids. And being able to put them to bed and snuggle a little bit longer than we normally would, or having them stay up a little later at night so we could have those talks … And just enjoy being with each other."

Memories have become priceless, family videos like gold.  

"It's hard, it's hard because I am constantly thinking about it, constantly thinking about leaving my kids," Lindsay Blocks said. "So it's really hard, but at the same time, I am trying to be happy and make memories with them."

She is deeply proud of her kids.

"Olivia is just a sweetheart.  It's amazing when they turn 3, she's a little person. She is not a baby anymore. She's so sweet, she sees me crying and says, 'What's wrong, Mama?' which I think is pretty amazing for 3-year-olds," Lindsay Blocks said. "Andrew's my sensitive one but he's got a good heart as well. He's a good helper. And he is my snuggler, he loves to snuggle, he's great. Will, he has the kindest heart, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He is passionate about baseball and coding, he does coding a lot. And he just has the biggest heart. He's so sweet."

And the feeling is mutual. Will Blocks sat down with WCCO to talk about his mom. 

"She's kind, she signs me up for camps, baseball, anything I want to do. She lets me have like playdates with my friends, sets me up with birthday parties all the time," Will Blocks said. "I love to go different places with her, when she talks to me, puts me to bed, all that."  

He says his mom is "strong." Strong and focused — on living out a life that by all accounts is too short.

"It's just difficult to think about dying," Lindsay Blocks said. "I mean, you just never think about, especially at 39 years old, that you have to plan your funeral."

But she's doing that on her own terms — instead of eulogies, she's asked friends to send her emails now. 

"Because when a person passes, that's when the memories come through. And people talk about, 'Oh I remember doing this with that person.' But I want to hear those memories too," Lindsay Blocks said.

Memories she is still making because even though there may not be much time, Lindsay Blocks is finding much to appreciate.

Lindsay Blocks' hope is to make it to her 40th birthday in October. In the meantime, she is fundraising for Metavivor — a  Minnesota charity that focuses on raising money for stage 4 research.

Click here to learn more about Metavivor.