Doggos
Steve Pake
My Pregnant Girlfriend

Raya’s First Pregnancy. She’s due June 19th, 2024, and was confirmed pregnant with more than one.

My Pregnant Girlfriend
Doggos, Photography
Steve Pake
Keeping Up With Raya

Our baby princess Raya is all grown, and currently expecting her first litter of puppies due June 19th. We’re so excited for her, and for the families who will take her puppies home!

Keeping Up With Raya
Cancer, Life, Faith
Steve Pake
A New Life and a Fresh Start With Faith a ...

It’s been ages since I’ve done much in the way of writing about my cancer journey here, but it’s time to start writing again.

A New Life and a Fresh Start With Faith a Decade After Testicular Cancer
Cancer, Faith
Steve Pake
Cancer and Faith Q&A

A snapshot of my cancer and faith journeys, and the bridging of two worlds into one centered around God.

Cancer and Faith Q&A
Cancer, Faith
Steve Pake
How Rekindling My Faith Cured My Mental Health ...

I suffered needlessly for years from my mental health issues after cancer. Rekindling my Faith is what ultimately cured them.

How Rekindling My Faith Cured My Mental Health Issues

Cancer Survivorship at Six Years

Cancer Survivorship at Six Years

Six years after my cancer fight, I still GRIEVE the loss of my life as I once knew it sometimes, thinking that everything would always be okay, that my family would always be healthy, and friends that I truly love and care about will always be around. I want to believe that, but know it's just now how things work. Why do I get so sappy and emotional? Because I love you, and I want you to know that now, today, because I know that you might not be around tomorrow, or maybe I'm the one that might not be around.

Cancer Survivors Are Grieving Too

Cancer Survivors Are Grieving Too

One day I was reading my friend's website, and my jaw hit the floor when I read a post about grief. It was the first time I'd ever seen a "grief chart." I had no idea there even was such a thing, and I could easily identify myself at every single step of this big curve as a cancer survivor. I had been writing and sharing in my cancer journey for a few years at this point, and it had never occurred to me even once that this entire process and all that I was going through, was all really one massive grief curve.

Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid of the RPLND Surgery for Testicular Cancer

Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid of the RPLND Surgery for Testicular Cancer

The retroperitoneal lymph node dissection surgery (RPLND) is a really gruesome and highly invasive surgery for some testicular cancer patients. It can be used as a primary form of treatment for some Stage I and Stage II patients that have been diagnosed with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT), and can also be used as a secondary form of treatment for the post-chemotherapy management of residual masses. The surgery is horrifying to many newly diagnosed testicular cancer patients and caregivers when they first read about it. Many will gravitate towards chemotherapy thinking that it’s “easier”, but I’m here to tell you not to be afraid of the RPLND surgery. It might actually be the better option for some.

Do It Now, Sometimes Later Becomes Never

Do It Now, Sometimes Later Becomes Never

Do I even really need to post this one? It's a lesson that's been drilled home not just once, but a few times with me. I always had my entire life in front of me and plenty of time to do everything I wanted, until I was diagnosed with cancer. Ever since then, there's never been a such things as next year, or 5 or 10 years from now, or "when I retire". I don't have a life plan like that anymore. It's a foreign concept to me now, and it's not just because I had cancer as a young adult.

Be Kind, For Everyone Is Fighting A Battle You Know Nothing About

Be Kind, For Everyone Is Fighting A Battle You Know Nothing About

Although I write mainly about my life experiences as a young adult cancer survivor on my website, having cancer as a young adult is not the only major life challenge that I and my family have faced. There have been other challenges in our lives that have been just as painful as my cancer fight and years long recovery, if not even moreso. Cancer is just what I'm comfortable being open about. There's so much more.

Overcoming Post-Cancer Depression

Overcoming Post-Cancer Depression

I happen to be a good baseline for what post-cancer depression can feel like, because there had never been even a single depressive ‘bone’ in my body prior to cancer. I was always upbeat and optimistic about everything, believed that there were solutions to every problem, and did not have pre-existing issues with depression or anxiety. My cancer diagnosis at the age of 33 is the first time I faced any mental health issues in my life at all, and they hit me like a load of bricks.

April is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month

April is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month

April is testicular cancer awareness month, and as a 9 year survivor of this disease, I can tell you a few things about testicular cancer.The first is that contrary to what people might expect, testicular cancer is actually the #1 form of cancer in men ages 15-44 internationally, yet almost no one talks about the disease. It’s sad and frustrating that 20 years after the founding of a very famous organization in yellow by a now very infamous testicular cancer survivor, that we still have to struggle so hard for any sort of public awareness about this disease. Testicular cancer in young men is about as common as breast cancer is in young women, yet no one ever talks about testicular cancer! In the U.S. alone, someone is diagnosed with testicular cancer every hour, and someone dies of this disease every day.

Barcelona 2017

Barcelona 2017

Spring Break 2017 has come and gone, and we had a fantastic time in Barcelona! If it were up to me, I'd have parachuted into a cute little island in the Caribbean somewhere and just disconnected for a week. We've been through a lot in the past year. A week on a little island somewhere with my feet in the water and my ass in the sand sounded ideal, but I'm glad I was out-voted. We'd been longing to come back to the Continent for ages, and the Euro trading at about parity with the Dollar now made it a great time. Spain was amazing, and Barcelona is an incredible city. We can't wait to go back to Europe again!

What I Have In Common With Prince Harry - Two Years of Total Chaos, After Cancer

What I Have In Common With Prince Harry - Two Years of Total Chaos, After Cancer

As an American, I tend to not pay too much attention to what members of the British Royal family are up to, but I just became a huge fan of Prince Harry. It turns out that he and I both have something in common, and that is two years of total chaos after traumatic events in our lives. For Prince Harry, it was the tragic loss of his mother, Princess Diana, 20 years ago when he was just 12 years old, and for myself, my cancer diagnosis six years ago at the age of 33.

Longing To Feel What I Know I'll Never Feel Again After Cancer

Longing To Feel What I Know I'll Never Feel Again After Cancer

The mental challenges that we can still face in our minds, even many years after cancer. "I've been feeling extremely restless lately, and I haven't known why. I realized I've been longing for that security that we all felt about our lives before cancer, and the restlessness is because I know I'll never feel that again. At the conscious level, I've understood and accepted this for a long time, but it doesn't mean that we don't subconsciously still long to feel that again, and that it can't affect us. A bit of depression perhaps, finding myself once again longing for something that I know I'll never feel again?

A First of its Kind Testicular Cancer Summit, Featuring Dr Lawrence Einhorn

A First of its Kind Testicular Cancer Summit, Featuring Dr Lawrence Einhorn

Bringing Survivors and Experts Together for a Weekend of Awareness, Education and Support.

Mark your calendars. October 13, 14 & 15, 2017 at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center will host the first Testicular Cancer Summit. During this weekend long event we will discuss life with cancer and the many lifestyle changes that can help the healing process. Motivational speakers, keynotes on lifestyle, and support systems will all be part of this summit. We hope to see you there.

Inside Our Minds When There's a Recurrence of Cancer - With Nalie Agustin

Inside Our Minds When There's a Recurrence of Cancer - With Nalie Agustin

In my years after cancer, I experienced several recurrence scares that were so bad and so real, that I thought for certain that my cancer had returned, that I had just lived my last good day, and that I was going to die. This is what's going through our minds when there's a cancer recurrence, real or imagined, captured with the help of breast cancer thriver, Nalie Agustin

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