I'm the wife, Hannah. My husband is the fighter. I call him Mr. Steven, babe, and sometimes even Esteban. We fight together, of course, but he's the one throwing the punches and kicking cancer's butt.
He was 26 and I was 24 when we got the diagnosis. It was three months after we gave birth to and, subsequently, lost our 1-week-old daughter, Milena. The in-between, as I like to call it, between the tragedy of losing our daughter and the tragedy of my husband's diagnosis, we were feeling disconnected in our marriage. Conversations did not flow the same and the unity felt "off."
Then we arrived on June 13th of 2021. Steven had been feeling sick on and off for the past week or so. The fatigue was a lot and he began feeling as though his appendix were about to burst. So, we finally went to the ER. It is funny looking back now. We were so worried about the $300 copay, lo and behold, we would be spending way more than that in the coming year.
They did the CT scan and found that his spleen was enlarged. After the scan his appendix pain went away. We fully believe the Lord was pushing us to forget the money and get to the ER. You can't chicken noodle soup your way out of cancer or the fantom appendicitis. We needed help.
We got admitted to the hospital and the next day we got the preliminary diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A few days later we would find that he was Philadelphia Positive. Thus began the journey. The fight. The soul-breaking fight against cancer that has brought us so stinkin' close and changed our outlook on EVERYTHING. The circuits reconnected. It's like he became the man I once knew again and at the same time he was someone totally new.
Steven and I have struggled with the anxiety that cancer struck us with and the grief we were still working through. But a garden is growing from the manure we're in. It's still manure, but we do see good and beauty that comes from it.
We learned A LOT about A LOT to say the least. Steven went on to do 2 rounds of Hyper CVAD A and B with Rituxan while also taking Dasatinib. By the end of the fourth cycle (2nd cycle of part B), Steven had a faint trace of leukemia still detectable by the PCR ABL test on his blood. His bone marrow test was MRD NEG! But with that faintest trace of PH+ leukemia still detectable, our doctors advised us to undergo transplant to give us the best odds.
Steven's older brother was a 100% match. Praise the Lord! Our Father in Heaven has gone before us and prepared a way for us. We are so thankful for our Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides.
Steven did 2 cycles of the Blincyto and also switched to the Ponatinib during our time preparing for transplant and killing off the last little bits.
We were delayed from transplant a couple times. Once because we contracted covid 3 days before our admission date. The second because the doctors thought the leukemia was coming back. Thankfully the unusual cells were not derived from leukemia but were a immune response from having covid.
Currently, we are on day +7! Steven is doing great, in my opinion. He obviously feels like awful but he is able to keep his positive attitude, jokes, and confidence in God walking us through this. We are vigilant in advocating for the best care possible and protecting him from all forms of infection and diseases. The chemo and radiation were rough but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
We are fighting and best of all he is fighting for us!
Written by Hannah.
Steven
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
