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Hope through Each Other: Couple battles breast and prostate cancer together

Steve Abbott knew when his father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that he would need to see a urologist. He was optimistic the day of his first screening, so when the urologist told him he likely had cancer, Steve was shocked.

“And I just remember sitting there—it was like the room was spinning,” he said.

Steve, and his wife, Diana Abbott, turned to UC Health for his cancer care journey.

A biopsy and tests confirmed that Steve had an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Surgeons removed his prostate gland, but it became clear that his cancer was not cured. Around the time a new hormone therapy began showing positive results for Steve, Diana found a lump in her breast.

A mammogram confirmed their fears—Diana had cancer, too. Again, the couple turned to UC Health. “It was a dark day, but we knew how to get through it. We had been through it,” she said.

Elyse Lower, MD, director of the UC Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Center, provided Diana the hope she needed. “The first visit I had with Dr. Lower, she reached over and touched my leg, and said, ‘We’re going to get you through this.’” Diana said.

Steve spoke of a similar rapport with William Barrett, MD, UC Cancer Center co-director.

"When he first came into the room, we didn’t talk about cancer. We talked about sports, music. That reminded me that cancer does not define my life," he said.

Steve, still battling his cancer, says hope has allowed him to see that he is more than his diagnosis. “Hope gives me the positive energy I need to live my life the way I want to live it with this,” he said.