Steve died quietly at around 5:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 27. He was surrounded by Sarah, his father, his brothers, and his children, and he was in no pain. Our hearts are broken. Please respect our privacy and grief for now. We will post updates again when it's appropriate.
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For those who were not aware of the turn that Steve's health took, on Friday, June 18, due to an aggressive return of his myeloma, Steve was admitted to the hospital to start four days of high-dose chemo on the 19th. The chemo was tough, but he got through and was scheduled to start rehab before going home in a couple of weeks.
On Thursday the 24th, a CT scan identified a 7cm mass on Steve's adrenal gland. Steve has been extremely tired and mildly confused and this offered an explanation. A CT scan of his head was, thankfully, clear. The treatment for the mass is chemo, which he'd already completed.
On the night of Thursday the 24th, Steve had a series of about a dozen small strokes. An ultrasound to determine whether the clots had come from his heart identified an infection in his heart, endocarditis, that may have caused the strokes. To treat this, they started strong antibiotics. However, because his liver and kidneys are vulnerable from the myeloma and chemo, there are limits to the treatment available.
On the afternoon of the 26th, Steve had a seizure and was admitted to the ICU. He is being monitored under suspicion that he may be continuing to have seizures. He was transferred to the vascular ICU before he died.
If you're looking for a way to show support beyond leaving messages for Sarah and Steve's family, consider donating blood or plasma and leaving a comment to let us know. You can also make a donation to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
https://themmrf.org/get-involved/ways-to-donate/
Offers of food are appreciated, but not needed at this time.
We are not holding any formal fundraisers through CaringBridge or elsewhere. We'll post an update here if that changes.
