Welcome to The Stephen's Family's Caring Bridge website. My name is Betsy Schopflin and I am Becky's younger sister. We've created this webpage to help keep family and friends up to date with the latest information regarding Becky and Tim's journey in this next chapter of their lives.
LET'S START WITH WHAT WE DO KNOW . . . .
On Friday, December 28th we were stunned to discover that Becky was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. After a few months of a persistent cough, noticeable weight loss and increasing feeling of unwellness the answer to what has been causing Becky so much discomfort still felt nothing short of completely out of left field. Blood work and a CT Scan showed that Becky has metastatic colon cancer that has spread to her liver.
Based on more testing yesterday the doctors were able to locate a large tumor on her lower GI tract. On Thursday Becky and Tim will meet with an oncologist in Santa Rosa to talk about next steps and their goals for stopping the spread of cancer cells and specifically shrinking the tumor in her colon.
At this point, we don't have clear answers on how her health journey lead to colon cancer. As most are already aware, Becky had genetic testing done in 2016 that showed she carried the BRCA-1 gene that would increase her risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer later in life. Making a very courageous decision, Becky opted to take no chances and had a total hysterectomy in early 2017 and a double mastectomy in December of 2017. All of the removed tissues were checked and showed no signs of cancer cells in those areas. However, It is possible that the cancer cells have been in her colon for some time but undetected.
While we are still in the early stages of making informed decisions, our immediate focus is getting Becky strong and ready to fight this with her fierce determination we all know and love. Becky and Tim's girls, Sophie (7) and Hayley (5), know only that Becky is going have to have more surgeries and doctors appointments this year. The girls are in 1st grade and Transitional Kindergarten with school starting up again next week as a welcome routine.
WHAT'S NEXT . . . .
The next step for Becky is an oncology appointment which is scheduled with Kaiser for this Thursday. This appointment will aim to tailor a chemotherapy plan to stop the spread of cancer cells in her body and stabilize the tumor in her colon.
From here . . . more research, love, laughter, time with her girls, love, date nights, love, family, rest and most important LIFE!
HOW TO HELP . . . .
Becky and Tim cherish their family and friends. If a time comes when they would appreciate extra help in the form of meals, I will make sure everyone has a chance to help.
Under "Ways To Help" tab at top of this post, I have included a link to a GoFundMe that I started for The Stephen's Family. Many people have already asked about how to help and I believe that having a fund available to ease the financial burden of overcoming this disease will be a tremendous aid to their family.
On the right side of this page, there is a purple box "Honor Becky" and "tributes" which is asking for donations to CaringBridge.com, please do not feel obligated to make donations to this website. If reading on mobile you will also see a box at the bottom of this post that says "Donate Today" which goes to this website not Becky.
Feel free to leave comments on this page for Becky & Tim as they will be checking in. All your love, support, and positivity are what they need.
Please feel free to email me or call me anytime with questions or concerns and I will keep this site updated with the latest information.
For those that were able to attend Becky’s celebration of life over the weekend, thank you for coming.
Seeing so many people from all walks of Becky’s life was amazing. For those that were not able to attend, we felt your presence during what was a wonderful and uplifting tribute to Becky’s life.
I wanted to take a moment to say thank you all so much for the outpouring of love, support, generous donations, and gifts for the girls. Your generosity will never be forgotten and is something we hope to pay forward at every opportunity possible.
Sophie, Hayley, and I are slowly coming to terms with the loss of our beloved Becky. Life moving forward will be complex and challenging and involve many ups and downs. However, we are blessed and fortunate to have so many family and friends, both locally and internationally, that cared so much for Becky, and in turn, care for the girls and me.
Becky gave the girls and me so much love and happiness during our time together. Some people search a lifetime for that kind of love and happiness and never find it, so in that sense, we were truly blessed.
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