Losing my wife to cancer, surrogacy & single parenting w/ Taylor Odlozil | Ep. 87

This episode is sponsored by Rocket Money and Nutrafol.

@TaylorOdlozil shares the heart-wrenching journey of losing his wife to cancer, becoming a single parent, and having a child via surrogate. He reflects on Hayley’s final days, offers insights on navigating grief, and discusses how he's raising his son on his own.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Taylor Odlozil
06:08 - Finding out my wife had cancer
11:13 - Marrying my wife after her cancer diagnosis
16:27 - Finding out my wife's cancer was terminal
23:39 - Having my son via surrogate
32:11 - Having a child via surrogate
41:04 - How our story exploded on TikTok
45:24 - What I've learned from my wife's passing
50:22 - The last 3 days of my wife's life
54:36 - My wife's final moments
1:01:15 - The moment my wife passed
1:10:20 - Life after my wife's passing
1:17:27 - Losing 40 pounds during my wife's cancer treatment
1:26:06 - How to support someone through grief

#unplannedpodcast #mattandabby

[leahmanning]

Eleven minutes in and I had to stop. I’ll have to take this one in very small pieces. My husband is 26 and he has stage 4 Esophageal cancer. He was diagnosed on August 2 of this year and given 2 years to live. We’re hoping and praying for a better outcome. Cancer truly sucks. If any of you who read this pray, please do so for my husband’s healing.

[mariahsutton]

As a fellow cryer, I whole heartedly appreciate that Abby feels comfortable to show her raw emotions in this way. I always was made fun of for being a cryer. Makes me feel so good to see I’m not alone in wearing my emotions on my sleeve

[MatthewBurnett-zito]

I’m a fully grown man and I’m not ashamed to say I’m literally crying my eyes out for someone I never ever knew

[loveplaytv]

Abby is sobbing, Matt crying, im sobbing and he was able to get through the entire conversation without sobbing. I know that strength comes from so much pain lived already. Wow!

[aliciaoisen]

The way you gave Taylor the floor and just listened, as he honored his sweet wife, says a lot about your character! And yes, if anyone is counting- I went through 8 tissues <3

[courtney]

The fact that he still does not refer to Haley in the past tense shows the love he had/has for her. A beautiful soul, their whole family. 💔🥺🙏🕊️❤️‍🩹💙🩵🥹

[dontstalkmedeltoro]

I lost my husband to cancer 6 months ago.
I was his care taker and it was the hardest thing I've ever done.
The blue bag comment was extremely touching.
I miss my husband everyday.
He was only 40 and we spent everyday together for 20 years.
I feel for this man and his family.

[tammyhaunert]

I lost my son in Iraq in 2008. People think by not talking about him it makes me better. It does not. I have 6 sons and to act like he is not part of our lives is so hurtful.

[shainakinabrew]

And this my friends is what a REAL MAN is and does.

[tlizbennett]

As hard as this was to watch…. By far my favorite episode. I’ve never commented until today. And this video deserves that, also on Matt and Abby’s side the way you carried this episode made me have such a greater respect for you both.

[DillonFarley-sg]

Here we are a 25 year old male crying himself to sleep on Thursday night… all the respect in the world to this man & I hope and pray he and Westyn live a generous and healthy life.

[becca]

The way you completely served Hailey until the end is just awe inspiring.

[denisseabreu]

As a cancer survivor this story broke my heart. I was in a relationship with a man who was the love of my life. I explained to him that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer had spread. Within a week he decided to part ways. He could not handle the pain. I understand. I am still alive and survived. It's beautiful to have this man stand by his wife. Thank you for sharing this story is beautiful and sad at the at the same time 🙏🏽🥺

[veni.natavi.vici.]

as a girl who lost her mum to cancer at 3, this was heartbreaking to watch as a 16 year old, yet I send so much love to taylor.

[leximuehlbauer]

Taylor is thr definition of a loyal and loving man. Anyone who is around him is so blessed. What an emotionally intelligent man, strong as well. Weston is so lucky.

[emilyfarnham]

It is so evident that Taylor honors her in every way that she deserves to be. I am in awe of the way he speaks of her. They say “everything happens for a reason”, and after listening to everything he shared, it is so abundantly clear that Taylor’s ultimate purpose in life is to instill gratitude in others and always remind people that they have things to be thankful for. This podcast is truly transformative for me.

[korynhicks]

I saw a clip on TikTok and I just felt like i needed to watch this. When he was discussing about the Hispanic woman that watched Haley grow up, with me already being teary eyed he said my Abuelitas name Elvira, who passed from cancer in March. It felt like God brought me to this story.

[nitsuhmulugeta]

This…. This is the type of love every woman deserves!!!! She was so loved …. This man is incredible… She had a love that 90% of the people don’t experience even if they lived to a 100… may she rest peacefully

[arianazigzaghooray]

I'm a young mom with young kids battling later stage breast cancer. I was diagnosed April 2023, right after my youngest turned 1. Finding Taylor & Haley's story has helped me proxy my biggest fear of leaving my babies behind. I'm so grateful for your bravery Taylor sharing your family with the world because as hard as it is it's helped me face my fear by being able to see it & face it knowing I'm not alone. It is so isolating being young with cancer. I'm 33. Every night when my cancer meds wake me up feeling ill I've gone from fearing for my life to praying for Weston when he misses his mom until I feel well enough to try to sleep again. I wish I could take that pain away. It hurts my momma heart. Sending love to your whole family. Thank you for telling your story.

[jennysantana]

How he speaks in the present tense is what crumpled my heart. I'm glad he's at peace knowing he was such a great husband and man of God.