Coeur d'Alene couple: 'We just keep fighting'

COEUR d’ALENE — Steve Prosch has been battling cancer for nearly a decade. 

He may not win, but he is giving it his all.

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride, for sure,” he said.

On a recent doctor visit, the Coeur d’Alene man was told he had months to live.

“We’re just not quite ready to believe that,” said his wife, Kate Prosch. 

Her husband, who lost his left eye to cancer, is tired and weak, but is trying to stay positive and enjoy each minute with his wife and family.

“He’s not near ready to give up or give in,” Kate Prosch said. “We’re going to keep on fighting.”

Steve Prosch was 49 and a picture of health when, in 2016, he began having vision problems. A series of trips to eye doctors, then a surgeon, and a specialist, found he had ocular melanoma.

Both Steve and Kate were stunned.

“He can’t have cancer,” Kate Prosch said.

But he did.

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, ocular melanoma is an extremely rare form of cancer that affects the eye with an incidence of 5 per million adults. Although rare, it is the most common primary cancer of the eye in adults. 

Steve Prosch began radiation treatments and although he lost vision in his left eye, the tumor was shrinking. Every six months, they traveled to Portland for checkups. Back home, he had scans every six months to check for metastasizing to his liver, which was a fear.

"We made it to five years and his oncologists were so happy," Kate Prosch wrote. "Five years was the goal. After five years the chances of metastatic uveal cancer went way down."

But six and a half years after this battle began, a routine CAT scan revealed eight tumors in his liver.

They were told there was no cure.

"You think everything is fine. All of the sudden you're like, 'Oh,'” Kate Prosch said.

For nearly a year, the Prosches traveled back and forth to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for clinical cancer trials every six weeks.

“We were on a plane more than anybody should be,” Kate Prosch said, smiling.

All the while, Kate Prosch gave up her job to be with her husband. Steve continued working at his management position in shipping and receiving, but eventually lost it.

“He couldn’t keep up,” Kate Prosch said. “We didn’t want to lose the job and the insurance, but we understood.”

In November 2023, feeling pressure and pain in his left eye, and fatigued and nauseous, Steve went to the doctor and a new tumor was found.

“We can’t save the eye,” Steve was told.

It was removed in December and he later received a prosthetic eye.

"It’s amazing. You can't even tell,” Kate said.

But that's one of the few successes, if you call it that.

Medical insurance has been difficult. Coverage under a private medical plan was declined. The clinical trial he was going to be a part of closed indefinitely and they don't have others he qualifies for. His oncologist at MD Anderson left the hospital.

“Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong,” Steve Prosch said.

“It’s been very crazy, very up and down, “ Kate Prosch said. "Yet at the same time, we’ve been so blessed."

Family, friends and faith have sustained them. Prayers come from around the world.

“We just know that somehow God is going to do a miracle or whatever he’ll do,” Kate Prosch said.

The Prosches have lived in their Coeur d’Alene home for nearly 25 years. They have been married 34 years, have four children and nine grandchildren.

While always independent, they are getting by these days on fundraisers and donations. A friend gave them $10,000.

"So many have been so generous," Kate said.

A GoFundMe account has raised about $34,000. Organizer and family friend Hannah Johnson has known the Prosches most of her life. 

"They both have such beautiful hearts for others. I can always see God’s hand in their lives and look forward to seeing how he continues to provide for them as they seek the best care needed for Steve," she wrote.

The Prosches wondered if perhaps things might have turned out differently if Steve had an annual eye exam, that maybe the tumor would have been found sooner. So they urge people to do it.

"Hindsight we would have done things a little differently," Kate Prosch said. “You’ve got to stay vigilant."

Steve had an MRI on May 28 and visited his oncologist Monday. There has been a slight decrease in the size of the tumors treated with radiation.

He will continue with a new treatment once a week at Benewah Community Hospital in St. Maries for two to three months. Then, another MRI will reveal if it is working.

Until then, they wait, an uncertain future ahead. 

"You kind of just have to go about your life,” Kate said. “We don’t know what tomorrow holds but we’ll take today and enjoy it as best we can."

    Steve and Kate Prosch in their Coeur d'Alene home.