are missing from the picture that Deanna Staab has in her living room, but not from her heart. 

A photo of her ‘posse’, those that helped her complete two sets of chemo and two rounds of stem cell transplants so that today she is as clear of the insidious cancer, mulitple myeloma, as anyone can be.

 

Your donations brought her to and from the treatments she needed to live. Deanna, a youthful mom to two young adult children, wears a baseball cap this summer as her pretty blonde hair grows back in. She dog sits two attentive fur babies for family and friends, not for compensation, but for companionship and to give back in a small way.

“One will only sit on my right side,” she said when she scoops them up for a photo in her home. 

As the puppies try to kiss her, she tells the story of her two-year battle with cancer. It includes the added battle of the back and forth on Interstate 70. The two stem-cell transplants took place at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City.  After two extended stays, totaling 120 days, and many check ups later, Deanna is grateful for the opportunity to let you know she is doing well and she is thankful for your contribution to her wellness.  

“It’s 368 miles one way to Kansas City, and you can figure at least one meal if you go there and back in a day. I have had to go back every week for a couple months and then every other week and now I’m down to about every three weeks. So it’s expensive,” said Deanna. “Thank God for the donors at the Cancer Council.” 

 

You brought caregivers to nurse her through. With the special treatments, such as stem cell transplants, patients must have a caregiver at all times with them. Your donation is the reason Deanna felt comfortable with her friends and families’ gift of time as her caregivers and escorts on her travels.

 

Friends and family were so wonderful to give me their time. I had f riends come and stay for days at a time, giving up vacation or taking time off work, leaving small children and home responsibilities.

 

It’s a fact that I had 50 different people staying with me. I could never have had the funds to pay a caregiver, and I knew I couldn’t expect everybody to spend money, time, vacations, and gas to come stay with me.

 

”Many would not take the cancer council reimbursement for travel. But, for those that needed to, your donation brought the care to Deanna. 

 

“I know of no other group that helps with travel while in cancer treatment,” said Deanna. “Thank you.”You make cancer remission possible by giving survivors a route to success.

 

The way is many times to the east on I-70. A way that can seem but a straight road, but in reality has so many roadblocks for families in crisis. You are missing from Deanna’s posse photo, but you are not missing from her and her children’s hearts.