February 2016 update
Steve had a CT scan last week which showed regrowth of both the primary colon tumor and metastatic liver tumors. This means that the maintenance chemotherapy was not working and so he is back on a more toxic regimen. The additional drug is not the same one that he was on initially last year and it is early yet to gauge how he will tolerate it over the next several months. In addition to the usual unpleasant chemo side effects (fatigue, nausea), this one comes with neuropathy (bad news for a piano player) and sensitivity to cold (winter presents some challenges but at least he can proactively minimize exposure).
So disappointing news, but the hope is that this next round of chemo will kick the cancer back again without wreaking too much havoc on the rest of his body. Meanwhile, this has forced Steve to slow down—a little—but his spirit and determination are as strong as ever.
Thanks as always for your care and support.
Comments (20)
Steve, Betsy, Marion and Ann. Darn! The news you shared is very disappointing, but i hope the new chemo is tolerable and effective. Sometimes, it takes time to get the right drug, and this could be it. Steve, every day, you are making a positive difference in the world. i hope that knowledge and the love of and love from your wonderful family and community are sources of joy and hope. We need you! Barbara Rimer
Steve: I'm sorry for this disappointing news and with others hope this change of medication proves helpful. A bit of news from here. I go to U. of Calif. Irvine next month to give a power point presentation on Ed Martell and Carl Johnson. To put this together I relied on the article on these two in TORTURED SCIENCE. I am just starting to write an article on standards for permissible exposure to radiation for a book that Kristen Iverson and a man at Smithsonian are doing and asked me to contribute to. Here I'll lean heavily on your work on plutonium for the Rocky Flats class action lawsuit. I am reading a book that makes me think of you -- BEING MORTAL: MEDICINE AND WHAT MATTERS IN THE END, by Atul Gawande. I highly recommend it. Warmest regards, good friend. LeRoy
Steve, Betsy, Marion, and Ann - whew, that is rough news. Steve, I hope the chemo does its work and doesn't give you too difficult a time. Keep the music going one way or another. I'm sending healing thoughts and energy. Craig
Dear Steve, This is disappointing news, and I know it must have been a big letdown for you and your family. It certainly is for your friends here in Baltimore. I hope the therapeutic/toxic ratio of your new chemo finds you an outlier with maximum benefit and none of the neuropathy. Your life and your work continue to be an inspiration. With warm good wishes for some positive results over the coming weeks, Bob
Wish this was better news, but I know we all are grateful for updates. Keeping you in my thoughts and sending love as you start this new treatment.
I send positive vibes from Canada, Steve and family. Rooting for you we all are! Stamina and hope and this will hopefully be beat! Thank you so much for the periodic updates. Thinking of you with hope and in admiration!
I am concerned! Steve stay strong!
Steve and family, More love and best wishes from your friends in Boston. Like Bob Lawrence, I hope (expect) you are an outlier way out on the survival curve. We're all pulling for you. Dick
My thoughts and prayers for you, Steve, and family, and you go through the next rounds of chemo.
Dear Wing Family, We are so sorry to hear this news and send you big hugs, ealing and support each and every day. We love you, Kim and Lewie
Steve, your spirit continues to uplift me, and I am much in awe of you and your beautiful family. I send you bright orange poppies splashed across green-grass hills, here in Southern California. The poppies' vital energy is going deeply into your body cells, renewing and vitalizing you. Lots of love, Barbara Janeway
Much love.. and many prayers to you all and to Steve..... Hugs.. Myra Dotson
The news is not what we hoped to read, but you have a good plan to keep attacking this evil interloper. Betsy, Marion, and Ann, continue to wrap your arms around Steve and know all of your friends, who are scattered throughout the nation, are there in spirit doing the same. All one has to do is read the posts to this journal to realize how many lives your family has touched. Gordon and I send all good thoughts, vibes, and love to all of you from New Hampshire. Steve, keep fighting the good fight, as you always have. Betsy, an extra hug to you. Love, Bernie and Gordon
Dear Steve, Betsy, Marion, and Ann, So sorry to hear this news. We are Hoping that this round of Chemo has positive and lasting effects.... You all are inspirational, Diane and i are sending our best thoughts Prayers and MoJo to help cradle and support Your loving Family.... Steve hoping we will get to play together again at Barbara Lorie's B'day party..... All Love from Diane and Scotty
Dear Steve and Family, this is a battle and determination can make miracles happen against all odds. This life is part of a longer journey, and how we came into it and how we exit is all part of our destiny. All we can do is try our best to pass these difficult tests we face, and you are such an example, and this test is just one of many others you have before won. with my best to you and the supportive family and friends surrounding you. Wael
Steve, Betsy, and family - you are a marvel in all ways, and this is another example of how you bring out strength, force honesty and integrity, and win the most unwinnable challenges. I continue to feel light coming from NC and your home. Sampson, Peter, and I are watching and learning from your greatness.
Thinking of you Wings lots and sending lots of love and healing energies! -Emily & Burke
Thinking of you all and keeping you in my heart. Sending thoughts of spring and warm weather from Maine, along with wishes for strength, spirit and spunk. - Abby
I keep thinking about you and your family, Steve and continue to send hugs and healing energy to you! Cathy
On another note, Steve.... I've been meaning to write to you for a long time and was either too lazy, too busy, too distracted, too.... Now it occurs to me that this public forum is a perfectly fine place for what I wanted to tell you personally (you will surely cringe at the "public display," but please forgive me). I am so grateful to you for being the person you are. Over our almost 30 years of knowing each other, there have been many times when we disagreed about issues. Truthfully though, as we talked things through I always ended up feeling we weren't as far as apart in our views as it appeared on the surface. What is important in this is not whether or not we had similar views. The important thing is that we were always able to talk and you never, ever made me feel diminished as an individual no matter how erroneous you may have considered my "knowledge" to be. In this era where everyone is so quick to label alternative viewpoints as ignorant or stupid or bigoted, this nonjudgmental, humanistic, respectful approach that is the essence of who you are is HUGE! It allows for real discourse instead of simply politically correct rhetoric. When we have respectful sharing of thoughts, we actually open each other up to the possibility of learning from one another and understanding what leads the other person to his or her belief system. I believe this is essential for true learning and for enabling positive changes in the world. Sadly, I have observed the world of public health to be quite lacking in this quality. One only has to spend a little time on Facebook (if you don't know what Facebook is, ask one of your daughters. ha ha!) to see how quickly some people are to say "I'm unfriending her/him" because s/he believes x, y, or z. How does one teach or guide anyone that way? I know for sure that if someone labels my thoughts as stupid or ignorant, I am going to shut down and dig in my heels. However, when I say I believe "x" and the other person says s/he believes "y" because of "z," it's amazing how often we discover that "x" and "y" are actually side by side. Okay, I'm lousy with analogies, but you get the point. Okay, this has been a verbose way of saying "Thank you, Steve, for being you."