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Steve’s Story

Site created on November 2, 2019

"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. " (Psalm 61:1-3)
The spring and summer of 2019 brought good mornings for great bicycling for Steve. From mid April through September, he pedaled his bike 1200 miles! An average ride was 30 miles, but he did a few longer rides, including a 61 mile ride after his 61st birthday and the 100 mile Tour de Corn in Mitchell, SD in mid. August. With all that background, he was perplexed that at the end of the summer, instead of getting stronger, he was going slower and his heart rate was rising.
On Oct. 1st, we flew to OR to see our son and to celebrate Steve's mom's 80th birthday. We had a wonderful week out there with family, with the exception of the cough Steve seemed to have picked up on the plane.....or so we thought. At one point he coughed so hard in the night, he wondered if he cracked a rib. He told me he would go to the Dr. when we got home if the cough wasn't better.
Steve kept his word and went to the Dr. Oct 11th. After a series of tests, it was discovered that he has a tumor on his kidney and at that time nodules that had spread to his lungs. We saw an oncologist for the first time Oct. 24th, and his recommendation was to see a urologist and just remove the kidney, then treat the nodules later. On Oct. 30th, we saw the urologist for the first time, with high hopes of getting the kidney removed and moving forward. Unfortunately, between the 24th and the 30th, Steve started to have severe pain in his shoulders and his hip. The urologist ordered an MRI, and that revealed cancer had moved into his bones in a few different spots.
After realizing that, the urologist consulted with 5 other colleagues from around the country and all agreed it would be better to begin treatment systemically before attempting surgery. A kidney removal would mean no treatment for the spots on his bones or in his lungs until he healed from surgery- which would be another 6-8 weeks. Not a good option.
On Nov. 4th, Steve is scheduled for a biopsy to determine which type of treatment they will do. They will put in a port at that time. Then we wait to see the pathology report, and wait to start treatment.
Many people have reached out and helped us already in many different ways: Meals, house cleaning, selling one of our cars and even moving a recliner for Steve to sleep in just to name a few! We so appreciate it and feel deeply loved. The question keeps coming up: What do you need? How can we help? Right now, there is no doubt that the most important thing you can do for us is to pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask Him to heal Steve's body, either miraculously, or medically, or both! He is our Healer. He is the Great Physician. Come Lord Jesus, come.
Romans 8:38 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor ANYTHING ELSE in all creation (including cancer) will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Steve's motto has been, "God's got this". We believe that with all that is within. We trust Him as we walk this journey, for we know He goes before us and will be with us . (Duet. 31:8).

Newest Update

Journal entry by terry walters — Mar 22, 2020

Hi Friends,

I have been thinking today about how hard it is to believe Steve’s been gone 2 weeks already. The week leading up to the funeral was so busy that it hasn’t really begun to sink in until now. Now I’m trying to find the new normal at a very strange time in history.

I am grateful to everyone who came, and to everyone who stayed home and watched from afar.

I am also SO thankful we were even able to have a service. The funeral home director told me that Steve’s service was the last they could do for the time being. It seems God kept him with us as long as He could, and then quietly called him home before the world got even crazier and we couldn’t have a funeral. On that note, I do know of someone who lost her husband to cancer and can’t have a funeral now. I’m sure there are lots of people in that situation. Heartbreaking. If you know someone going through that type of loss, please do pray for them. I can’t imagine not have the outpouring of love and support I received in person. There’s something only in person hugs can do! Thank you all so much for that.

Dear Jesus, thank you for all these dear friends that prayed for Steve and our family through Steve’s illness. They walked with us through deep pain, and helped carry us through very difficult days. Please bless them richly. I also think of those who are losing loved ones these days and not able to have a funeral right now. Please sustain them and comfort them in a special way as only You can. Place them in a bubble of Grace, surrounding them with Your presence. We also pray for the world we live in today and ask that You use these situations to draw people closer to You. I’m Jesus name I pray, Amen.

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