The Burke Family — Fighting Terminal Cancer
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Your prayers, your generosity, and your love have carried our family through the most difficult chapters of our lives. Because of you, we have been able to keep our family together during cross-country treatment, pursue clinical trials, and seek out every possible path toward more time and hope of a future cure.
We are the Burke family, and we are humbly asking for your help once again as Judith faces terminal cancer and begins a new clinical trial in Houston, Texas.
Our Story
In late December 2023, while 26 weeks pregnant with our daughter Lucy, Judy began experiencing worsening facial pain and numbness—symptoms that had been dismissed for months. A mass was found on her parotid gland, and the day after Christmas, we received the devastating news: it was almost certainly cancer.
Biopsies and scans confirmed the diagnosis:
Stage IV(b) Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC type 1)
A rare, relentless salivary-gland cancer known for spreading along nerves and infiltrating the skull base and brain.
Despite aggressive treatment, Judy’s cancer is now considered incurable and continues to grow in her brain, neck, and nerves.
What the Last Two Years Has Required
Because of your generosity, Judy was able to undergo six weeks of intensive neutron and proton radiation in Seattle, where Lucy was delivered early and baptized. After relocating to Arlington, VA, to recover, symptoms returned, and scans showed new cancer growth. Judy’s diagnosis was officially changed to terminal.
In search of time, we entered a clinical trial in Boston, which required multiple round-trip flights every month for nearly a year. By the grace of God and through your support, that trial granted Judy almost a year of precious stability.
But the cancer is growing again. And now we are preparing for the next step.
Where We Are Now
We have found a promising clinical trial in Houston, Texas, offering hope for more time together. If Judy is accepted and responds, the treatment will require:
34 round-trip flights in the next year2–3 days of travel per monthShort-term lodging for many visitsChildcare for our three young children (ages 6, 4, and 20 months)Lost income as Matt continues to serve as Judy’s caregiver - especially if she does not respond favorablyMedical and treatment-adjacent expenses not covered by insurance
We continue to pray for a future curative option, trusting that God is never outdone in generosity. As St. Augustine reminds us:
“God does not disappoint those who hope in Him.”
How Your Support Helps
Your donations directly provide:
Travel and lodging for out-of-state treatmentsChildcare during Judy’s procedures and recovery when not covered by family helpReplacement of lost income as teaching work becomes impossibleStability and safety for our children—Joseph (6), Noah (4), and Lucy (20 months)The ability for Matt to remain present as Judy’s caregiverThe chance to pursue trials that may meaningfully extend Judy’s life
Your support has already allowed us to walk this road with dignity, unity, and hope. We would not be able to pursue this next trial without your help.
Our Faith and Our Gratitude
We continue to entrust every step of this journey to the merciful Heart of Jesus and the loving mantle of Our Lady. We believe that God can draw immense good from immense suffering, and that even in uncertainty, He is still preparing something beautiful.
One quote has sustained us through many dark hours:
“When you do not receive what you would hope or pray for, it is in order that you might receive what you would love more, if you knew all things.”
We cling to that hope.
Thank you for being part of our story, for praying for us, and for offering us the gift of more time together. We feel your love every day.
May God bless you abundantly.
With gratitude,
The Burke Family
Judith, Matt, Joseph, Noah, and Lucy
