- Perfect, thank you. Yeah, thanks. Awkward! - I don't know, they just
started following us. - It's a little documentary on people diagnosed with terminal cancer. Yeah. I know. - [Man] I know how that is. - I have no way to make it less blunt. We're hunting for unicorns. I'm Jessica Oldwyn, I'm 35 years old, and I'm living with terminal brain cancer. If I would have listened to my
doctors, I'd be dead by now. Instead, I took control of my health, and today I am thriving,
and I am happier than ever, like ever, ever, ever, really thriving, a lot, super happy. I'm pretty exciting to be around. I've got a lot of friends. You can pretty much see
'em, they're everywhere, so that's good. Oh man. It's so calm when we're here. - [Director] It seems like
a healing place to live. - It is.
- It is. It's very calm. It's a good pace of life for us for sure. - We moved out of the city 'cause, I think you know this, I'm epileptic after all
the brain surgeries, so there's a lot of triggers that can cause me to have seizures. Moving here has been a godsend. It's so much calmer. I do my walking group,
and it's all these women that are 50, 60, 70 plus, and
it's me and all my ladies. And, they're just angels. It's just really fun, so that's the crowd I'm hanging with in the Edmonds area. I was born and raised in
Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, a small town shy of 3,000 people. Everybody knew everybody,
and it's beautiful. It's like a piece of heaven. It's almost surreal that
we got to live there. My brother and I went on daily adventures. We'd go down and get sea
glass and go on picnics and go meet up with friends
from a little, little age. - There was a place we
used to go every year and pick blackberries. Jessie was still pretty doggone small, and we're picking away and
Jessie's got the overload bucket, and she's just sitting
on the ground, and she's- - She's eating 'em back up. - Her whole face is
blackberries all the way down. - So, the first time Danny and I met, I was eight months and
Dan was two and a half, and my mom was dropping my
brother off to a birthday party. - I remember her essentially
my entire life growing up. Her older brother was in my class. Our families were friends. I knew her parents very well. She knew my parents very well. - I don't think I even really
paid any attention to him until high school, and even then we were in a big group of friends, and I dated one of his friends, and he dated one of my friends. I always loved him like, "Oh
gosh, Dan's the nicest guy." After high school I went
to college in Texas, and Dan went to Oregon. I graduated college at 22. Within three years I had married someone that I wasn't really in love with, and he wasn't in love with me either. It was a bad decision for both of us. I think the funny thing
or the interesting thing is that Danny was at the wedding. - There was a moment during the reception, after the wedding, where
she was essentially being passed around to
different dance partners, saying goodbye to everyone
and stuff like that, and when she got to me she
put her head in my chest and started crying. - I was like, "Dan, he doesn't love me. "He doesn't love me. "What have I done?" Dan was so sweet. He just dried my eyes and
kept dancing and was like, "Oh, how could they not like you? "You're so wonderful, you're so sweet. "They'll like you. "It'll be okay." And, I pulled it together, and then somebody tapped on
the next one, and I came over, and it just went on. And, I didn't tell anybody,
I didn't tell my parents, I didn't say anything
to anyone, but I knew. I knew I had made a huge mistake. - I actually ran into her at
one of our mutual friend's going away party. It was a few years in between
the last time I'd seen her. - It's all of our friends, and then all of a sudden Danny comes up. I haven't seen him
probably since my wedding, and he is coming through the door, and he's holding three drinks. He had brought drinks for other people, and as he was coming through
he sliding glass door, he looked up and we got eye contact, and he tripped with the drinks. And, I was like, "Oh my gosh,
that's the cutest thing ever." It's funny 'cause later
we were talking about it, and he was like, "Yeah, I tripped 'cause
I was looking at you." I was like, "That's a huge compliment. "I'll take that." - I had invited her to my
company Christmas party, and in my mind it was definitely a date. She thought it was a get
together with friends. - We got our coats, and
we were in the elevator, and then at the very end he
kissed me in the elevator, and I went back. I went, "What are you doing?" He's like, "What do you think I'm doing? "I'm kissing you." I'm like, "You like me?" I'm laughing just like this. He's like, "Yeah, what did you think?" I'm like, "I don't know, I had no idea," so I kissed him back, and we've just been together ever since. It's lovely. It is lovely to be able to hide and walk around the streets
and have people have no idea that I'm quote-unquote sick, but it is hard with
the people that I love. There is no way for them to
understand the amount of stress that it is to just have
this hanging over your head at all times and how it
affects your daily life. So, I have seizures because of
all the surgeries and stuff, and I haven't had one
while in an MRI machine, but I was just hoping
that you wouldn't mind doing it really slowly
when we're in the machine. - [Nurse] Sure. - Okay, great. I'm here today to get a
brain MRI with contrast to evaluate whether or not my
brain tumor is growing again. - It's been six months
since the last once, so this is the first time
we've waited this long which is a very big deal. It means things are going good, but it's also stressful
'cause it means that there's just a longer time when you haven't checked on things to make sure they're going good. - All right. Okay.
- Thank you so much. - You have a good day. - You too, you guys are so wonderful. - Jess gets very stressed
three or four weeks leading into these MRI's, so to not have it as many times the emotional roller coaster is good. The real stressful part is
Monday, looking at the results 'cause you know there's potential there for your life to never be the same. - A little bit over a
year into our dating, Dan lost his job with the
recession 'cause of downsizing, so Dan was visiting me in Wenatchee. We went snowshoeing, and
while we were snowshoeing I had a, what I now know to
be a thunderclap headache. - She couldn't talk, couldn't really see, couldn't do anything. She just had to sit still
and wait for it to pass, and it was terrifying. - I leave the hospital, and I'm
talking to Dan on the phone, and I was like, "Yeah,
the MRI was so cool. "It was kind of weird and spaceship-y. "I hope I get to see the images. "I bet it looks really cool." - She's like, "Oh, I'm getting a call. "I don't know this number, hold on. "Let me call you back, it
might be the hospital." - "We need you back at the hospital. "We think there's a
cluster of blood vessels, "and one might be leaking, "and you also have a massive brain tumor." What? Okay. Am I gonna die? "We hope not." - The next call I got she was in tears, she was bawling, and saying
that she had a brain tumor, and that she was sorry. She was apologizing to me,
and it was devastating. - I had to tell somebody. I mean, that's the worst news
you could ever give somebody. I was like, "Oh my god, I'm
about to ruin his life," 'cause I know that he loves me, and I know that we have dreams. They may all be gone. - I didn't even understand
what the diagnosis of a brain tumor meant at that point, but I just knew her fear
and what it was doing to her and that I couldn't change that
and that I couldn't fix it. - I remember asking them,
"Nobody lives from this?" And, they said, "No." There's got to be a percentage of people, and they finally said
as a gift, "Maybe 1%." - Dan asked me to go for a walk, and we walked up the hill, and he dropped down to his knees, and he asked me to marry
him, and I told him no because I thought that... I thought that I was
probably gonna die soon, so I didn't want him to have
me have all this medical debt and have him be mourning me and then have a whole bunch of debt. - I understood why, but
I just wanted her to know regardless of anything that was going on, whatever situation came out of this that I wanted to be with her forever. She had written letters to
all the important people in her life and gave those
to us before she went in. It was one of the hardest
things I've ever read. - So precious and such deep
thought went into those letters. It was incredible. She knew she was facing the gate, that there was a reasonably strong chance she wouldn't come out. - I never, she doesn't know. I can't read my letter. You did, but I can't read my letter. - So, when I came out from that surgery I was paralyzed on the right side, and that's when I lost
all my language skills and the movement and a lot
of my cognitive skills. I didn't understand very much. - She was in bad shape. She had had a lot of trauma, a
lot of swelling to her brain, and a lot of her brain removed. - I remember the first time
it was a list of words. I remember that first word,
and I remember looking at it, and I knew that I should know it. I knew that it was something that I knew, but I didn't know what it was, so I just started crying. - They said she would probably never talk, she might not be able to walk, or definitely will never run again. - [Bonnie] And, just accept it. - Well, we didn't accept it. She didn't accept it. - Throughout those seven days
in ICU, seeing little changes, however minute they were, even just to be able to point at things, be able to locate and touch
a pen cap with her finger, I knew that it could all change. You don't have to believe
what these doctors are saying, and if anyone could it would be her. She's a driven and
incredibly stubborn person in that she won't take no for an answer. Good morning.
- Morning. - Want some breakfast? - Yeah. Coffee. - You always want coffee. - Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. Dan during this time was
the most kind and receptive and gentle person on earth. He cut up all my food,
he cooked all the meals, he would help assist me in walking, or he would just carry me
from the couch to the bed. He would pick me up
and put me in the bath, and he could shave my legs,
and he would lift up my arm and put it on my head, and
hold it up with one arm, and shave with the other 'cause he knew that that's
something I would want. I wasn't even asking for it, but he knew that I would want that. He had to wipe me. He just did everything. He did absolutely everything. I was like, "How can you be with me? "I'm so dumb." And, he was like, "But, you're so fun. "You're still you. "You're still so funny and
we laugh all the time." - Our time that we'd had
before that was amazing and I'd fallen in love. Regardless of deficit and
regardless of her abilities at that time it was just that I loved her, and I was just happy that she
was alive, and that was it. - Because she takes so
many different things to really fight this cancer. I mean, we would have to once a month go eat at Jess and
Dan's, and it was oh boy, pretty powerful stuff here. - Turmeric, lots of
turmeric, lots of garlic. Jalapeno peppers. - And Danny would just eat it smiling. - That's better. Thanks for breakfast, Dan. - You got your outfit picked out? - Yeah, well I got two options. - Smart. - Kentucky Derby. Big birthdays for me, I
like to do a big theme. It just makes it even more fun. - Trying to do something
a little more significant. This is the birthday after
her average life expectancy. - It's gonna be so much fun, though. I'm so excited. I think my coffee's kicking in. The treatment that I do,
it's ongoing for life. We've just been trying to figure out how in the world are we going to do that. - So, when I got back
to work there was people who gave up money, gave up money that was going to their
families to allow me to work in their spot. - When we did our taxes we were like, "He worked how many hours?" And, he never complained. He proposed. Oh man, there has to be
at least three times. To me, I was like, I still don't know how long I have to live. I don't want this for him. - I proposed to her again. We were up in Friday
Harbor where we've from and drove out to the
west side of the island which is one of the more
beautiful spots I've ever seen, very, very romantic, and
I proposed to her there, and she I'm sure reluctantly
but finally said yes. Probably within three months
we actually signed papers. We had made plans, we had talked about it. We were just gonna ask everyone
to come down to the beach, and we were gonna get married there. At this point, Jess was still
dealing with some deficits, and we pulled the plug on that. Eventually someday, maybe
our five year anniversary, we'll have an actual wedding
or something like that, so it'll be well worth
it whenever it happens. - Thank you, Tina. - Have a nice day. - Thanks, you too. Which one's the lucky one? Which one's the lucky winner? - One has the golden ticket. - Oh, man. - I'm just gonna do one. This is yours, by the way. - Oh thank you, for my records. - You want me to read it first? - No, no, I'll read over your shoulder. - Not so fast. - I know, that's why I wanted
to read over your shoulder. I won't say anything. There's nothing good on this page. - It looks good. - I think it looks good. Feel better? Nah, it's okay. That's just cruel and unusual punishment. I feel bad that you
have to go back to work. At least you can go back to work- I know, I was worried
that if there was bad news it would impossible for you
to get back to work tonight. I just turned 35. I was diagnosed at 29 in April. We were hopeful that I would
live four and a half years. I should technically
already be dead by now. - Since April, this is the
happiest time we've had in the last five years because she had two and
a half years, no tumor, looking good for right now. - I need to start
cooking like you, though. - [Jess] How's that? - You can come over, and you can teach me how to prepare food. - Just start with the whole foods, and then over spice everything
so that people are crying and they can't even taste it. Can't go wrong that way. - Coming up here, we're
gonna have a birthday party for Jessica. We're going back up to Friday Harbor where we still have family, still have a lot of friends up there. A tremendous amount of support
has come from that island. We're trying to show them our appreciation mostly by showing them Jessica's life. - These are the legs that
I shouldn't be walking on, and this is the mouth that I shouldn't be able to speak from. I mean, this is the birthday
that I should not have had. - [Director] So, do you want to talk about your birthday surprise? - You mean the real surprise? Okay. So, my 35th birthday is actually
a surprise wedding for Dan, and Dan doesn't know. He thinks it's just my birthday, and meanwhile behind the scenes we have been planning
and secretly conniving behind his back. Love you. - You too, have fun. Let me know if you need anything. - Okay. Text me the whole time. I'm joking, I won't really be on my phone. - No, you're gonna be busy. - Okay, have fun. This is a gift that I
could never have given Dan when he's done everything for me. - You remember when we spoke on the phone? You were telling me, I asked you what's... What's something you've always wanted to do for her, give her? What'd you say? - A wedding, a ceremony. - Remember what I said? - What else? - I said what else? What we're gonna go do she doesn't know because you and I are
gonna go make a video basically that's gonna be like that Indiegogo fundraiser where I'm gonna use all my
followers and everything I have, and we're gonna raise money, so that you can throw
her a surprise wedding. - That's amazing. Thank you, sir. - To be able to have Dan
experience a ceremony and everything that goes with a wedding, it's gonna be awesome. It's gonna blow his mind, let's hope. - It'll be, "Hi my name is," my name, and then just jump in and say your name. Hey everyone, I'm Justin Baldoni. - I'm Dan Carol. - And, we come to you today
with a very special message, and an even more special request. We direct a- Start again. This is gonna take a while. - That's fine. - I have a really really
big surprise for y'all. - [Jess] What? - A really big one. - Am I gonna choke on my candy? - There's a gift that someone- You might choke on your candy. There's a gift that
someone wanted to give you, someone that heard your
story, was blown away. I can't even finish. - [Jess] I know. I was like, "When is she gonna cry?" I'm surprised you're not crying yet. I'm surprised I'm not crying yet. - She couldn't be here, but she wanted to send a personal hello and a gift to tell you how
much your story moved her, so there's a really special present. Is this the dress that you dreamt of? - Oh, that is. Oh my gosh, are you serious? - Nicole Miller heard your
story and was blown away. Oh my gosh, that's insane. Stick my head in there. Thank you. Oh my gosh, I can't believe that. I'm so excited to put it on. - Thank you. Yes.
- Yes. - No. Oh my goodness. - Thank you.
- Thank you. Yes. Yes. That is awesome.
- Aw! I'm so happy to be here. - Oh my god. - Dan and Jess are gonna
have their wedding today. - Perfect!
- Wow. - I'm totally gonna cry. - What you doing here for?
- This is a surprise wedding. - Okay, excellent. We were hoping. - This is great. This is so fantastic. - No.
- What? - I'm just choking up. Are you kidding me? - Get out of here. - That's really cool. - [Host] Today is more than a birthday. - Okay. - [Host] Today is the big wedding. - Oh my. - Whose wedding? - [Host] Danny and Jess. - Oh my goodness.
- Oh, don't do this. Suck it up, Linda. - To know so deeply how badly they wanted to have this island wedding and then to have it happen, it just... It thrilled us for them because we knew how important it was. - Very neat. Well, now you're gonna get to see him. You're good. It's gonna be awesome, huh? - Yeah, it's gonna be so awesome. - So Jess obviously doesn't know that you've written a speech. - [Dan] All the stuff that's in my head, it's been in there a long time, so it won't be hard to pull it out. - [Justin] What do you
think you've not told her? - Well, I'm fairly
confident that she knows how much I love her, but I
think what I want to tell her is what she has done for me. She talks a lot about
what I have done for her, but the thing that I want her to know is what she has done for me. - Well, that's a really
good thing to talk about because let me tell you something... My friend, welcome to your wedding. Mom. - This is my mother. - Hi, I'm Justin. - Hi Justin, nice to meet you. - Why don't you take
your son down the aisle? - All right, are you ready? - No, but yeah. I think my dream is
just to be old with her. I mean, that's bar none
the most important thing. If I had to not take another vacation for the rest of my life or
not see another pretty sunset or whatever it may be for the
rest of my life I'd be fine. I mean, that's the thing that
I want more than anything is just to be old and probably
crotchety at each other, but still deeply in love and
remembering these silly times of how worried we were
at one point, you know? That's really the only thing that matters. - Oh my god. I guess the gig's up anyway. This door? Hi, mom. Hi, dad. Hi. - [Announcer] Let's all stand for the entrance of the bride, please. - Surprise! Are you excited or do you want to kill me? I thought you'd like it. I thought so. Hang on, hugs and kisses first. Mom, I love you so much. Dan, thank you for loving me so deeply, for always helping me
heal and making me laugh even when things were
just incredibly hard. Thank you for always being so selfless. I appreciate the way that you love me. - Hey, hey, that's not allowed! Not until I say so. - I never thought that I could love anyone the way that I love you. - Come up here. - You look so handsome, look at your tie. - You're lucky you're pretty. - What do you mean? - You can get away with stuff like this. - Did you have any idea? - No. - Yes! - Welcome to Jessica's... Kentucky Derby party. Danny, this was Jessica's wish for you. This was her dream, that the two of you might have an island wedding
in front of family and friends, and Jessica, I don't know if you know, but this was also Danny's wish for you. - I think we saved each other's life. I don't know what my life
would be like without her, but it wouldn't be what it is now. It wouldn't be as fulfilling,
it wouldn't be as fun, it wouldn't be the life that I want which I know now this
is exactly what I want, being with her. - The more you love me, the
more I want to give back to you. It's this magical reciprocation. It's the biggest gift, and
this wedding was a surprise, but it was just the
biggest gift to give you. They're helping me give you this gift because I can't even express it enough. There's nothing- I wish I could give you
everything in the world. Thank you. I've never been so loved, so respected, had somebody treat me so
gently and encourage me, and it's this magic that most
people don't get to have, and I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful to you, and every moment I think how
lucky I am to be with you. Thank you for loving
me so hard and so real and being so patient. - I do love you, and I
hope if there's anything that you do know it's the
amount of love I have for you. You're everything in my life, and these things that
people think are great that I've done for you it's nothing. It's nothing to what you've done. I'm so proud of you. - Thank you. - And, besides the amount
of love that I have for you, I want you to know that
what you've done for me and how much better you've made my life, and I can never repay you or
thank you enough for that. I love you. - I love you too, oh my gosh. - I think the biggest fear that I have is for her to be scared at the end, and for me not to be able
to do anything about it, to think about her
being scared at the end, and to not be able to comfort her and not be able to reassure her, that's the one that you can
see really breaks me up. - I'm happy to pronounce
you husband and wife. And, now sir... Would you finally like to kiss your bride? - Yes, sir. - Please. - [Announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen, Mr and Mrs Danny Carol. - I love you. She's everything to me. She's the most important thing in my life, and I'm very very proud of her. - [Bonnie] How would you
want to remember Jessie? - When I'm gone? I don't know. - You can't accept it at all. - No, she's gonna outlive me. Jess... I selfishly want to hold onto you forever. You are such a precious thing. I know how to be selfish. I've been selfish many times in my life, and you don't know how. You're like your mother. All your consideration
is for other people, to make them happy, and
to keep yourself alive so you can make other people happy, you're just the most beautiful, precious thing I've ever known. - I hope that Dan always
thinks of me as... The love of his life which
is such a mean thing to say because if I die If I die, you know, I do want
him to find other happiness just not anyone that makes him more happy. That's so mean, isn't it? So selfish. That's how I'm really gonna be remembered. Oh my god. But, I just hope that Dan remembers me as the kooky woman that thought he hung the moon.
