For all the newbies, Min is a member here who doesn't get to post because of the following story. They are asking everyone to send an e-mail to Extreme Home Makeover to help them. Min and Guitarzan (Steve) are really great people who could definitely use a boost - good thoughts, prayers, and a quick e-mail.
Please read the following and if it strikes a chord with you, let EHM know
HI! Everyone! I just wanted to pass along some information as well as an opportunity to help a family that some of you may know and some of you may not know that well. Steve Rolbiecki and his families story is below, so please read. But the big news is, is that
Extreme Home Makeover will be coming to Rochester, MN in the near future. This is a wonderful opportunity to help a family that has many struggles and they still continue. We want to nominate Steve and his family for this once in a lifetime opportunity! Please help us make this dream come true!
After you read the story if you are not familiar with it, please send an email to
Quentin Strack at emheminnesota@gmail.com
Then in your subject line enter
"Cancer Sucks -The Steve Rolbiecki Story"
You can write a note as to why you think they should be nominated for the extreme home makeover
or simply cut and paste the story below into the body of your email. Then please Sign your name, city, and state at the end of the email.
We are hoping that they will get so many emails that it blows them away and they will want to see for themselves why this family is so deserving of this opportunity. This is your time to do something for a family in need. This will not take up to a lot of your time. Please help by forwarding this email to as many people as you can and forward a separate one to the person mentioned above to nominate this family. I just want to tell you all THANK YOU and whatever you do, it is greatly appreciated. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Kimmi
Forward this email to :
Quentin Strack at emheminnesota@gmail.com I would like to tell you a story about Steve Rolbiecki. He is a very special one of kind guy. He has been through so much in his lifetime and still he keeps going strong. I don’t know if I would be able to stay as positive as he does every day. He has a lot of hope but not a lot of everything else. His story starts in 1987, when he 20 yrs old, that is when his life starting changing forever. It began when he started having problems with his balance. He would stiffen up and fall for no apparent reason and was unable to catch himself as he fell. In this condition he began to have anxiety and physical injuries. Soon he was unable to walk and at times would have to crawl to get somewhere for fear of falling. As you see when he would stiffen up and fall he was fully aware of what was happening he just couldn’t stop it or help himself. He began using a wheel chair so he could get around more. This continued for about 10 years. It felt like he was in a physical prison as Doctors were unable to diagnose him. He moved to Red Wing, Mn in a Handicap/Assisted living apartment to go to school for Computer Science. He finished school with an Associates in Science Degree. We were all very proud of him as he did not let this awful situation stop him from trying to better his life. Around 1997, he finally met a Doctor, Dr. Golden in the Twin Cities who took the extra time and researched his symptoms then diagnosed him with dystonia. At this time he was put on medication to help with this condition and with in few months he was able to walk again. It was a long hard struggle for him and he never lost hope. His world went from being young and free to being a captive in his own home. He lost years of his life he will never gain back. But he never thought of it that way and he is grateful they found something to help, his dystonia is not cured it is just controlled by medication. As a few years went by he started to adjust to life and was playing guitar in a band with his best friend Wes House. He was very happy and was beginning to feel that he was leading a pretty normal life. Soon he met a girl. Her name is Megan. They began dating and soon discovered that Megan was pregnant. This was a joyous time for them. They got married and were on their way to starting a family. Then they got the biggest surprise, they found out they were having twins. Double the joy. Then BAM! Megan ended up having a very difficult pregnancy and the twins were born early. This was a touch and go time for the babies as they were born at 29 weeks. They were kept in ICU for about 2 months until they starting gaining weight and breathing on their own. Eventually they were able to come home. They were very happy to have their boys Jacob and Joshua home. Then when the twins were 8 months old they started to notice that Joshua's leg muscles were extremely tight and not as flexible as his twin brother’s. BAM! They were soon hit with another blow, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. So they had gotten over the last shock and started to lead a happy family life. About 2 1/2 years later they were blessed with a healthy baby girl Abigail. At this time they decided to have Steve stay home with the kids and have Megan work Fulltime. As with the prices of day care it would be cost effective and Steve loves being with his kids. He still played in a band and gave guitar lessons on the weekends. About a year later his best friend Wes House was diagnosed with MS and it was the most aggressive kind. He was only in his 30’s. He was the drummer in the band that my brother played with and had been there for Steve thru his terrible times. Soon he was in a nursing home where he was unable to move or speak. Steve went to visit him as often as he could. Steve had a benefit for Wes to help get him a device that would enable him to speak to people. The benefit was a success and he was able to get this computer device to help his friend. This was in October 2006. As time went on they learned that Josh could have corrective surgery on his legs. As Josh is now in school they scheduled it for the summer of 2007. This surgery would help with the tightness and in-toeing, but yet again BAM! they were hit with another blow and had to postpone the surgery because in the fall of 2007 my brother came down with a terrible cough. He went to the doctor and they prescribed meds for bronchitis. He started getting very tired and his cough didn’t go away. He had a full schedule of guitar lessons that he gave every Saturday and Sunday. He even got to too tired to give lessons and his left hand started tingling and getting numb. He went back to the doctor in April 2007 and had x rays to figure out why his hand was going numb and tingling. The results found that there was a tumor blocking the nerve to his arm. They did a biopsy on it and it came back begnin. BAM! Then they saw another spot on the x ray closer to his rib. The Doctor ordered another biopsy on this spot and found it to be cancer, Lymphoma non-Hodgkin. This was April of 2007. He started getting set up with chemo and would have 6-7 hour treatments every 3 weeks for the next 7 months along with PET scans and other testing. Then BAM!, in May of 2007 his best friend Wes passed away after his struggle with MS. During this time Steve was dealing with the heartache of losing his close friend and his own diagnosis and treatments. In September we gave a benefit for Steve and his family to help with medical bills and other problems in the house. The benefit was a success and Steve was given the bill of health that he was in remission now. YEA! And thru all of his treatments he has stayed strong and positive and went on taking care of his kids every day while his wife was at work. Then yet again, BAM! This past January, 2008, he went in for his 3 month PET scan and it showed 2 spots. The Dr. said don't worry about it, we will recheck it in 3 months. Steve was not able to do that and requested a biopsy on it. The biopsy showed the Lymphoma was back. They started aggressive treatment on this and he just went thru a stem cell transplant in April of 2008. The stem cell transplant is over, so far he is very tired and there is still one spot that just won't go away. He also developed a blot clot in his central line and is getting a blood thinner shot daily along with other blood tests. His liver counts are also high. So we just keep praying that this is it and he will soon be able to live a happy healthy life again. Please help this family. I know there are a lot of people out there but this family has seen more than it's share. This summer their son Josh is suppose to have his leg surgery where he will be in the hospital for at least 2-3 weeks as his leg heals. They will be staying at Shiners Children’s Hospital. Megan has missed a lot of work to be with Steve and the kids. Steve's income from the band and giving lessons is gone. I pray that you pick my brother and his family not just because he is my brother but he is also a great friend, father, son, husband, along with his wife and children they are one of the strongest and most deserving families I have ever met.