Re-sil-ience- The capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties. 

Since Steve's initial diagnosis of brain cancer in May of 2020, he has been working on mastering the art of resilience. 

So many highs and lows have taken place over the years  in Steve's journey with brain cancer. The two  most recent MRI taken in March and May have shown 6 areas of concern all showing growth in several areas of the brain. Our lengthy oncology appointment that took place on 5-3-24 was filled with great dialog and information. The oncologist explained 5 of the areas are in the radiation zone from when Steve heroically received 12 weeks of radiation and chemo in 2020 and a year of maintenance chemo in 2021.  It's normal to still have radiation changes in the brain from that. The new area that showed up in March on the right side of the brain is the one for concern. It's definitely out of the radiation zone  and the brain tumor board is trying to figure out what exactly  they are dealing with. It was agreed on with the tumor board, neurosurgery, oncology and Steve's wishes that no brain surgery will be done on that area as it lays deep in the brain risking too much neurological deficits from surgery. At this time Steve has not had any major cognitive or neurological deficits so it was decided to continue to have him wear Optune (his cancer fighting head gear 24/7) and possibly getting guidance to position the leads to now focus on that right area vs the left and alert the team if any speech, cognitive , or neurological issues arise. If those changes pop up they will start some type of chemo.   

Steve continues to fight this fight everyday with Mary and family right by his side. He takes time for exercise and outdoor activity, yoga/meditation, daily prayer and weekly online chess games with his older brother Brad.

The truth of the matter is even though this greatly impacts our every moment going from MRI to MRI...life continues to march on for the rest of the world and that is a difficult balance. 

We are so grateful to all our family and friends who storm heaven on Steve's behalf everyday!