Help my Father, Keith Stepp, fight against cancer.
Keith turned 50, it seemed he was forever getting injured. His family and friends teased him that he was getting fragile, and just needed to get used to living on “the other side of the hill”. Being an aggressive basketball player, Keith was used to taking hard hits physically, but he was also accustomed to healing quickly as well. But when a young kid accidently ran into him in a game of Capture the Flag, he was convinced one of his ribs was broken. When he was still in pain several weeks later, he finally went to the doctor. He was shocked when--upon examining the x-rays--his doctor called in an oncologist. It was the first time he had ever even heard of multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a cancer created by the body in the production of the bone marrow, and Keith’s first bone scan revealed lesions (kind of like dental cavities in the bones) all over his body...from his skull down to his legs. His kidneys were in the beginnings of failure, and his “light chain” numbers that would run around 25 in a healthy individual were registering at 6600. The illustration of construction zone “workers” is the easiest way to describe his cancer. A normal person would send out 25 workers to break down old bone, and 25 workers to create new bone behind them. Keith’s body was sending out 6600 workers to break down his bones, and 2-3 workers to rebuild. A HUGE imbalance.
There have been ups and downs for Keith since he has been diagnosed, but he has been holding on and doing treatements as directed by his doctors. Since October, Keith has been back on a strong regiment of chemo and steroids; the current plan is to move forward toward a stem-cell transplant in Tennessee as soon as his numbers are low enough to handle one. This procedure is very expensive and for a family with 8 kids and a Father who is a Pastor, expenses are going to be tight.
Let's see how we can help!