STEVE HOLDER'S fight for life
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Kerri-Sue Holder.
As many of you know my dear hubby, Steve Holder, a dedicated and loving husband, a father of 3, Ashley, Kade and Cameron and teacher of many children for 18 years, 15 at P.S 38 in Manhattan, NYC and 3 in yonkers where we've lived since 1994 was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in June of 2015.
In all of his 59 years Steve had never really been sick and never hospitilised so it was such a devastating, heart rending shock to all of us to be told of this diagnosis.
On June 2nd 2015, he and his co workers had participated in a teacher on teacher basketball game, much to the delight of his students, Steve was still able to pull off his "famous Holder moves "!!! He came home from school and was not feeling well, and NOT hungry, so went to bed. The next morning he awoke to get ready for school, was in terrible pain and could barely walk.
Little did we know that this would be the last time he was to see his students (3rd graders) and that our whole lives were to be turned upside down and inside out.
He was admitted to our local hospital, St Johns Riverside in NW Yonkers where the docs thought he had gall stones. 2 days later an attempt was made to put a stent in his bile duct. It was unsuccessful, so a week later he was transferred to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla where they were able to do the procedure along with a bi-opsy of the blockage.
Our worst fears came to light and we were told it was Pancreatic cancer.
Even tho this was a grim diagnosis, the doctors said because he was very healthy otherwise, with no diabetis, high blood pressure and a strong heart he was a good candidate for the Whipple surgery, (a 6 hour operation that would remove the tumor, bile duct gall bladder and some part of his spleen ).
Unfortunately he then ended up in ICU for a week with Pancreatitus.
On July 17th, after spending a total of 47 days in 2 hospitals he was finally discharged and is now an out- patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.
The Pancreatitus had left him with severe imflammation surrounding the tumor and until that cleared Dr Kingham , his surgeon and his Oncologist, Dr O' Reilly, recommended Chemotherapy. Treatments were started in late Sept 2015, these, along with Steve getting a DVT in his leg and an infection in the stent, went on until the beginning of April 2016. FINALLY, his doctors gave him the go ahead for the surgery.
At last, and with renewed hope, April 12th came, that long awaited day, which everyone, his family , his friends and doctors, had been working towards.
BUT IT WAS NOT TO BE. 2 hours into the surgery Dr Kingham had to stop the surgery. The tumor had wrapped its tentacles around veins too close to the liver. It was too dangerous to proceed. We were devastated once again.
On the recomendation of his doctors he continued with another round of chemo and then 25 radiation treatments. 9 weeks ago after a CAT scan,we were told the tumor has spread to his liver.
At present there are no on-going clinical trials in or around New York that he is eligble for, however there are some, in other parts of the U.S.
We need funds for travel expenses, acommodations and on going medical expenses.
PLEASE HELP as we want to try anything that is available to us.
At this time i would like to wish everyone near and dear Happy Holidays and thanks for any assistance in our endeavour to not only help Steve, but raise awareness of Pancreatic cancer, one of the least funded , and most devastating forms of this disease.
Again our sincere and heartfelt thanks .
Kerri-Sue and Family.
We are going to start the new treatment this weekend.
Everything is in place . Thank you all so much but this is just the beginning. Please keep sharing this post.
AGAIN THIS IS JUST NOT FOR STEVE THIS IS FOR ANYONE THAT IS FACING THIS TERRIBLE DISEASE
Day 1 has gone well, Steve's and our friends came to visit. Steves moral has gone up, along with mine.
Thank you thank you for your continued contributions. We would not have been able to do this without you all, our stress levels have been greatly reduced. Like we said the other night takes a village to get things going and those villages are your longtime friends and also their families .
we are a week into treatment can't really tell what's going on. Had some ups and downs, it's difficult at this time of the year in particular emotionally especially for our kids, even tho they are not kids anymore, as all parents know, they will always be our kids, even tho we may not be their choice,as parents. Just trying to maintain some order of normalcy. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your donations .
Every dollar counts, no matter what.
We are doing this treatment at home, but he has to also have a specific diet, health insurance does not pay for this, the treatment. We chose to do this as there is little alternative at this stage.
We are not just doing this for Steve, but for all people that are suffering from PANCREATIC CANCER with little hope of trying to survive this most devastating disease.
sorry everyone Steve ended up in hospital over the New Years, just got discharged today. 1/4/2017. Had infection in liver and plastic stent was blocked again. We feel it's all good tho . We're trying to fight. This and as a lot of people may know a lot of other family issues..
Thank you everyone for your continued and heartfelt donations.
As many of you know my dear hubby, Steve Holder, a dedicated and loving husband, a father of 3, Ashley, Kade and Cameron and teacher of many children for 18 years, 15 at P.S 38 in Manhattan, NYC and 3 in yonkers where we've lived since 1994 was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in June of 2015.
In all of his 59 years Steve had never really been sick and never hospitilised so it was such a devastating, heart rending shock to all of us to be told of this diagnosis.
On June 2nd 2015, he and his co workers had participated in a teacher on teacher basketball game, much to the delight of his students, Steve was still able to pull off his "famous Holder moves "!!! He came home from school and was not feeling well, and NOT hungry, so went to bed. The next morning he awoke to get ready for school, was in terrible pain and could barely walk.
Little did we know that this would be the last time he was to see his students (3rd graders) and that our whole lives were to be turned upside down and inside out.
He was admitted to our local hospital, St Johns Riverside in NW Yonkers where the docs thought he had gall stones. 2 days later an attempt was made to put a stent in his bile duct. It was unsuccessful, so a week later he was transferred to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla where they were able to do the procedure along with a bi-opsy of the blockage.
Our worst fears came to light and we were told it was Pancreatic cancer.
Even tho this was a grim diagnosis, the doctors said because he was very healthy otherwise, with no diabetis, high blood pressure and a strong heart he was a good candidate for the Whipple surgery, (a 6 hour operation that would remove the tumor, bile duct gall bladder and some part of his spleen ).
Unfortunately he then ended up in ICU for a week with Pancreatitus.
On July 17th, after spending a total of 47 days in 2 hospitals he was finally discharged and is now an out- patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.
The Pancreatitus had left him with severe imflammation surrounding the tumor and until that cleared Dr Kingham , his surgeon and his Oncologist, Dr O' Reilly, recommended Chemotherapy. Treatments were started in late Sept 2015, these, along with Steve getting a DVT in his leg and an infection in the stent, went on until the beginning of April 2016. FINALLY, his doctors gave him the go ahead for the surgery.
At last, and with renewed hope, April 12th came, that long awaited day, which everyone, his family , his friends and doctors, had been working towards.
BUT IT WAS NOT TO BE. 2 hours into the surgery Dr Kingham had to stop the surgery. The tumor had wrapped its tentacles around veins too close to the liver. It was too dangerous to proceed. We were devastated once again.
On the recomendation of his doctors he continued with another round of chemo and then 25 radiation treatments. 9 weeks ago after a CAT scan,we were told the tumor has spread to his liver.
At present there are no on-going clinical trials in or around New York that he is eligble for, however there are some, in other parts of the U.S.
We need funds for travel expenses, acommodations and on going medical expenses.
PLEASE HELP as we want to try anything that is available to us.
At this time i would like to wish everyone near and dear Happy Holidays and thanks for any assistance in our endeavour to not only help Steve, but raise awareness of Pancreatic cancer, one of the least funded , and most devastating forms of this disease.
Again our sincere and heartfelt thanks .
Kerri-Sue and Family.
We are going to start the new treatment this weekend.
Everything is in place . Thank you all so much but this is just the beginning. Please keep sharing this post.
AGAIN THIS IS JUST NOT FOR STEVE THIS IS FOR ANYONE THAT IS FACING THIS TERRIBLE DISEASE
Day 1 has gone well, Steve's and our friends came to visit. Steves moral has gone up, along with mine.
Thank you thank you for your continued contributions. We would not have been able to do this without you all, our stress levels have been greatly reduced. Like we said the other night takes a village to get things going and those villages are your longtime friends and also their families .
we are a week into treatment can't really tell what's going on. Had some ups and downs, it's difficult at this time of the year in particular emotionally especially for our kids, even tho they are not kids anymore, as all parents know, they will always be our kids, even tho we may not be their choice,as parents. Just trying to maintain some order of normalcy. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your donations .
Every dollar counts, no matter what.
We are doing this treatment at home, but he has to also have a specific diet, health insurance does not pay for this, the treatment. We chose to do this as there is little alternative at this stage.
We are not just doing this for Steve, but for all people that are suffering from PANCREATIC CANCER with little hope of trying to survive this most devastating disease.
sorry everyone Steve ended up in hospital over the New Years, just got discharged today. 1/4/2017. Had infection in liver and plastic stent was blocked again. We feel it's all good tho . We're trying to fight. This and as a lot of people may know a lot of other family issues..
Thank you everyone for your continued and heartfelt donations.
Organizer
Steve Holder
Organizer
Yonkers, NY