Hello,

My name is Shaylee Litven, and I am coming forward to seek help on behalf of a kind and humble man who would never ask for anything. Please help me in my desperate attempt to raise funds for my dear friend Steve, who is currently fighting stage 4 colon cancer. Steve and his beautiful family have been carrying this emotional and financial burden for the last four years, and sadly, they have now reached a point in their battle where the walls are rapidly closing in on them.

Since Steve has spent his entire life offering a hand up to all that cross his path, I just had to share his story and pray that the world is now willing to extend one back.

Let me tell you a little about Steve…

Have you ever met one of those “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore” kind of people? You know, the hard-working, never-sit-still, whatever-it-takes kind of people? Well, if you haven’t, meet Steve. He’s the dad you never had; the friend that never wavered; and the husband Hallmark writes about.

The first things you might notice about Steve are his kind eyes and radiant smile. He’ll entertain you with stories of his antics growing up in the heart of Nanaimo and have the whole room dialled in with his infectious laugh, boundless energy, and an abundance of enthusiasm.

Steve was starting to lose faith in ever finding the woman of his dreams to start a family with, but he pushed on with perseverance, and in his forties, he finally found his soul mate. Shortly after, he became a loving husband and a father to two beautiful boys. Everything he has done has been for Sherry, Nathan, and Joshua.

Steve made a significant sacrifice by working far from home, but he never lost sight of his desire to provide his children with the opportunities that he never had. All of that time he spent on the road, missing his wife and young children, was to build the financial security that would allow him to spend a lifetime of uninterrupted quality time with his family... and then life threw a curveball.

Steve’s Story

Steve's battle with colon cancer started in January 2019. Lethargy, low energy, constipation, and severe abdominal bloating were the first symptoms to emerge. Over time, the list of symptoms severely progressed to include abdominal pain, a lack of appetite due to nausea, and a large hernia-like distension on the left side of his abdomen.

Less than two months later, Steve could no longer keep anything down, resulting in a rapid 30 lb weight loss. With the previous symptoms still in full force, he then noticed blood in his stool. By April, Steve could no longer function without unbearable pain.

On his first visit to the emergency room, they treated him for a urinary tract infection, and after two days on antibiotics, Steve was getting worse. On his second emergency visit, he was examined by a urologist in Vancouver, who suspected something very serious was happening. Steve asked for a CT scan but was told there was no one there to do it, so he was sent home and told to contact his family doctor.

Four days later, Steve was back in the emergency room, begging for a CT scan. They did an ultrasound, which revealed a thickening of the descending colon wall and a mass with a possible perforation. The case was discussed with a colorectal surgeon who followed through on the CT. The scan revealed a mass in the lower half of Steve’s colon. Days later, a colonoscopy was attempted, but a large obstructing mass rendered the surgeon unable to proceed. However, it was obvious to him that the tumour was cancer…

On June 21, 2019, Steve underwent an open left hemicolectomy for a large tumour that had perforated his abdominal wall. The surrounding area was abscessed, inflamed, and very infected. The 6-hour surgery was successful, but Steve developed nagging hiccups and was unable to sleep, even with the medications he was prescribed.

Upon arriving home, Steve’s hiccups became so violent that the staples used to close the surgical site began to blow out, revealing a large gaping hole where one could see right into his abdominal wall. The homecare nurses had no choice but to extend their daily visits as the wound got infected almost immediately after exposure.

When reviewing the pathology results, the doctor was surprised to find that the tumour consisted of a mutation in the gene of a very rare type of cancer called Lynch cancer. So rare, in fact, that the biopsied samples were sent to California to be studied for genetic testing purposes once seen by doctors at the Hereditary Cancer Program in Vancouver, BC. Lynch Syndrome testing was required immediately since there was a 50% chance that one of their two boys might also develop Lynch cancer.

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By December, Steve’s health was still plummeting. He was frequently exhausted and found it hard to function each day. Soon after, he began experiencing bladder infection symptoms, anemia, and bloody stools. This went on for weeks as his symptoms worsened and blood was found in his urine.

On January 1, 2020, Steve met with a urologist who performed a cystoscopy. A lesion on his bladder was discovered and later identified as metastatic colorectal cancer. It's extremely unusual to find colon cancer in the bladder, so a team of oncologists met to discuss Steve's case.

Another cystoscopy was performed on the 12th of May, and ten days later Steve had a bladder transurethral resection of the tumour. Steve went home the same day, but by early evening he was in severe pain and unable to pass urine, so he went straight to emergency again. The doctors informed him that he had multiple large blood clots that couldn't pass through, and each of them was causing its own brand of agony. By morning, they sent him home with a catheter and collection bag taped to his leg.

On May 26, a CT scan showed no metastatic disease left in the bladder, and a PET scan in July later confirmed this. Symptoms of a urinary tract infection persisted through September, and a cystoscopy revealed no tumour recurrence. Feeling frustrated and drained both physically and mentally, Steve tried to go back to work, but his energy level was at an all-time low.

By the third week in October, Steve had suffered a whole series of heart attacks just within a three-day period, the last occurring on the morning of his 63rd birthday. He drove himself to the emergency room, where he waited four days for a spot to open at Victoria Hospital to undergo heart surgery. Steve now has five stents in his heart.

Being the “glass half-full” kind of guy he is, Steve chose to see the silver lining in his dark gray sky by viewing all this as an opportunity to slow down and enjoy his life in a less stressful way. Steve and Sherry spoke of working closer to home and focusing on building a supportive environment for the whole family.

Come April 2021, almost a year had passed, and Steve still felt so unwell that he spent most of the day and night asleep in his bed. His urologist performed another cystoscopy of his bladder, and he had another colonoscopy in June, and all of the results came back normal. Steve and Sherry were confused later, though, when they read in the oncologist’s report that his “recurring disease is now stage IV." Needless to say, the inconsistent answers they were getting were causing a rollercoaster of emotions for the entire family.

A CT scan taken in early 2022 noted a nodule along the base of Steve’s bladder, on the left side. This happens to be the exact spot where he has had a hernia-like lump for the past 2 years, along with the abdominal distension, gas, and difficulty voiding symptoms that came along with it. Following the CT, a cystoscopy was performed in mid-May but showed NO evidence of a tumour recurrence. Soon after the cystoscopy, though, Steve began experiencing even more blood and pain, and significant urinary infrequencies.

On June 3, the urologist performed a resection of the bladder tumour to determine its pathology, and the lesion appeared to be malignant. Weeks later, Steve is urinating bright red blood along with UT infection symptoms, his functional status has deteriorated; and he is sleeping close to 24 hours a day.

In August, both the urologist and oncologist agreed that the best-case scenario for a cure would be to remove Steve's bladder, which shook both him and Sherry to their core. They decide to agree to another transurethral resection of the tumour.

By this time, however, the colorectal cancer has mutated and is now an aggressive small-cell carcinoma that has invaded the muscle of the bladder. Reality began to sink in for Steve as the doctors explained that even with radical chemoradiotherapy, the chance of survival is close to zero. This didn’t leave our Steve much of an option—he had to allow them to remove his bladder.

Just a couple of months ago, in November, Steve underwent a radical cystoprostatectomy, which included the removal of the bladder, prostate, and part of the bowel. He now has an ostomy apparatus attached to a stoma on the outside of his body. So far his recovery has been slow; Steve is still suffering from chronic pain combined with numbness in his left leg, severe nausea, and zero appetite. These nasty symptoms have led to a whopping 30 lb loss for him since the surgery.

Just before Christmas, Steve’s legs gave out on him, and he collapsed to the ground, slamming his back into the toilet on the way down. Needless to say, he's been in immense pain ever since. Weeks later, as his body is trying to recover, he wakes up and realizes he can't move a muscle; his back has gone into spasm and is completely locked. Sherry and the boys recall the traumatizing screams of agony from down the hall.

Steve was taken by ambulance to the emergency room, where a CT scan revealed a compression fracture on the surface of his L2 vertebra. He's been living with this for almost two months now, hoping and praying for even just a moment of relief. The pain hinders him from being able to leave the bed, and his family is in shambles as they’re watching him suffer, feeling so utterly helpless.

The doctors are saying he should be feeling better in about 12 weeks. The problem is that Steve is supposed to be doing chemotherapy right now, but because of his back, the doctors have cancelled at least the first four weeks of his sessions. We are all hoping that in four weeks time, they will start Steve’s chemotherapy back up and that it will be smooth sailing for the remaining sessions.

Last week, Steve’s excruciating pain brought us to the emergency room again. He saw a new doctor this time who, after the four-hour wait, took one look at the huge hernia-like lump on his left side and said, “Yeah, that’s definitely fecal impaction.” Steve has had this lump for almost three years, but it has been overlooked by every other doctor. He immediately had to receive a humiliating and horrific procedure to deal with that.

If Steve’s chemo is successful, he could be ready to rejoin the workforce in as little as 12 months post-therapy. He says he is desperate to go back to work and that he fears for his family right now. His wife and kids are feeling helpless seeing him in pain, meanwhile, Steve’s focus is not on his own well-being, but solely on Sherry, Nathan, and Joshua.

In conclusion…

Sherry has had no choice but to take time off of work to be home taking care of her husband and two sons. With Steve being unable to work over the last few years, this beautiful little family has officially depleted all their savings and could be facing a foreclosure on their home.

Steve is a fighter who has dedicated his entire life adhering to the tenet that one should never give up. We need him to continue to be focused on that same principle as he carries out this battle with cancer. The last thing we want is for him to be worrying himself sick over costly prescriptions and monthly ostomy supplies.

Those that are the first to step up and offer help to others, are so often the last ones to ask for help – This is so true of Steve.

As his health continues to spiral, our hope is that Steve, Sherry, Nathan and Joshua will be able to focus on recovery, rather than financial devastation. If you have the means and ability to help, any support would be greatly appreciated.

I will continue to post updates about Steve’s battle on this page.

Thank you so much for reading!