Stephen is 29 years old and was born in Portsmouth, OH where his parents still reside.  He attended Miami University and graduated in 1997 with a BS in Sociology and a minor in Political Science.  Stephen worked at Transitional Living, Inc. in Hamilton, OH for nearly four years as as case manager for the severely mentally ill population.  In 1999, Stephen married Laura Russell, whom he met at Miami University in 1995.  Stephen and Laura now reside in the Cincinnati area.
                 

Stephen's Cancer History Timeline

September 2000 - Stephen began being extremely fatigued, had low-grade fevers and night sweats, and lost 15-20 pounds.  His family doctor initially thought it was a virus.

October 2000 - As his symptoms persisted, his doctor ordered a chest x-ray, which showed suspicion of lymphoma in the chest.  A biopsy performed confirmed that Stephen had Hodgkin's Disease (HD), a cancer of the lymph system.  The bad news: Stephen had cancer.  The good news: we were told that if you're going to have cancer, HD is the one to have because the cure rate is so good...the first time.

November 2000 - February 2001 - Stephen underwent the Stanford V chemotherapy protocol for 12 weeks.

March 2001 - April 2001 - Stephen underwent radiation therapy for four weeks.

July 2001 - Tests performed showed that Stephen was disease free.

September 2001 - Stephen began presenting symptoms again (low-grade fevers, night sweats and fatigue).

November 2001 - A biopsy confirmed that the HD had returned, this time in lymph nodes in his neck and under his arm.

November 2001 - January 2002 - Stephen went through three cycles of ICE chemotherapy and one cycle of Cytoxan chemotherapy.

February 15, 2002 - Stephen's bone marrow was harvested from the back of his pelvic bones.

February 20, 2002  - Stephen was admitted to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Jewish Hospital and received the BEAM high-dose chemotherapy protocol.  This high dose chemotherapy can kill all the cancer cells, but it also kills other fast reproducing cells such as hair cells, the cells in the lining of the mouth and digestive tract and blood stem cells (the cells that make blood cells).

February 26, 2002 (Day 0) - Stephen's bone marrow was infused back into him so that his body would be able to make blood cells again.

March 19, 2002 - Stephen came home from the hospital.

March 2002 - May 2002 - Stephen had frequent trips to the doctor's office for examinations and blood and platelet transfusions as needed.

June 2002 - July 2002 - Stephen underwent three and a half weeks of radiation therapy.

August 2002 - Tests performed showed that Stephen was disease free.

May 2003 - Stephen began presenting symptoms again.

June 2003 - Tests performed showed that Stephen's HD had returned in his chest, neck and under his arm (all the places he had it before).

July 2003 - Present - The best chance for any long-term is for Stephen to have a mini-transplant.  We are still looking for a donor.  In the meantime, Stephen has been going through chemotherapy treatments, first with Gemcytobine, then with Velban.  He is now beginning treatments with Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Dacarbazine, and Prednisone.