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May 26-Jun 01

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Hello family and friends! Steve and I are sitting on the couch watching Brewers Baseball (they are winning tonight!) and reflecting on the final hours of what is likely to be Steve’s final at home infusion, bringing to completion his 8th and hopefully final chemotherapy treatment. We’ve shared a couple of photos so you all can see what his home infusion experience looks like. He’s been a good sport about having his little chemo ball around his waist for 46 hours every two weeks but I don’t think he’s too sad that this is the last one. 

Steve continues to experience side effects from chemo. He continues to have extreme sensitivity to cold. He is very tired. His taste buds are dead and we are at the “everything tastes like mashed potatoes” phase (and not the buttery, creamy good kind). He has finally experienced enough hair loss that he has cut his hair very, very short, and thus is cold and wears a lot of hats. And he has developed some neuropathy in his fingers and toes. This appears to be relatively mild and it remains to be seen if it is permanent or not. For many cancer patients it is. Thankfully his weight has remained steady throughout all treatment so far. We are grateful for this and credit Mom’s cookies and bars, my Saint Ben’s colleagues’ provided dinners and Steve’s determination to keep eating even when he didn’t feel like it. 

At yesterday’s doctor’s appointment before treatment started we discussed all the next steps because even though chemotherapy is complete treatment is not. Next week on May 8 we will meet with the surgeon to learn all about the surgical phase of Steve’s treatment. We will learn if and when the next MRI and CT scans will take place so we can know how effective the chemotherapy was at continuing to shrink the tumor and reduce the cancer in Steve’s lymph nodes. And we will likely schedule the two surgeries needed to remove the tumor and affected lymph nodes and then resect Steve’s colon, or as I like to say, Humpty Dumpty him back together again. But I am speculating at this point and will share more once we have met with the surgeon and have factual information to share. So more to come next week…

In the meantime, we continue to feel and appreciate all your support, encouragement, and love. Thank you for taking such good care of us! Love, Steve and Valerie


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