National Cancer Survivors Day: Steven’s Story

When Steven M. walked into the emer­gency room in 2017, he didn’t expect to hear the word can­cer. But after a CT scan revealed a large mass, he looked at his wife and two grand­daugh­ters by his side and made a promise: ​“We’re going to do what­ev­er it takes.”

That mind­set — full of grit, faith, and deter­mi­na­tion — became Steven’s guid­ing force through­out one of the most chal­leng­ing sea­sons of his life.

His diag­no­sis changed every­thing, not only for him but for his entire fam­i­ly. A retired edu­ca­tor, Steven sud­den­ly found him­self need­ing care — some­thing that didn’t come easily.

“One of the hard­est things was learn­ing to hum­ble myself and let oth­ers care for me,” he shared. ​“But I learned that it’s okay to accept help. It’s not a weak­ness — it’s part of being human.”

Among those who cared for him, no one meant more than his wife. Also a can­cer sur­vivor, she under­stood first­hand the emo­tion­al and phys­i­cal toll the jour­ney can take.

“We’ve been mar­ried 59 years. We know how to be there for each oth­er, but it’s a dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ence when you’re sick,” he said. ​“When you’re healthy, you look fur­ther down the road. When you’re sick, you’re not sure how far down the road you’ll get to go.”

As he under­went treat­ment, Steven faced com­pli­ca­tions, includ­ing hav­ing his gall­blad­der removed and expe­ri­enc­ing extreme fatigue. Yet, every sin­gle day, he got up and walked.

“I walked 6,000 steps a day. Some­times I had to split it up into three or four ses­sions because I didn’t have the ener­gy. But I don’t think I missed a day,” he said.

He also found strength in qui­et moments of reflec­tion. ​“When I stood and looked in the mir­ror, I looked straight into my own eyes — deep into my mind and body, all the way to my toes — giv­ing it all to God.”

More than any­thing, Steven leaned on his faith. ​“My faith absolute­ly car­ried me through,” he said. ​“If I didn’t have my faith, my prayers, and my belief in the after­life… I don’t know where I’d be.”

His oncol­o­gy care was led by Dr. M. Amjad Ali, an oncol­o­gist at the Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) Can­cer Insti­tute — a choice that came from the heart. Years ear­li­er, Dr. Ali had cared for Steven’s moth­er dur­ing her own can­cer journey.

“I saw the tears in his eyes when he had to tell my mom there was noth­ing more they could do,” Steven said. ​“That com­pas­sion stuck with me. I knew when I was diag­nosed, he would be my doctor.”

Steven also cred­its the entire care team at the QMG Can­cer Insti­tute for their kind­ness and dedication.

“They’re so lov­ing, so giv­ing, and full of ener­gy. They made my time there pleas­ant — they’re like fam­i­ly now.”

Even now, years after his diag­no­sis, Steven vis­its the QMG Can­cer Insti­tute every six weeks for ongo­ing treat­ment. His immune sys­tem was com­pro­mised dur­ing chemother­a­py, mak­ing con­tin­ued care nec­es­sary. The famil­iar faces and shared sto­ries in the infu­sion room have become part of his con­tin­ued healing.

Steven has attend­ed QMG’s Nation­al Can­cer Sur­vivors Day events in the past and cher­ish­es the con­nec­tions he’s made. ​“I’ve met so many peo­ple who are in the same boat — oth­er sur­vivors. It’s a dif­fer­ent kind of bond,” he said.

Steven has embraced his iden­ti­ty as a can­cer sur­vivor — and now uses his expe­ri­ence to sup­port others.

To those new­ly diag­nosed, he offers this advice: ​“Always stay pos­i­tive. Be pos­i­tive in every­thing you do. It’s not easy — but it mat­ters. And be hum­ble. That was hard for me. I’m a retired edu­ca­tor. I’ve been a care­giv­er. But dur­ing my ill­ness, I had to let oth­ers take care of me. I had to hum­ble myself.”