Most know the devastating story of my daughter Stephanie and her husband, Matt, and how the effects of cancer have negatively impacted their lives. Between the first diagnosis in 2021, 8 months after their wedding, and the diagnosis of Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer in 2022, Stephanie has endured more tragedy in less than 2 years than most will experience in their entire lifetime. Cancer has taken so much from her, including the ability to have children, to have a ‘normal’ relationship with her husband, and ultimately, to grow old.

While she always has a smile on her face and positive words to say, those close to her know that she’s really not ‘okay’. This last scan showed just how nasty her cancer really is. This last PET scan showed that not only did her cancer nearly double in size, it spread and nearly encompasses her entire liver. She had done everything right. She had treatment every 21 days (almost to the minute), stayed positive, and suffered through the side effects of Datroway. This chemotherapy caused Stephanie to experience dry eye needing special eye drops, vision changes requiring eyeglasses, nausea, and horribly painful mouth sores that resulted in a 60-pound weight loss.

The last chemotherapy treatment was November 14th and came with a referral to Sloan Kettering for clinical trial inclusion. Since then, Stephanie has been suffering from an extremely painful area in her lower leg. She has tried heating pads and massages, but nothing was helping. She finally went to St. Charles Hospital to see if she had a blood clot. After having a Doppler exam, thankfully it was determined that a clot didn’t exist and they sent her home with a referral to an orthopedist and a shot of morphine for the road. Since she didn’t know what orthopedist would work on that area of the body, she made appointments with both a foot/ankle specialist and a spinal surgeon at Stony Brook Orthopedics. The specialists advised them that she has no strength in her left foot/ankle, has neuropathy, and that the pains she was feeling were all coming from her back.

By this point in January 2026, her care has consisted of:

~ Admission to Stony Brook University Hospital for 6 days at the end of December for a possible spinal surgery.

~ The loss of being able to fully use her left foot due to neuropathy and a condition called ‘drop foot’. She now walks with a walker.

~ Tremors caused by the excruciating pain she experienced while trying to walk up the sidewalk and stairs to get into their home. The tremors made her think that she was dying, that she had brain cancer, and pleaded with Matt to not only stay home due to the snowstorm but to make sure that he took care of the animals in the event that she was never coming home.

~ Visit to Mather Hospital by ambulance due to a State of Emergency and a requirement for people to get off the roads. She went to the hospital due to the tremors and was treated like a drug addict since she takes high levels of narcotics for pain. They gave her medication to stop the tremors, let her sleep, and had an ambulance called for her in the morning to take her home. To the EMTs' surprise, she had to be carried up the sidewalk and stairs into her home because her left foot/ankle could not carry any weight.

~ Admission to Stony Brook University Hospital, which is still ongoing.

Prior to the admission to the current hospital, Stephanie was advised that she cannot drive until the doctors were able to figure out and treat the neurological issues caused by the tremors. Not being permitted to drive caused Matt to have to quit his job. She had a large number of appointments, causing independent Stephanie to take a step back and allow Matt to help her. From what she told me, he really was amazing at the appointments and asked fantastic questions, including those she had forgotten to ask. They went to the appointments and tried to go on with life, but Stephanie was getting weaker by the day. After numerous falls in their home and a conversation with Matt and her oncologist, Stephanie was admitted again to the Stony Brook Hospital cancer floor.

She has been in the hospital since January 6, 2026, and just started radiation therapy. The Oncologists explained that there isn’t a guarantee that the treatments were going to resolve the pain and/or weakness she was experiencing. With Matt not working and Stephanie not pulling in any overtime, bills are either not being paid or half-payments are being made on the cars, insurance, and house. It’s tragic to think that there are so few foundations that could help, but with all of the foundations having an income limit and a requirement for the 2024 tax return, they don’t qualify.

Stephanie and Matt need all the help they can get. Not only to pay bills and groceries, but to be able to relax and live some form of life together before it is taken away. She is one of the kindest, sweetest, most selfless people you will meet. Together, the two have made this awful situation into one filled with love and happiness.

Please help us help them. They have worked too hard to lose everything.