The Bushgang Blog

This year I have decided to walk 60 miles on behalf of my wife, Stephanie. She had a passion for this event and all it represented to survivors and their families. It will be an emotional journey for me and the rest of my team, The Hopefuls. Our team captain, Stephanie, is now watching down from above as we fight the good fight and take every step in remembrance of her, in the hope of Jesus Christ, and in making progress towards a cure for breast cancer! When I came to this site to write this information, Stephanie's note was already prepared. I chose to leave her words below. Please read it when you have a moment. Thank you for your time and donation! - Kevin ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ This year, I'll be participating in a very special event called the Breast Cancer 3-Day. I'll walk 60 miles over the course of three days with thousands of other women and men. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment through Susan G. Komen for...

The day I feared the most in my life has come. My soul mate, my lover, my life partner, my flesh, my best friend, my better half and my blessing took her last breathe of air at 3am yesterday morning. I was lying beside her and she was at peace. No more pain, no more worry and no more sadness. It is a strange feeling to be so happy for her victory yet feel the pain of loss that has torn me from my mind, through my heart and into the depth of my soul. Stephanie, I love you so much. I know I told you that all the time but I wanted to tell you once more in public. You are the most amazing lady I have ever seen and your thoughts and actions were the same in front of friends, strangers, and at home in our private moments. You were my inspiration and will continue to be for as long as we are apart. I can't wait to see you again my love. Father God and Lord of my life, I cannot begin to express the thankfulness I have towards you for giving me such a wonderful gift. It is sometimes har...

Let me first say that the people that are surrounding us with thoughts and prayers are a huge blessing! My request right now is simple but will require a little extra on each person's part. I am struggling with knowing that Levi may grow up without really knowing who is mother is or was to everyone. Instead of flowers, cards or messages, I would greatly appreciate hand written notes that express what Stephanie has meant to you. I would like to read them to Stephanie and collect them in a book for Levi. You can mail them to: 4116 Amhurst Dr. Highland Village, TX 75077 Thank you all in advance! Kevin

UPDATE: Stephanie is home, laying next to me in bed this evening. She has no immune system left. Her white blood cell count this morning was 0.3 and the doctor said she would no longer benefit from chemo. His words, "I don't believe she will be with us much longer." Seeing her deteriorate from Thursday through today, I guess it was expected news so I took it well, all things considered. We now have hospice care at home 24 hours a day with the goal of making her comfortable. My heart is broken and I am on my knees. My love of 20+ years has put up an amazing fight. Honestly more than I ever thought humanly possible. Please pray for her comfort and for the strength for her family to carry on. I'm not sure what else to say. Thanks to everyone showering us with love. It does help!

Ever heard the phrase, "Here we go again"? Well, that's our story too. We got word last Thursday that Stephanie's cancer has returned yet again. This makes for the third recurrence. The results showed that the lymph nodes in her abdomen are enlarged again, the spleen is enlarged and there is another lesion on the liver. The good news in all this is that we are in a good place, leaning on God and knowing that things are going to work out. The chemo Steph had last time around worked very well and she will be getting the same drug this time with an additional little mix of something (Taxotere like before and Carboplatin for the detailed folks reading). First appointment for chemo is tomorrow, December 7th at 9:30am. Prayers and text messages are always welcome. Please let her know you are praying or that you are just thinking about her. I'll keep everyone posted through Facebook and through this blog. Keeping your finger on the pulse of the situation is best do...

I came out to the blog to update those non-Facebook folks following Stephanie's fight with breast cancer and realized that it has been a long time since my last update. Not only that, but the last post was a pretty rough time for Stephanie and me. Well, the good news is back. Since the last post, Stephanie has started chemo and we have seen some miraculous changes. The story is long and I will shorten it here. We went to review here latest PET scan with her doctor today. He read through the medical verbiage that was quite lengthy and incomprehensible, paused, looked up at Steph and said, "Looks like you are officially in remission." The only way to explain what has happened, between my last post in May until today, is that God chose to heal Stephanie for her faithfulness. Jesus said in Mark 5:34, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." There is a lot to be said for believing in your heart and praying expectantly. We se...

This was day number four for Stephanie to spend in the hospital. Pain management is the key objective that needs to be achieved before they are going to release her. The doctors today did some scans and determined that it appears there is an enlarged lymph node that is quite possibly pushing on a bundle of nerves near her spinal column. The good news is that there is a fairly easy procedure that can be done to check to see if that is the problem. If it is, they can then inject some alcohol into that site and permanently control the pain. It is a little after 10:00 as I sit in the hospital room and type this message. The test will be preformed in the morning so I will update tomorrow as answers come in. Please continue to pray as this pain and sleeplessness has really taken it's toll on Stephanie. She needs the sleep and pain relief to help her body begin to fought off the cancer. The best news so far is that the stint they put in on Monday has been very successful in getting rid of...