F#CK Cancer

Hi, my name is Jona and I'm raising money for our friend and co-worker Sherry who's husband Steve us fighting for his life.

The first thing people notice when they meet Steve are his kind eyes and genuine smile.

Steve enjoys telling stories of his antics growing up in Nanaimo, his enthusiasm keeps you enthralled and his laugh entertains those around him.

He's young at heart and loves to keep busy. Steve met his soulmate in his 40's when he had given up hope of starting a family and soon after became a father to two sons .

Everything he's done has been for Sherry, Nathan and Joshua.

Working away from home has been a huge sacrifice and he's looked forward to making up so much lost time with his family.

Steve is a fighter and doesn't believe in giving up,he's lived by this mantra his entire life.

A CT scan taken in early 2022 notes a nodule along the base of the bladder on the left side. Exactly where Steve has had a hernia-like hump for the last 2 years,along with abdominal distension.

Following the CT a Cystoscopy is performed mid May and shows NO evidence of a tumor reoccurrence. After the last Cystoscopy Steve is experiencing significant urinary infrequencies,more bleeding and pain.

On June 3 the Urologist performs a resection of the bladder tumor to determine pathology, the lesion appears to be malignant.

By the end of June Steve is urinating bright red blood along with UTI infection symptoms

In August both the Urologist and Oncologist agree the best case scenario for cure would be to remove Steve's bladder, the idea of this is terrifying and they agree to another Transurethral Resection of the tumor.

The colectoral cancer has mutated and is now an aggressive small cell carcinoma that has invaded into the muscle of the bladder.

This past November Steve underwent a Radical Cystoprostatectomy of the bladder, removing the bladder, prostate and part of the bowel.

He now has an Ostomy apparatus attached to a stoma on the outside of his body to collect his urine.

So far his recovery has been slow, pain combined with numbness in his left leg, nausea and no apparent appetite. He's lost close to 30lbs since the surgery.

Recently Steve and Sherry received the worst news imaginable and Steve was given just a few months to live. On June 23rd, that changed to weeks or days. Steve entered the hospital on June 28th and has been put into palliative care. Sherry and their sons are spending as much time as possible with Steve during the time he has left.

Due to the quick progression and rapid changes, Sherry has been caught short of the number of hours required to qualify for compassion EI benefits. She found herself short by mere hours. She is now faced with the great loss of her husband and best friend, as well as the expenses that come with this tragedy.

Let's all do what we can to ease the burden on Sherry and her boys. Any amount no matter how small is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

Jona Kristinsson

CurVa-Voom