Steve’s Story

Site created on April 17, 2019

While on vacation in Florida with a friend and family, Steve had intense headaches and was lethargic. He went back to Atlanta  and went to the hospital where he was diagnosed via MRI with a brain tumor. Additional tests were done and also showed a cancer in the lung. Specialists were required and he was ambulanced to Emory. He spent 5 days in the Intensive care unit where the focus was in reducing The edema of the brain. 


The immediate concern was the brain lesion which is located deep in his Thalamus. Steve had radio surgery on his brain lesion a few weeks ago in which they inserted radiation directly into the tumor. We will find out by the end of May how the tumor is responding to radiation but he continues to feel well and is on steroids to reduce any inflammation. 


The primary source of the cancer is in the lung (which is a bit odd since he has never been a smoker).  Steve has been diagnosed with a genetic cancer  mutation which will continue to grow unless stopped. Thankfully there are a few specialty drugs which are targeted toward this mutation. Steve will start that regime next week. 








Newest Update

Journal entry by Steve Chmura

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support! The doctors have now read all my scans and they are unchanged from the previous scans so they consider the cancer to "be stable." The MRI is completely unchanged and shows the Tagrisso continues to work as intended, praise God!The main tumor actually looks a little smaller which is a true miracle. In the end, the Dr reminded me to live by how I feel, not by what the scans look like and I continue to feel GREAT! Your prayers, healthy living and a positive mental attitude are keeping me motivated and alive!

Grateful to have you all along for this roller coaster of a journey. Next scans are in April!

God Bless

Steve

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