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MISSION VIEJO, Calif. () — A Mission Viejo couple with three young children face a daily dire crisis — they’re both diagnosed with cancer. Zak Salazar has a terminal diagnosis, while his wife, Cori Salazar, is fighting cancer for the second time. They say facing looming mortality has taught them how to live life more fully.
In the Salazar household, the well-being of their three young daughters is always top of mind.
“I want my girls to feel completely loved and cared for and safe, even when, you know, things are going wrong,” Cori said.
Many things have gone wrong. When Eyewitness News met the family a year ago, Zak had just finished chemo for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and Cori was just getting her footing after surgery for thyroid cancer.
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Cori and Zak Salazar were both diagnosed with cancer in 2023. She was recovering from an aggressive thyroid tumor, when they learned he had stage 4 Glioblastoma.
“What happens to the girls if we both go? These are not conversations 39-year-old parents should be having,” Zak said at the time.
Shortly after that interview, a routine scan for kidney stones revealed a spot on Cori’s pancreas. Tests confirmed it was a slow-growing form of pancreatic cancer.
“The thought of me not being around for them, or both of us not being around for them, was really scary,” Cori said.
Doctors removed her spleen and part of her pancreas. But, she’ll need continued monitoring.
Then, Zak received scary news. He gets a brain MRI every two months, but this time, radiologists flagged something new.
“Sure enough, the doctor was like, ‘I’m pretty worried about this spot. I want you to start on chemo right away,'” he said.
Zak complied, but sought a second opinion at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Under a large oak tree in Houston, the family prayed.
“Lord, I just ask that you’ve already healed me,” he said.
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A family in Orange County is in the fight of their lives, as both parents have cancer, and their three kids are left hoping their mom and dad beat the odds.
Cori and Zak live with the constant threat of death.
“In the glioblastoma community, we will never be cancer-free, because the diagnosis is terminal. It’s a chronic cancer,” Zak said.
Parenting through all this has been the most difficult part, but what they’ve learned is to let the specter of death be their teacher.
Children’s books about grief help them open up conversations with their kids.
“It really gives them the tools to move through these hard times, you know, in these difficult situations,” Cori said.
With Zak facing a terminal illness, his wife wanted to be there for him. In her research, she found another book from author and death doula Alua Arthur.
“They are open and honest and thoughtful, and they are involving their children in the process. That’s not something that we see every day,” Arthur said.
Through her “Going with Grace” workshops, she helped Cori plan for the process of dying, which Arthur believes is a master class for living.
“What we don’t know is how we’ll die. We cannot change that trajectory, but what we can do is spend our time today living like we’re going to die, which will invite us into a greater presence in our lives today,” Arthur said.
“That’s what we have is just like, right here, right now,” Cori said. “Yep, we have today,” Zak echoed.
Back in Houston, their prayers were answered. A detailed MRI revealed that the spot on Zak’s brain was a false alarm, and he could stop chemo.
Four-year-old Luna later told her dad it was the best day ever.
“Right as she’s about to fall asleep, she says, ‘Dad, do you remember that one time we went to the park and we prayed together?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do remember that.’ She goes, ‘That was a good day,'” Zak said.
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