Sunday, July 19th Update

I realize that I haven’t posted in a few days, so I wanted to give you all a quick update on how my Dad is doing. As you know he underwent the chemotherapy treatment last Wednesday. Since then he has been doing really well and his general health has exceeded the doctor’s (as well as my own) expectations. The most exhausting day was Thursday, but besides a slight fever he did not have any issues. Today he was able to get out of the house and go to mass at St. Margaret Mary’s in Westwood. Kasey told me that the sun really drains Dad’s energy quickly, but I’m sure he was happy to be outside and simply enjoy the nice weather (finally!).

You probably noticed that I changed the color scheme of the blog to purple and white. Purple is the color used to promote the awareness of pancreatic cancer, so I figured it was more appropriate than the standard orange and white. Please let me know if this is difficult to read.

The support that our family has been receiving has been quite literally overwhelming. I wish I had time to thank everyone properly and on a much more personal level, but the amount of prayers coming our way is literally overwhelming, so I will have to use this blog as a forum to express my gratitude.

First I want to thank my beautiful girlfriend, Alyssa Kavanagh. She has been the one to help me navigate my way through this difficult time day in and day out. We have spent countless hours on the phone and her support means so much to me. She has been my rock during my time in Orlando and she does not get nearly enough praise for that difficult task. So thank you, Alyssa. I love you. I also wanted to thank her mother, Nancy, for her countless hours of research, daily messages and proactive approach to help raise awareness. She was the one who found out about the PanCan program (http://www.pancan.org/) and has led this movement for our family.

I think it is also very important to thank the Planeta and Maney families for their continuous support. My mother, Kathy, and sister, Kasey, have done such a wonderful job taking care of all the daily tasks and supporting Dad during this trying time. I feel as if sometimes we all forget how physically and emotionally draining these daily tasks can be, so I wanted to make sure that they know their hard work is appreciated by not only Dad, but everyone else as well. Having such a large and loving extended family has certainly helped us out a lot. Every call, message, visit and prayer helps and we have been so blessed to have such a loving and caring family. We love you all so much.

Lastly, I have to recognize the truly spectacular amount of prayers and support that my family has received from the Colby basketball family. It has come in the form of letters, phone calls, text messages, visits, e-mails, IMs, facebook messages, and blog posts. What has amazed me the most is how far this family extends. It not only consists of current players, but also their families, coaches, past players and their families, and even girlfriends. The power of the Colby Men’s Basketball family has honestly blown me away and I feel very blessed to be a part of it. Thank you.

We love you all so very much and appreciate everything that you have done for us. Please keep Steve in your thoughts and prayers.

God bless my father.