Steve had been moved to the hospice from Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa after a determination that he had slipped into an irreversible coma and nothing further could be done. Most of Steve’s friends and family visited with him during the day, remembering previous escapades and swapping stories. A disc golf basket (post hole) was placed outside his window and he seemed to take comfort from the “ching” of the chains as friends took turns putting.

There were phone calls from friends too far away to visit and Steve seemed to respond to the voices. He became quieter as the day went on, then finally let go and slipped away in the early morning.

Steve was diagnosed with Stage IV Esophageal cancer on March 6, 2008. An initial course of radiation therapy was successful in shrinking the primary tumor to the point where the insertion of a stent was not needed, but the cancer had already spread to the liver. Through his ongoing chemotherapy Steve remained hopeful and actually had more good days than bad. Recent scans of his liver showed all but one of the tumors in his liver where shrinking and Steve was planning a visit with his brother in Washington where he would continue his chemotherapy at the Kaiser Hospital there. Then a few weeks
ago he began to experience back pain which he initially thought was due to twisting his back while on an outing. When he began to experience weakness in his legs a cat scan of his back was ordered which revealed a tumor on his spine. When an additional course of radiation was prescribed, he was still planning on making the trip because he had such good results from the previous course. He had finished that course on Monday, March 9th. He was feeling the exhaustion and weakness associated with radiation therapy but expected that to pass in a few days. No one had any inkling that the tumor had already spread to his brain.

On Tuesday, the 10th, while on the phone with his brother, Ron, Steve became non responsive. His caregiver check on him and found him weak and a little lethargic but otherwise ok. While checking a few hours later, Steve suffered a seizure and was transported to Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa. There the doctors did a scan of his had and found a 2 cm tumor in the area of his hypothalamus and several smaller tumors scattered throughout. Steve never regained consciousness and expired 1 year and 7 days after his initial diagnosis. He was 38 years old.

Steve is survived by his brother, Ron, and sister-in-law, Wendy of Seattle, WA, his mother, Sandra, of Rohnert Park and numerous members of his extended Disc Golf family.

In addition to the tumors found in his brain (l large one and several smaller) Steve has also suffered a bleed in the brain and the prognosis is poor. He remains hospitalized and the decision has been made to provide palliative care only. His brother, Ron and his wife arrived from Washington this morning and are at the hospital.

Steve is paralyzed on one side, unaware of his surroundings and unable to communicate. As I said, the decision is to make him as comfortable as possible and let nature take its’ course. The best
thing everyone can do now is keep him in your thoughts and hope. I will keep everyone notified of status.

We went and did some light shopping (the cats were out of food), then George went back over to keep Steve company. While he was there, Steve had a seizure. George ran him right up to the hospital, in fact he is still there. They admitted Steve tonight. Tests confirm that the tumor has spread to his brain. He had just finished a week’s worth of radiation treatments for the one on his spine, now this. I doubt if there is much that can be done at this point.. I think we may have finally reached the point of going from an aggressive fight to palliative care. It has been a year since diagnosis and they had given him six months to a year….

The news isn’t good. Several weeks ago Steve began to experience more pain than normal. A CAT scan was done to see if it was because of the tumors in his liver. The news on that front was actually good. The smaller tumors had shrank some and the larger tumor had not grown. Steve chalked the pain up to wrenching his back while up at the river and made plans to visit his brother in Washington.

Then he began to experience unsteadiness and actually fell a couple of times. A bone scan was done and the cancer has spread to his bones. There is a tumor on his spine that is pressing on nerves and affecting his legs. He has undergone a week of radiation in the hope that it will shrink the tumor and provide some relief. He must now walk with a cane. We do not know if he will feel like visiting his brother at this point but Steve is still hopeful. Keep the good thought.

Steve is enjoying his new apartment. Thanks to everyone who gave him housewarming gifts and gift cards.

The torrential downpour of Friday night, although it did drive some less hardy players (or at least their tents were less hardy) inside for the night did absolutely nothing to dampen anyone’s spirits. There were only a couple of light showers Saturday morning and the rest of the weekend was clear. The upper pond had just be stocked with Rainbow so the time before and between rounds was spend fishing (catch and release). All in all, a great time was had by everyone, although the ‘Spud
Artillery’ did not put in an appearance. The end result is that we have been given the go-ahead for next year at the resort and hopefully the weather will be more cooperative. Yeaaaaah! Browns ‘N Bows is Back!! We missed it.

Right now, we are looking forward to the “Mock 1″ tournament, being held in September at (ta da!)Browns ‘n Bows. Although this is not a PDGA sanctioned tournament (which is why it is “mock” instead of Mach) it is a benefit tournament for Steve. Any of you who have been to the tournament when it was previously held at beautiful Browns ‘n Bows, know it is a great two day tournament held in wonderful surroundings. Registration flyers will be up shortly on the UFOS site