Coaching Through Cancer

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Coaching Through Cancer

To coach, guide, educate and support cancer fighters along with their caregivers and/or support teams on the journey through treatment and beyond.... Join us!!

Over 4 years ago, cancer graced my life. It was a bone cancer, Stage IV in my lower left mandible. The tumor was removed along with teeth and tissue. 3 weeks after surgery I underwent Radiation and Chemo treatments together. The harshest thing I have done to myself, my body. Baseball was my saving grace through the recovery process. I was a small town Varsity baseball coach and coaching is a passion. 3 months after treatments ended, my jaw bone broke. No matter what we did, the bone would not heal. Eating was something that I did very carefully for almost 2 years hoping the bone would heal. I ended up in the hospital almost 2 years ago with my face swelling and had to get IV antibiotics for 60 days straight in a pic line. At that time, I jumped at the chance to do hyperbaric dives to help my body heal. I did 45 dives total. After all was said and done, the infection came back. I then ended up from a referral from a great doctor to another facility. They found the bone had broke apart and punctured the gum tissue. On March 23rd of 2021, I had the fibula/flap procedure done to rebuild my jaw. This was a surgery that was very intense and the recovery process was lengthy. I recovered, not as fast as I would of liked, but again was on the field for my final season as a coach. The boys I coached I had to see through and were my inspiration of working to get better and be there on the field with them. All went well, until last Thanksgiving. A biopsy of gum tissue showed invasive squamous cell carcinoma. The surgeon removed more teeth with tissue. We thought all was well until 6 weeks ago when more biopsies showed more cancer and it had metastasized, moving to my lymph nodes (5 total) a spot on my right lung and an open cancer wound in my mouth. I was told to get my affairs in order....a very hard phone call to receive. With that, Stacey and myself reached out to my Oncologist from my first go around and ended up at Mayo.....Now we are fighting, but have an incredible team up there. We are currently doing immunotherapy and we qualified for an experimental trial that we just underwent the first round of. This is our journey as we go through this, the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, the tears, the laughs.

08/03/2025

I got him out of the house for a bit on this beautiful Saturday afternoon!

Tony came home on Tuesday afternoon and has been resting, doing some work from home and adjusting to his new schedule.

It was a bit bumpy adjusting to everything when we got home but he seems to be getting the hang of “eating” and has successfully taking in 2500+ calories a day for the last few days. 👊🏻

He still gets pretty tired and not every day has been awesome but he’s adjusting and doing the best he can with the changes.

He’s opted out of, for the moment, “eating” anything by mouth. He’s drank some fluids but 98% of his nutrition and hydration are through his feeding tube until he feels comfortable that his lungs are healthy. We simply don’t want to take the risk of getting pneumonia again Healing is the most important thing at the moment.

So…I’ve been making all the foods he doesn’t like 🤪 to eat for my meals and doing my best to not give it a second thought.

We are at the beginning of this stage of healing. He is by no means a 100%….he’s more like 54% himself right now. 😉 But improving and getting stronger one day at a time.

I still ask him constantly, “Are you ok?”, which I’m sure he grows tired of hearing but he knows it’s coming from a place of love.

Anyway, I wanted to share with everyone that he’s home and he’s healing. Slowly. But he’s home and I am forever grateful for this.

Hug your loved ones tight today. Enjoy this beautiful weekend and never, ever, ever take one moment for granted - even the really crappy ones. In the end, all the moments are the best moments that you get to spend with your loves. 🫶🏻

Much love to all. ❤️
Stacey and Tony

02/03/2025

Apparently I’m the only one amused with my picture taking abilities! But…I’m choosing to see our current situation with a lense of lightness instead of the alternative.

It’s been a challenging few months for Tony and we acknowledge that we’ve not been super transparent with everyone since we started this leg of our journey back in December. We know you all have been thinking about Tony and sending all the love and prayers. Which we are incredibly thankful for.

So, let me take you back to December when things took a turn for Tony. He hadn’t been feeling great for a while , lack of appetite, low energy, poor sleep and gradual weight loss.

We had made a trip to Mayo at the end of October to see if there was anything we could do about the trach at any point - which we cannot and the trach is permanent. And while there, they found that he had an infection in and around his trach and sent a sample off to the lab for further testing.

They promptly put him on an antibiotic, which seemed to help. Later, at his oncology appt we shared with them the test results from the culture they took at Mayo and sent us to infectious disease for further evaluation. It took a week to get into see that doctor and Tony progressively got worse. More mucus, continued lack of appetite, nausea, etc. it wasn’t pretty.

Come to find out, the ID Doc explained that he had pneumonia. We were grateful that it wasn’t something worse and was treatable. Then we start round #2 of antibiotics.

He gets better-ish. By this time the holidays are creeping up on us, he’s still not feeling awesome and decides to take the remaining month of December off to rest. We again, were grateful for his work being so understanding and for the time to stay home and recover. In December he did have scans and thankfully 🙏 everything was stable.

Now, I wish I could tell you that rest in December did the trick but he continued to decline, eat less and have more and more mucus.

At his regular scheduled treatment appointment on Jan 2nd, they immediately sent us to the ER with elevated white blood cell counts, extreme drop in weight and very low potassium. It was here that they determined it was still the pneumonia and very serious.

He spent 6 days on heavy IV antibiotics, fluids and was eating regular food. His energy was better and the color back in his face. We also determined that the pneumonia was caused by food/fluid getting into his lungs - not from being exposed to someone that was sick.

He was able to pass the solid food part of his swallow test but liquids from that point on, needed to be thickened to keep them from going down “the wrong way”.

Again…I wish I had good news at this point but there was another trip to the ER and we are now on our 3rd hospital stay since the beginning of the year. Nothing we were doing was helping, he wasn’t getting better and the extreme weight loss was frightening to watch.

After losing 12 lbs in 2 weeks (with a total of 70 lbs lost since Oct 😳🥺) with no improvement in symptoms even on an oral antibiotic, his oncologist said enough is enough. It’s time for a feeding tube to get him well. And we agreed. The up and down of this journey has been heart wrenching. 😞😞

On Friday morning, he had a feeding tube placed and finally started to get some solid nutrition that afternoon. He has successfully completed 2 full “meals” through the tube that they’ve given him slowly over the last 2 days.

On Monday, he will do another swallow test to determine if he can “eat” real food in addition to the feeding tube. We are pretty certain it’s liquids that are the culprit causing the pneumonia and not solids, but we will know tomorrow.

Whew. Ok. That was a lot. But the takeaway for everyone is that:

1. The pneumonia was from fluid/food getting into his lungs. All due to the damage and trauma to his neck and throat over the 7 year’s.

2. The feeding tube will help his lungs heal, get the needed nutrients that he’s been lacking for months and help him gain some much needed weight back.

We do not know if the feeding tube will be permanent but we are grateful he has it so he can recover.

Through all of this, he’s had only a few treatments so we pray that his cancer continues to stay stable. We will have scans some time this month.

You all know Tony is not a quitter and the last few months he has proven that this is not the end of this journey. We simply have too much life left to live together. ❤️🙏

So. I choose to see the light on this journey as it would be too easy for us both to fall too far into the dark if we chose to. Every day we have a choice to live, to be grateful, to be kind, forgiving and lead with love and gratitude. Today, I’m grateful he humors me with goofy pictures even if he doesn’t smile….because he’s still here with me to take them. 🙏❤️

Much love to you all! We are still here and we are still fighting this ugly battle with each other at our sides. ❤️🙏

23/12/2024

It’s this fellas birthday today!!! 🙌🥳🎄💚

It’s been a bit since we shared so I will give you all a quick update. It’s been a challenging fall for Tony’s health but we are finally on a path to healing.

Around October he picked up some kind of bug and was out for about a week. We thought he was doing better but after a routine trip to Mayo at the beginning of Nov they found that he had an infection around his trach that had settled in his lungs.

Two antibiotics later he was still not feeling awesome. We received test results from Mayo that suggested he had a fungal infection, black yeast, which was treated with an antifungal and an appt with the infectious disease doctor was set up.

For two weeks he struggled to breathe, couldn’t eat, was exhausted, night sweats and all we could think was that he had this awful fungal infection that was slowly growing in his lungs! Ugh. 😣 He simply wasn’t getting better.

Finally….we made it to the infectious disease doctor on Wed this week, praying for answers and direction. And come to find out, the “black yeast” was a non issue and would have already been cleared up after a week of the anti fungal meds.

So…what was the issue? Pneumonia. 🥺 We were relieved to hear that it was all fixable! 🙏🙏 The same day we met with his ENT and she said his trach looked good and we needed to continue his normal trach hygiene routine.

And to add to our good news, we received scan results the next day and everything is STABLE! No new growth. No new spots. No changes.

He’s been on medication for the pneumonia and is finally starting to feel like himself. Today was the first day in weeks that I’ve seen him eat an entire day of food that wasn’t a protein shake. Actual real food. 💚🙏

To say that we are grateful, is a complete understatement. The anxiety leading up to his appointments this last week was at an all time high, not fully understanding what was happening we were so relieved to hear good news two days in a row.

This holiday season we decided that we did not want to get each other gifts and asked that all we get from our kids was time with them. Togetherness and the continued opportunity to make memories and enjoy time with them was and is all we want. Not just during the holidays, but every day.

Today is more than just Tony’s birthday but another day we get to be together. Which means every day is a day to celebrate.

He will continue his biweekly immunotherapy treatments and scan again in 2-3 months. Our journey the next few months is to get him healthy so we can get back to living.

If you haven’t already, be sure to send him a birthday shout out! He loves hearing from all of you. 🙏

🤟🏻 Stacey and Tony

06/10/2024

This morning was the Especially for you 1 mile and 5k fundraiser that I had the privilege of participating in again thanks to my amazing, long time friend Tina Puetz and her workplace for sponsoring a team as they have in the past.

It was humbling to say the least the amount of people that showed up, donated, walked, ran, volunteered, cheered or simply just showed up to soak up some of the morning’s energy. This year the numbers registered were greater then last year creeping close to 17,000…YES…1.7.0.0.0 people that have either had breast cancer and are survivors, families and friends of those this terrible disease took from them, those still fighting it today and anyone who knows/knew someone with breast cancer or any cancer. 17,000.

I would love to say that this number decreases every year, however it continues to grow. My hope is that the number of survivors is great then the numbers that aren’t. I don’t have those statistics but I fear that is not the case.

However, what I saw today wasn’t disparity or sadness but I saw a sea of hope.

Hope that science can figure this out.
Hope that treatments will evolve and we WILL have more survivors.
Hope for continued early diagnosis.
Hope that there is a tomorrow to keep fighting. Beautiful, simple, hope.

As I lined up and found my bubble in the group of runners, my heart was overwhelmed by gratitude and pain all wrapped into one overflowing heart. I fought back tears as I was humbled by the bravery of anyone who has walked a mile or longer in cancers shoes. If you look around, some you can tell they’ve been fighting and others you may not even know. But they all showed up today in lilac and pink printed everything fighting their battles side by side. And for those that couldn’t be there, there stood families, friends, and coworkers fighting for them.

Today, I ran. I haven’t ran consistently for a long time. Mostly just walk runs but this morning felt different. I felt propelled by the breath of those not with us and those who are on this journey. And when my hip hurt or I was out of breath, I dug deep because if you have cancer you don’t get to stop and breathe. You are engulfed in it day in and day out. Even as a survivor, you still worry, what if it comes back.

Cancer does not pause when you feel like s**t and your body aches for balance.
Cancer does not care how you feel. It feeds on negativity that you may give in.

But don’t.
You can’t.
You must keep going.
Even when it hurts.
Even when you feel like death is just around the corner.
Hold onto hope.
Hope…will give you strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Simple. Beautiful. Hope. 💗

As I neared the finish line and I took only a few walking breaks I felt the energy of those in my life that are fighting or lost their fight. Not just breast cancer but cancer in general.

My husband.
My dad.
My mom. Not once but 3x.
My sister.
My sister in law.
My husband’s best friend.
My friend’s mom and dad.
There are so many.

I ran today and paused when I needed to but kept putting one foot in front of the other.

I did it for my people.
I did it for your people.
I did it for hope.

Cancer. You think it won’t happen to you or someone close to you. But it will and it does. And when that day comes, remember to keep fighting even when it’s scary and hard and horrible.

Pause.
Take a breath.
Keep fighting.
And hold onto hope.
Simple. Beautiful. Hope.

This morning was a good morning. Let’s remember to always keep fighting for hope together. 💗👊🏻✌🏻💗

~Stacey

30/09/2024

Hello Friends,

As promised after our last update, Tony and I quietly slipped into our normal day to day, finding comfort in the basics of every day living. We took some much needed time to ourselves to recover and find our new normal and it’s been a wonderful, peaceful time. For most, that would sound strange, that normal, every day living, would be a wonderful and peaceful escape…but for us, we were happy to step back into “normal”! We both needed time to recover from a challenging first half of the year.

Hard to believe that almost 3 months have past since we shared an update with everyone but here we are! Tomorrow is Oct 1st, summer has passed and we are ready for “fall” everything!

Tony is in full Iowa Football mode at work and was happy to have a few free weekends before the next home game. I’ve been busy with work and tailgating (while he’s AT work!)!

But to the point that you all are here for….”How is he doing??!?”

Well…he’s doing great! We had scans and results on the 19th and we were VERY pleased to find out that everything is STATUS QUO! 🙌🥹 NO new spots. NO measurable growth. NO changes! 👊🏻

We did ask about the possibility of having the lymph node on the right side of his neck surgically removed, the one that has had little change (which is not bad!) since we started this - we will find out on Thursday if that’s a possibility. We aren’t certain if they will simply because of the scar tissue and complexity of the location. But, it never hurts to ask the question.

He has been seeing wound care weekly for his left leg, where they removed the bone to rebuild his jaw 3 years ago. The scar tissue there has no feeling however because they removed so many lymph nodes from his neck and we also believe that with the trach placement there have been some “structural” changes, that his lymphatic fluid has no where to go but out that scar in his leg.

It progressively gotten worse after the trach placement and so his care team sent him to wound care to fix him up. It’s is getting better, however will take time.

Other than that, he’s been doing amazing! We are staying busy with normal life stuff and just simply living…it’s been wonderful. 😌

We have a couple of projects we’ve been working on during our “downtime” that we are excited to share with everyone soon!

Until then, keep living your every day, normal, amazing lives, one happy day at a time, friends. That’s what we will be doing and loving every minute. 🙏

🤟🏻 Stacey and Tony

12/06/2024

Hello everyone! Yep, Tony here! I need to reach out and let everyone know a couple things from this past week and my life the past 6 years….

In my past, before Stacey, my kids were my rocks, my anchor point. That hasn’t really changed but life or our vision of life changes. My 2 oldest flew the nest to pursue their lives and are doing incredibly well! Wyatt in Chicago working at Rose Mary’s a very up scale restaurant, which I highly recommend. He is chasing his dreams and I couldn’t be prouder of him for that. My daughter, Olivia is a manager at the new Single Speed in Des Moines. This is a brewery which again she busts her butt and does very well managing at least 20 people and keeping the place together with events and the like! For being as young as she is and managing, that’s a special person. Stop in if you are ever there, food and beer are amazing!! And my youngest, Gabe. He is out on his own, taking the route I pursued back in the day and is in his second year as an electrical apprentice with Local 405 in Cedar Rapids. Again, proud to see him striving out on his own. His relationship with me is so different than my other 2, but he is my mini me. All 3 of my kiddos are special and I miss times we shared years ago. When my first cancer go around hit with treatments, my kids and my mom were my anchor, my rocks, my help. Wyatt and Liv were already out pursuing there dreams and college, mom accompanied me to each treatment and Gabe, well that kid watched over me like a hawk when things got harsh from the treatments. He definitely grew up in a hurry from that. Everyone likes to see their kids do well in life but I have to brag, even being from a divorced situation, we, the kids’ mom and I, worked together to raise and teach all the core values of being great individuals! My kids are my life, my everything! Didn’t know that love can be so grand and to say I am proud of each of them is an understatement. Words cannot express my feelings!

Now jump ahead to my jaw reconstruction and this woman from my past enters my life, again. I never knew that you can love someone like I do her….my kids I love unconditionally but her, it is a love that has no definition. I’m here today because of her. Looking back to last week, I just kept trudging forward but she put her foot down last Thursday. I cannot say thank you enough for her knowing I was in trouble, because I just thought it was part of the process of the chemo from my past experience. That day was one of my best friends funeral’s and I really, truly feel everything happened on that day because of his guidance and Stacey loving me and understanding me.

Love has sooo many different definitions, and I thought I understood and knew that definition but…..then Stacey. Again, I cannot put into words my feelings for her. She has stood by me from day one. Even before she moved back, I had that difficult conversation once we knew the cancer was back and told her she didn’t have to be with me, she didn’t have to move back. She never batted an eye or hesitated. If I remember right, she got mad and was upset that we were even having that conversation. Again, part of love that has no words.

People, I have learned in my short life that things in life change, switch, stop, grow, continue and progress whether you want them to or not. The things I do know…..my rocks. They may have changed or evolved, grown or been replaced, but they are my foundation. My family, Vic and his wife, my parents, my kids, and Stacey. My foundation that is a base for growth and development. I’m not going anywhere and will fight for everything until my last breath, you can believe that. I’m not incredible, just a man that is trying to live his life, even through these imperfections. My base helps me with those imperfections.

Moral of my story……build your foundation and keep it solid. Even if something happens to one of those “rocks”, either fix the issue or replace it. Nothing is forever. Live now, don’t wait….let those know your feelings and talk to them regularly. This “I don’t have time”……well we all are on these phones and can take 20 seconds to send a message. Like Stacey said, tomorrow is not a guarantee, ever!

All my friends that have followed us, the prayers, thoughts, all of that feed the universe and we gladly take them. I’m hopeful we have great messages moving forward and not scary ones. I love each and everyone but most importantly…..my rocks I love so much. If you are married, give your significant other a squeeze. Stacey, can’t imagine my life right now without you….. I. Love. You. Wife!

12/06/2024

He’s finally HOME!

After 5 days in the hospital and 1.5 days of eating REAL food without any issues, this guy came home yesterday afternoon and we are both VERY thankful to have him back where he belongs.

On Monday, he passed his swallow test with flying colors and immediately got the food menu to order actual food to eat. He got meatloaf with mashed potatoes, a side of mashed potatoes 🤪, cooked carrots, a glass of milk, Diet Pepsi and chocolate ice cream. And you know what?

He ate every last bite of that giant plate of comfort food and the best part….he could actually TASTE all of it. 🥹🥹up until Wed he still couldn’t taste food from his chemo treatments and even the smell of some foods made him nauseous.

Well friends…not anymore! Some foods he’s tried he can’t taste yet but for the most part, he can taste most everything he’s eaten.

We often don’t think about the things that are part of daily lives that just happen naturally. Eating. Breathing. Walking. Talking. Sleeping. Moving. Tasting or smelling food. But when you can’t do any of those things, life looks and feels quite different. And to have ALL of those things back and working properly is truly a gift. One that we both are so freaking grateful for. Tony especially.

He’s not had any issues with his new neck jewelry 😉 and we are both learning his new normal as far as care, etc. This addition to our daily schedule is welcomed because it just means we can start living again. The pause button is no longer stuck in the on position. 🙏

So what’s next you ask? He will return to work full time on Monday (is anyone surprised by this? No!) he has zero restrictions for what he can and can’t do. He will just need to be mindful about covering up his neck when outside doing yard work or working on any of the items on his “honey do” list. 😉

He can eat and drink like normal, which he has continued to do. And sleeping….last night was SO quiet and I may have put my hand on him to make sure he was breathing but there was NO snoring, not even a little whisper from his trach. This silence was a beautiful noise. He no longer has sleep apnea! Ha! Not a route we recommend for anyone that has it. 🤪

Thank you to everyone that stopped by, called, texted, posted here and shared with me privately. Your support, love and kindness was felt by both of us.

Our plan now is to disappear into our “normal” lives. Do boring couple things together like eat dinner at the table, have a drink on Friday night, go to ball games, watch movies all night, drive around on the backroads doing nothing and enjoy every little thing that we do together and even those we do apart.

One day at a time, friends. One. Day. At. A. Time. 🤟🏻
Stacey and Tony

09/06/2024

This guy. 🥺

We almost lost him on Thursday. No really. There is no exaggeration here.

I watched the ER team desperately try to intubate him with every size tube they had and each attempt was a failure. After the 3rd attempt and the smallest tube available, they immediately took him to the OR for an emergency tracheotomy so that he could breathe.

Let me back up a bit for everyone. The last update we gave was a good one! We were/are so pleased to have stopped the chemo. His body was done with it. He’s spent the last 4 weeks still struggling to keep food down or taste it even, the phlegm was still abundant which didn’t help with his appetite and the fatigue just wasn’t improving.

We questioned everything at his immunotherapy appointment Thursday (mostly me because it just didn’t seem right that he was getting worse and not better) His labs were normal. His O2 was normal. And all the lingering side effects were part of the process. They said it could take a month or longer for the taxol (chemo) to filter out of his body and for him to start feeling better.

He was ok after treatment but the fatigue was just too much along with the lack of nutrition and poor sleep, he just wasn’t himself.

He decided to stay home from work 😳 Mon and Tuesday last week so he could rest and try to get more food in while he was at home. And on Wed, our anniversary 🥺 he went to work. We went to dinner that night, he ate some and was still tired.

That night, he did NOT sleep well at all and the snoring was so much worse. I couldn’t tell if he was asleep or awake. And as he sat on the edge of the couch that morning, head hanging and his body slumped with extreme fatigue ( STILL telling me he was fine…just tired 🥺)….I had had enough. Nothing with what I was seeing was ok.

We were supposed to go to his best friend’s funeral that morning but instead, I drove him to the emergency room. He was not himself and he was not fine.

We parked and he walked, just like normal into the ER. He sat down for vitals and we were both shocked to hear her say his O2 was at 63. 😳 Normal should be above 90. At no point did he say he was struggling for air however by this time his breathes were labored trying to pull air in.

63. This is not good. Not good at all which sparked the ER team to take immediate action. They put him on O2 and his levels increased but he wasn’t stabilizing which prompted the call to the anesthesiologist and then ultimately the scene I witnessed in the large ER room where I watched my world close in on me. He cannot leave me. Not now. Not. Now.

The ER, OR, ENT and ICU team at St. Luke’s are incredible. Although I felt my world crashing around me, I was not worried they wouldn’t do everything possible to save him.

An hour later, he was in an ICU room breathing comfortably on a ventilator and sleeping. Finally sleeping. 🙏🙏🙏 And that’s what he did until about 2am that next morning. He did wake up briefly and looked at me, 100% aware, furrowed his brow at my jokes and then went right back to sleep. 🙏

When I left that night, I left his phone for him so when he woke up he could text me and communicate with the nurses just in case he couldn’t talk. At 6:35am Friday morning, he sent me a text ❤️❤️❤️ and I could finally breathe.

When I got to the hospital that morning, the vent had been removed and he was talking! Wahoo!

So, by now you are probably wondering, WTF happened. Welp…we were too. All of the things that were happening were side effects of the chemo. We had no idea anything more was happening. This was just part of the process. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t somewhat getting better but…now we know.

Because of the extreme trauma over the last 6 years to his head and neck from the radiation, multiple surgeries and chemo treatments, his vocal cords stopped working from the build up of scar tissue around them. The opening in his throat was so narrow because they had “frozen” that he wasn’t getting enough air. The phlegm and labored breathing were not just a side effect of the chemo but of the gradual loss of function of his vocal cords. This is also why they couldn’t get the intubation tube in and the need for the tracheotomy.

Wow. Ok. So here we are. He is alive. He is breathing normally 🙏. He has actual color in his face. He can stay awake all day. 🙏 and he’s ready to eat something other than ice chips. 🙏 He is still on a feeding tube until Monday morning when they do his swallow test. After he passes 👊🏻 they will remove the feeding tube and he will get to go home 🏡 ❤️ with nutrition instructions.

To say that we are grateful is an understatement. This message could have been so different. BUT it’s not. And we are here. He is here and he feels good. So much better than he has in a VERY long time and this is a blessing all in itself.

Now…I get to bring this guy home where he needs to be. He gets to be with his family. His kids. His pups. His home.

Don’t take a single, damn day for granted friends. Not a single,f’g one. Live it on your terms. But just live. No one is promised tomorrow. This man….is a walking, stubborn ass miracle that is proof enough for everyone that life and living is worth fighting for, no matter what.

I love you husband. Time to come home and move forward living and loving our life together. 🙏

If you want to text him, better than a phone call, please do. He would love it and appreciate it. If you want to visit him, he’s at St. Luke’s, room 662 causing trouble asking for ice chips and a cheeseburger. 🤪

I debated sharing this story with everyone but Tony and I agreed that it was important that everyone know. Cancer is an ugly beast. But we are fighting this battle together…with all of you fighting for us in the background.

We love you all. 🙏
Tony and Stacey

10/05/2024

Hello Everyone!

It seriously has been a LONG minute since Tony and I have shared any updates with everyone. For this we truly apologize. This round of treatment has not been especially kind to him so we’ve been laying low, handling life at home and living the best we can since he started this journey back in December.

The first three months weren’t as unpleasant as the last three have been but I think you all know Tony well enough to know, he’s not let it put out his fight. He still gets up, keeps doing and goes to work every day, he’s missed a few days this go around but he keeps moving even if he feels like a$$.

He still humors me with my )
(right now - short) honey do lists and does what he can. He still cuts the grass (which I think he secretly enjoys just won’t say it!) He still makes me breakfast on Saturday mornings just a little bit later in the day. And we still enjoy our time together even on the really sucky days. Sitting with him on the couch while he snores and holds my hand, I wouldn’t trade for the world.

BUT, my friends…despite the incredible hill this man has been climbing for the last 6 months…there IS a bright light on the horizon!

We received his scan results yesterday and compared to the ones he had at the end of February…wait for it….

Everything has remained STABLE! NO new growth. NO new lesions. Wahoo!!

This is incredible news and we are so freaking grateful that this ugly disease is responding to this treatment. 🙏🎊🙌

So, what’s the next step. Great question! We were hoping to be done with chemo, however the plan is to finish up this cycle, so including yesterday, he will have one more chemo/immunotherapy treatment next week. Then the chemo will STOP 🙏 and he will do ONLY the two immunotherapy’s he’s been on the past 6 months weekly until July when we will rescan. At that point, if everything remains STABLE, he will switch to every other week on the same two immunotherapy’s. 👊🏻🙌🤞🏻

We’ve always known he will have to do some kind of treatment, always and our goal now is to keep it STABLE. NO new growth. NO new lesions. 🙏🙏

So we celebrated with lunch at Bluebird Cafe in North Liberty yesterday (he ate almost his entire plate of food 🙏👊🏻🥳) and I made him take pictures with me so I could share with everyone. 🤪 Doesn’t he look so excited?! 😂😂

Thank you everyone that has reached out or that has been thinking and praying for him along the way. It means the world to us and on the really hard days, we feel it all the most.

For now, we get through the next two weeks and we work on getting him healthy again. We have an anniversary coming up (wahoo!) and a summer full of honey do lists and good times! ☀️

We hope you all have a beautiful day and again, thank you for thinking of us! Keep the good vibes 😎 coming!

🤟🏻 Stacey and Tony

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