But first, the active, otherwise healthy 60-year-old had to undergo several months of intense chemotherapy to stop the cancer from spreading and to put him into remission.
The treatments didn’t work. In fact, the man who was in a hospital only once before found himself spending weeks there.
Stan went through several more months of treatment, numerous bone marrow biopsies and blood infusions. Eventually, he says, “We came to the realization that chemo was just not working. I was hitting a brick wall and I didn’t really know what to do. I needed the transplant, but doctors at the Mayo Clinic [in Rochester] wouldn’t even consider it until I was in remission.”
Stan and Sue approached his battle as a couple. Without denying his prognosis, they stayed positive and hopeful and relied on their family, friends and faith to keep them focused on their blessings. “Our mantra was, ‘Make it a day well lived,’” he says.
Several months later, as Stan’s health continued to decline, he learned about a clinical trial for IDHIFA (enasidenib) being conducted at a treatment center in Houston.