Help Steve Tap Cancer Out
Donation protected
***NOTE: We have deactivated donations. We will continue to post updates on his treatments here. The outpouring of support has been incredible. Steve, Linda, and Steve's mother Vertelee in particular want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of their hearts.
***NOTE: We updated our target fundraising goal to $20,000. This will help cover Steve's out of pocket costs through December 2019! There will be more costs associated with Steve’s ongoing check ups and chemo in 2020, but we do not plan on increasing the target any further. Thank you for your Support!!***
Anyone who knows Steve knows he is one of the best of us. Always cheerful and positive, he loves building others up. A brown belt in Jiu Jitsu, Steve is usually the last person to leave the mat, whether he’s helping out teammates, or getting tips from the upper belts who gravitate towards his positive energy. Steve is an incredibly giving guy, and now he needs our help…
Steve is battling a rare and aggressive cancer for the second time in two years. As he travels for an incredibly risky state-of-the-art treatment in New York, the bills continue to pile up. Steve has reached his health insurance out-of-pocket maximum of $7000 for 2019, and many other bills will not be covered. Steve, the sole provider for his wife and son, will have to go on disability (60% of his income) for at least the next 4 months, making a tight budget even tighter. Steve will have to pay his mortgage, travel bills, and lodging in New York during treatment by any means necessary. The bills will continue into next year. As his medical insurance resets in 2020, he will need to continue buying medication and travelling to New York for follow ups.
Steve and his wife Linda are truly great people. They have not asked for any of this help, but through conversations with them and his family, we have found out how tight their finances really are. Our target of $10,000 will not even cover the financial costs his family has had to bear thus far. Right now, Steve and Linda need to focus on Steve’s recovery. Let’s help them not worry about their finances too! Please consider donating what you can and sharing this go fund me on social media!
Steve’s Illness
Shortly before Steve moved back to New Orleans in 2017, he noticed a lump in his neck. Several months of misdiagnoses followed until July 2017 when an excisional biopsy confirmed he had a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He immediately started Chemo-Therapy, completing 6 rounds. Medicines were infused directly into his body through a port, 24 hours a day for a week at a time.
After a very rough few months, a PET Scan found him clear of cancer, but two years later, in June 2019, Steve discovered a new lump in his armpit. The same cancer had come back. Steve started Chemo for the second time. This time, doctors used a different drug with hopes of targeting the cancer more accurately. The new drug didn’t need to be infused through a port, allowing Steve to continue working & training Jiu Jitsu.
Amazingly, Steve trained throughout his Chemo-Therapy. Many of his training partners had no idea that while he was tapping them, and even the black belts out, he was fighting a much larger battle.
These new rounds of Chemo have worked. Steve’s cancer went into remission again, but the doctors believe it is likely to come back. Steve has Alk-positive Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL), a very rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma. Combined with the fact that it has come back so fast, his best option to beat this cancer for good is a Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant.
Now, Steve and his wife are going to New York to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he will undergo an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. Unlike traditional donor transplants, this process will harvest Steve’s own stem cells from his bone marrow. He will then be given a high dose of chemotherapy that will kill his stem cells & almost every white blood cell in his body. The harvested stem cells can then be transplanted back into his body, allowing for new blood cell production.
This is a high risk, and incredibly tough procedure for Steve and his family. Killing off his immune system will leave him at risk of a life threatening infection. A very sick Steve will lose all of his hair (again), and need to be isolated. Linda will have to be with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week, supporting him and keeping records for the transplant team. The hardest part may be that Steve will have to be separated from his 3-year-old son Tommy for the 2-3 months he’s going through all this.
This process will continue into 2020. Steve could be immunocompromised for at least a year after the transplant. He will still need medications and follow up visits with his Doctors in New York. Even after all this, there is no guarantee that the cancer will not come back, but this is Steve’s best hope.
Steve is a loving husband and father as well as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt. Let's help Steve tap cancer out!
***NOTE: We updated our target fundraising goal to $20,000. This will help cover Steve's out of pocket costs through December 2019! There will be more costs associated with Steve’s ongoing check ups and chemo in 2020, but we do not plan on increasing the target any further. Thank you for your Support!!***
Anyone who knows Steve knows he is one of the best of us. Always cheerful and positive, he loves building others up. A brown belt in Jiu Jitsu, Steve is usually the last person to leave the mat, whether he’s helping out teammates, or getting tips from the upper belts who gravitate towards his positive energy. Steve is an incredibly giving guy, and now he needs our help…
Steve is battling a rare and aggressive cancer for the second time in two years. As he travels for an incredibly risky state-of-the-art treatment in New York, the bills continue to pile up. Steve has reached his health insurance out-of-pocket maximum of $7000 for 2019, and many other bills will not be covered. Steve, the sole provider for his wife and son, will have to go on disability (60% of his income) for at least the next 4 months, making a tight budget even tighter. Steve will have to pay his mortgage, travel bills, and lodging in New York during treatment by any means necessary. The bills will continue into next year. As his medical insurance resets in 2020, he will need to continue buying medication and travelling to New York for follow ups.
Steve and his wife Linda are truly great people. They have not asked for any of this help, but through conversations with them and his family, we have found out how tight their finances really are. Our target of $10,000 will not even cover the financial costs his family has had to bear thus far. Right now, Steve and Linda need to focus on Steve’s recovery. Let’s help them not worry about their finances too! Please consider donating what you can and sharing this go fund me on social media!
Steve’s Illness
Shortly before Steve moved back to New Orleans in 2017, he noticed a lump in his neck. Several months of misdiagnoses followed until July 2017 when an excisional biopsy confirmed he had a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He immediately started Chemo-Therapy, completing 6 rounds. Medicines were infused directly into his body through a port, 24 hours a day for a week at a time.
After a very rough few months, a PET Scan found him clear of cancer, but two years later, in June 2019, Steve discovered a new lump in his armpit. The same cancer had come back. Steve started Chemo for the second time. This time, doctors used a different drug with hopes of targeting the cancer more accurately. The new drug didn’t need to be infused through a port, allowing Steve to continue working & training Jiu Jitsu.
Amazingly, Steve trained throughout his Chemo-Therapy. Many of his training partners had no idea that while he was tapping them, and even the black belts out, he was fighting a much larger battle.
These new rounds of Chemo have worked. Steve’s cancer went into remission again, but the doctors believe it is likely to come back. Steve has Alk-positive Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL), a very rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma. Combined with the fact that it has come back so fast, his best option to beat this cancer for good is a Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant.
Now, Steve and his wife are going to New York to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he will undergo an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. Unlike traditional donor transplants, this process will harvest Steve’s own stem cells from his bone marrow. He will then be given a high dose of chemotherapy that will kill his stem cells & almost every white blood cell in his body. The harvested stem cells can then be transplanted back into his body, allowing for new blood cell production.
This is a high risk, and incredibly tough procedure for Steve and his family. Killing off his immune system will leave him at risk of a life threatening infection. A very sick Steve will lose all of his hair (again), and need to be isolated. Linda will have to be with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week, supporting him and keeping records for the transplant team. The hardest part may be that Steve will have to be separated from his 3-year-old son Tommy for the 2-3 months he’s going through all this.
This process will continue into 2020. Steve could be immunocompromised for at least a year after the transplant. He will still need medications and follow up visits with his Doctors in New York. Even after all this, there is no guarantee that the cancer will not come back, but this is Steve’s best hope.
Steve is a loving husband and father as well as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt. Let's help Steve tap cancer out!
Organizer and beneficiary
Charles Haymon
Organizer
New Orleans, LA
Linda Springer
Beneficiary