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Steve’s Story

Site created on February 1, 2023

At the beginning of January, Steve went in for a MRI because he had some issues with his right hand. The MRI showed 2 small tumors in his brain, which the Doctors thought were indicators of cancer. They sent him for a CT scan the same day. Unfortunately the CT scan showed another mass on his lung. At this point the Doctors were pretty convinced Steve had some form of lung cancer.

Unfortunately we were not able to get Steve in for a lung biopsy until January 25th. While we waited Steve started a steroid and a seizure med as a preventative measure. He also had PET scan to see if there was anymore evidence of cancer. This was our first bout of good news. Steve "only" had cancer in his lung and two small spots on his brain!

We took Steve for his biopsy early in the morning on Wednesday the 25th. Lucky for us (joking) it was extremely windy and the roads were not the best, but we made the trip to Willmar safely. Steve was in good spirits and honestly sailed through his procedure. In his words "he didn't even know they did the procedure until the Doctor said all done". He was also very excited to get his coffee for the morning. 🤣 He was home by early afternoon that day. We were told we'd get results in a couple of days.

On Friday, January 27 we were told Steve has Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). An appointment was made to meet with the Radiology Oncologist right away Monday morning. At this appointment it was explained to us that there are two main types of lung cancer. Small cell and non-small cell. Unfortunately Steve has the more aggressive kind. It was made clear that Steve needed to start treatment immediately. They want to treat his brain first to prevent new spots from popping up. He will be doing 10 days of radiation on his brain. Orginially they thought he'd do a more targeted approach for radiation, buy because the cancer is aggressive they are doing a more widespread approach. Steve was fitted for his radiation mask and told he would be starting treatment as soon as his mask came back.

On Wednesday, February 1 we met with Steve's Medical Oncologist to talk about the rest of the plan. We were told that while Steve's cancer is treatable it is not curable. He specifically has extensive stage 4 SCLC. After his radiation treatment for his brain he will also be doing chemo and radiation on the spot on his lung. They will rescan to check his progress and he will also do immunotherapy.

I (Diana) will continue to update Steve's progress and treatment as he goes through it. For now we ask for your continued prayers as Steve definitely needs them. It's going to be a long road, but we're choosing to remain hopeful! ❤️

Newest Update

Journal entry by Diana Macziewski — Mar 27, 2024

Long over due update...

Steve wrapped up round two of his clinical trial. So that would be 2 rounds of treatment spaced 3 weeks apart, then waiting another 3 weeks before redoing all of his scans. He had his scans last Thursday and met on Friday to get results and discuss what is next.

The results: The good news is there are no new tumors anywhere! The tumors in Steve's brain have grown a tiny bit since his last scans in January. They are still considered very small though. His lung tumors have not changed, but the tumor on his kidney has grown roughly 1cm since January. The ones near his lymph nodes in that area have not changed. Because of this it appears that the clinical trial is not working for Steve. He was taken out of the trial on Friday with the recommendation to start radiation on the tumor on his kidney. Steve and Cathy opted to return closer to home for treatment moving forward. The cost of travel and stay in Rochester was just getting to be too much for them. The tentative plan is to do radiation on his kidney, then start chemo again. We are hoping insurance will also approve immunotherapy to be done at the same time as chemo.

Steve meets with his oncologist in Willmar tomorrow afternoon where a more detailed plan will get discussed. The biggest thing will be to get him going on treatment ASAP so that it doesn't spread anymore.

Thanks for the continued prayers! ❤️

Read More of the journal titled "March 27, 2024"

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