2018 August PASO Magazine

Stephanie Rothbauer Seeks Stem Cell Donor
2018 Big Sister of the Year Battles Life-Threatening Cancer
Publisher’s Note: In May, we recognized
Stephanie Rothbauer for her
selection as the Big Sister of the Year
for 2018. She was recognized for an
outpouring of her mind, body and
spirit upon others, and it is our honor
to publish a call for help for Stephanie
as she faces an internal battle of
mind, body and spirit for her life.
By Tracey Earl
Here on the Central Coast
we have many hero’s disguised
as ordinary people
and one that is special to me and
many others is Stephanie Rothbauer.
Her story is like other ordinary
people dealt circumstances
beyond their control — circumstances
in which you have the
choice to fight or be defeated.
Stephanie is a warrior and a Hero
and being defeated is not in her
vocabulary.
Stephanie, Our Warrior Queen,
recently entered the ring for the
fight of her life and she needs the
an army of support to get through
this. She was diagnosed with
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML.
FLT3), and on May 17 she was
sent to Stanford Medical Center
after results from a local blood test
came back with dangerous levels of
white blood cells.
The tests were a result of Stephanie
seeking medical attention
after experiencing a recent series
of issues that she had believed to
be related to her Multiple Sclerosis.
Severe, headaches, debilitating
in nature, a terrible ulcer on her
tongue that made it impossible for
her to eat and she even blacked out
at one point. It was then that she
realized this was beyond the challenges
that she already dealt with
and considered part of her “normal”
with MS.
Upon her arrival at Stanford
they immediately began chemo
treatment and told her that she
had cancer. It took a couple of
days and a very painful bone marrow
biopsy to reveal exactly what
form of leukemia she would be
battling. Given the seriousness of
Stephanie’s already highly-compromised
immunity the treatment
plan for her is very individualized
and she is being taken care of with
extra care and attention.
Tad, Stephanie’s husband, has
only left her side to come home
for their son’s promotion from the
eighth grade. It was a heartwarming
surprise that left few dry eyes
as young TJ was surprised by his
father’s appearance. Stephanie is
currently undergoing her second
four-week induction chemotherapy
with hopes of putting the cancer
into remission before a bone
marrow transplant. When her
marrow test come back clean of
the cancer cells she will undergo
stem cell therapy, with a 100-day
stay in Palo Alto for 24-hour care
and treatment.
The previous induction chemotherapy
brought her close to the
edge multiple times, but her body
fought back against insurmountable
odds — well enough for her
to get a one-week break at home at
the end of June before beginning
this second round. As of mid-July,
we are waiting for results of her
most recent biopsy to determine
whether or not her numbers are
within the parameters of remission.
If they are, and the stem cell
donor is found, she can begin the
process of rebuilding her immune
system. There is a chance that not
only would she be cancer free, but
that her MS would be eliminated as
well — truly, a second chance at life.
We recently found out that her
siblings are not matches for stem
cell, and they are currently searching
the national database for a match.
Are you between the ages 18-
44* and want to help Stephanie?
Join Be The Match’s National
Marrow Registry. Bone Marrow
and Stem Cells have the ability to
cure life threatening diseases. Joining
the registry is easy.
You can go to join.bethematch.
org/SRothbauer for a free swab kit
to complete at home. The process
is similar to blood donations, and
donors say it is pain free and easy
— a couple hours of their time
for the rest of a patient’s life. If
you have any questions or would
like to host a Be The Match drive
at your place of worship, work,
school, or community center,
please reach out to Claire Bendig,
cbendig@coh.org. Learn more at
bethematch.org.
ABOUT STEPHANIE
To know Steph is too love
her. Her vibrancy and genuine
love of life is present in everything
she does, even during
these difficult times.
What would cripple many
only displayed her strengths
more. Her passion is displayed
in everything she is a
part of, and a supporter of the
national and local MS Foundation.
She’s also a well-recognized
interior designer.
She was recently honored
as Big Sister of the Year for
2018, because of her commitment
to her Little Sister, which
she plans to see through the
young lady’s time in school
and beyond.
Steph’s family is her biggest
passion and her focus is and
always has been to ensure
that TJ (14), Brayden (12), and
Mia (8) are happy, loved and
know their place in her heart.
Our number one priority is
securing a donor so Stephanie
can be home and cancer
free and return to be a mother,
wife and friend to so many.
Signing up to be a donor is
such a worthy cause that will
help someone to live a better
life, whether it is Stephanie’s
or someone like her fighting
for their chance to be a part
of the everyday little things so
many of us take for granted.
Facebook: Steph’s Army: Going
to Battle Against AML
gofundme.com/stephanie-rothbauer
join.bethematch.org/SRothbauer
28 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, August 2018