| June 5, 1991 - August 27, 2003 |
| IN LOVING MEMORY OF STEPHEN M. PROIA |
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| Wear a Gold Ribbon for Childhood Cancer Awareness |
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| Please visit the following link. Stephen has a star on Page 12 |
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| God looked around his Garden and found an empty place. He then looked down upon his earth and saw your loving face He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest. His Garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best. He knew that you were suffering, he knew you were in pain. And knew that you would never get well here on earth again. He saw your path was difficult, he closed you tired eyes, He whispered to you "Peace be Thine" and gave you wings to fly. When we saw you sleeping, so calm and free of pain, We would not wish you back to earth to suffer once again. You've left us precious memories, your love will be our guide, You'll forever live on through us, you're always by our side. It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone. For a big part of us went with you on the day God called you home |
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| When Stephen began school in the fall of 2002 things seemed they were off to a bad start. Stephen's teachers were complaining about his behavior. After a few weeks he complained to his teacher he was seeing double. Right then I made an appointment for an eye exam and an appointment with the pediatrician on the same day. At the eye exam the doctor noticed he had a problem with his left eye, she called it a 6th nerve palsy, and wanted him to have an mri. That afternoon he was seen by the pediatrician. Stephen was diagnosed on Oct. 2, 2002 with an inoperable brain stem glioma. He endured 6 wks of radiation and 6 months of temodar. He was doing very well for 6 months until the tumor began to grow again. He was given the go ahead in April 2003 from his oncologist to play baseball, at the time he was doing great. He would race up and down the halls of the hospital with his doctor. At the end of May he began to feel weakness on his right side.He left his baseball game during warm ups because he could not reach the other player with the ball. Right then I knew my worst fears, the tumor was progressing. Stephen was taken off of temodar and entered into a phase 1 clinical trial. Unfortunately things just got worse. It was all a down hill battle from there. Stephen was a fighter, his main goal was to get better!. Stephen passed away at home surrounded by family and friends. |
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