In celebration of Ron Stroope
This journey for Ron and his family began in December 2018 when he was first diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma. Rare in adults, Ron and Claire found the Sarcoma Center at UC Davis and moved forward with treatment, chemotherapy, surgery, more chemotherapy, and radiation. Ron did well and was declared “cancer-free” on November 20th of 2019.
2020 was a lot of things, in January another tumor was discovered and removed in February and the fight began again. New oncologist, more scans, and cancer was found in his lungs. A devastating diagnosis, but Ron was up for the fight. New infusions, new chemicals – this time chemo was harder and more challenging. The search for drug trials that might slow this growth down began. One drug trial in and out, more chemo, and the lung mets inoperable. Ron fought the good fight for two more years.
Fast forward to March 2022 – not finding any drug trials that were open, without a lot of hope, Ron went back to chemo one more time. After the scan, it was obvious that nothing could stop this demon or even slow it down. Ron began to speed up work to finish his projects, especially his shed – such an important project. Seems he got the major work done on the shed, friends came and visited, and we recorded a lot of his history, but no one was giving up completely; shortly after hearing from the doctor the last time he and Claire called hospice.
May, 2022. Hospice did come out and help Ron by giving him oxygen, and drugs for the pain and anxiety. Throughout these last months Ron and Claire, Taylor and Elliott have spent a lot of time together. Ron got up every single day, and while breathing was a challenge he was up and ready for each Giant game. The drugs kept the pain at bay and helped him breath, but at 8:17 am, the morning of May 16th, with Claire by his side, Ron’s fight ended, and he transitioned from this realm, on to the next part of his journey.
The family decided that in lieu of flowers they would like any donations made to the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) to support the foundation’s efforts in finding a cure. SFA covers many aspects from research grants, drug trials – a very important part of the fight to cure Sarcoma; patient support in finding the specialized centers and doctors, financial assistance information and support during treatment and so much more. The importance of finding a specialized center dedicated to Sarcoma and doctors who know and understand this type of cancer is paramount in this effort to save and prolong lives. You can check out their website here: curesarcoma.org, and also look into their organization at Charity Navigator, charitynavigator.org/ein/522275294.
