Bailey and Jacobey Severns were overjoyed to become a family of five earlier this year when they welcomed their third child, but the couple was left devastated after seemingly ordinary back pain led to a rare diagnosis.
With two sons already—ages 7 and 2—Bailey, 25, and her husband, Jacobey, 27, couldn't be happier to expand their brood in February with another boy. Unfortunately, the newborn bliss was short-lived.
Jacobey had been struggling with lower back pain since October 2025, but Bailey told Newsweek that he "didn't think much of it" initially. He believed it was probably just a strain from his physical work, and he presumed he hurt it while "moving something heavy." Weeks after welcoming baby No. 3, Jacobey's back pain grew significantly worse.
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"In March, we went back and forth with doctors, but they didn't want to do anything because they did not think it was concerning," Bailey said. "We really thought he had just pulled something at work. We didn't ever think this could be what it really is."
Jacobey's pain worsened until it became debilitating. While he could still go to work, he was not able to do as much physically. He also resorted to wearing a back brace, but that didn't seem to help.
"It just kept getting worse. So finally one morning in early May, I had to call an ambulance because he couldn't move," Bailey said.
Once at the hospital, doctors performed an MRI and CT scans to figure out the cause of Jacobey's pain. Results showed lesions on his lower spine and pelvic area, but a biopsy was also required before reaching a formal diagnosis.
Soon after, Jacobey was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. The Severns were distraught by the revelation, as they never expected that cancer would become part of their story.
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Jacobey underwent four rounds of immunotherapy to treat the melanoma, as well as four surgeries to stabilize his bones.
"The first surgery was in June, and that was a spinal fusion from his mid to lower back," Bailey said. "That lasted eight hours, and they ended up taking some of the tumor out, too. The second surgery was a couple weeks later to put a screw in each hip for stability."
"He had another spinal fusion from T7-T5 (his upper spine), then the next day, they did a femur surgery and put a rod down his leg to stabilize it. Doctors said the tumors were compressing everything and if he didn't have those surgeries he would be paralyzed," she continued.
Despite the treatment and multiple surgeries, Jacobey's pain only progressed. It became so excruciating that he could no longer move, walk or eat, leading him to lose 35 pounds in a matter of weeks.
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It became clear that the treatment regimen was not helping Jacobey, and that pain medication wasn't offering any relief. So in September, he and Bailey relocated to California to work with doctors at Stanford.
Th doctors looked at Jacobey's biopsy results and made a shocking discovery. They said his initial diagnosis was incorrect, and they did not believe he had melanoma at all.
Instead, they diagnosed the father of three with a malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumor. It is an uncommon and aggressive cancer that originates in the nerve roots. According to the National Library of Medicine, malignant melanotic nerve sheath tumors can affect males and females equally and is often diagnosed between the ages of 10 and 40 years old.
The rare cancer can be difficult to diagnose because it shares features with melanoma and other pigment-producing tumors, sometimes requiring specialist reviews and advanced testing to distinguish between them.
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"We were so hurt, angry and scared when we found out the new diagnosis. It's very aggressive and harder to treat because it is so rare," Bailey told Newsweek. "Jacobey had been doing the wrong treatment for five months. That's why it wasn't working. Now it has spread to many more places, but he is finally on the right treatment."
Because these tumors frequently develop along spinal nerves, symptoms can include persistent back pain, nerve pain, weakness, numbness and, in advanced cases, spinal cord or nerve compression that can threaten mobility and neurological function.
Doctors performed a cordotomy by going in the side of Jacobey's neck and burning the nerves to sever those causing pain, which "helped tremendously," Bailey said.
He is now doing much better and has gained 20 pounds since moving to California. He is gradually gaining his strength and is desperate to keep fighting. Although his back is still fractured, Jacobey continues to get up each day, sit in his wheelchair and do mobility exercises.
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Because of how rare this cancer is, it remains unknown whether his current treatment regimen will be successful. The family hopes to find a suitable clinical trial. As well as documenting this experience on social media, the family has set up a GoFundMe as they face ongoing medical bills, loss of income and the high price of accessing clinical trials.
"We are trying to get all the help we can because we are desperate at this point," Bailey said. "We just want to save my husband's life. My kids need their dad. Our oldest son understands that his dad is sick, and it's heartbreaking watching him see his dad like this."
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Shakeema Edwards.