Aid Steve in his battle with Stage 4 Stomach Cancer

Steve is the husband of a very dear cousin of mine, and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Cancer has affected his and his family's lives, and being family, I am reaching out for help in supporting him during this journey.

In January of 2023, Steve had gone in for a routine annual physical. He had mentioned to a doctor previously that he had stomach pain, but the pains weren’t enough for the insurance company to approve any time of x-ray or scan. At this physical, his wife, Deb, asked what the Doctor said about the weight loss and pain, and that prompted a scan to be ordered. Unfortunately, they found a mass in the distal portion of his stomach.

Multiple tests and biopsies later, he was told he had stage 3 gastric cancer, due to the size of the tumor. This was a complete shock to Steve, his wife Deb, and his family being that Steve was a fairly healthy 54 year old.

The plan was to do chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and then do a partial Gastrectomy, removing part of his stomach. After removing a portion of the stomach, the surgeon was only able to get a few lymph nodes due to the surgery lasting 8 ½ hours. Those lymph nodes were tested and were negative for cancer.

After surgery, Steve was to continue with chemotherapy, but was only able to do one infusion as the surgery recovery and side effects from chemo were too much. The Oncologist thought it would be in Steve’s best interest to discontinue chemotherapy at that time. A scan was done in October as the baseline comparison scan, and moving forward, the scans would occur every three months.

In January the scan was clear but the scan in April showed some concerning spots. Again, Steve went through multiple tests and biopsies, trying to confirm it was metastatic gastric cancer and not a new cancer and it was confirmed it was metastatic. The cancer was now in his liver and lymph nodes. The doctor let them know that this type of cancer doesn’t always show up right away and can be very aggressive.

Chemotherapy was started once again with worsening side effects. He had a reaction to one chemo, so they switched to a different one which caused different side effects. His legs were bothersome and he had severe pain in his abdomen, but the Oncologist thought they were just side effects of the chemo.

Steve and Deb would ask questions each visit and were always told that the scan is hard to differentiate between progression or inflammation, so they didn’t know if the cancer had continued spreading, although they were told it was unchanged in the liver. When reading the after-visit notes on line, they realized the Oncologist had not been honest with them. In fact, the notes stated the cancer had progressed.

At that point, they decided a second opinion would be needed, and Steve was seen in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic this past November. Mayo found he had multiple blood clots, four that were causing complete blockages in his legs and another that was found in his lung. They immediately started treating those with blood thinners. After additional scans and blood work, Steve and Deb met with Oncology.

The Oncologist at Mayo gave them news they did not want to hear.

He is now battling Stage 4 Gastric Cancer. Cancer HAD been progressing and is currently in both lungs, his liver, upper and lower abdomen and lymph nodes. This news devastated them both, but they are trying to keep a positive outlook. The Oncologist at the Mayo Clinic said to stay the course with the current chemo as the options now were limited due to the blood clots.

The severe pain in Steve’s abdomen is being caused by a cancer mass pressing on the Celiac Artery, which is the bile and GI tract artery. His options to control the pain are radiation to see if that helps, and pain meds. Steve is a truck driver and had to stop working, as he cannot take pain meds while doing so. He has lost a total of 38 pounds since the cancer returned. He was also referred to Palliative Care to help manage the pain as best as possible.

Radiation started the 9th of December, and there is no guarantee it will help, but he they are hopeful that it may alleviate some of the pain in order to give him a better quality of life. Those appointments are 10 days, and he was told his side effects would become much worse during this time, mainly eating. He was trying to maintain or gain weight before the process started and he was unable to gain any.

Steve is a very proud and private person, so agreeing to share his story has been exceptionally hard for him. He always took care of his family, and he is now unable to do so. Without assistance, Steve and Deb will struggle with medical and monthly expenses.

He is an incredible Husband, Dad, Grandpa and friend. He is always the one to help others when he can but this time, he is the one needing help.

I am reaching out with a humble request for assistance as they navigate through the unknown of the disease. The road ahead will not be easy, but with your prayers and support, he can focus on himself and his treatment.

He will never be free from cancer but is hoping for many more years and memories with his loved ones.

All donations will go towards medical and monthly expenses to keep them afloat until he is able to return to work.

Please share his story, and keep Steve in your prayers.