Steve and Toni Watermeier get a new lease on life, and a new coat of paint for their house.

As the painting crew breaks for lunch, Steve Watermeier steps out the front door of his Carmel home to inspect the work. His wife, Toni stands nearby, looking over palette strips. She planted the shrubs in front of their house months ago, but Steve is just now noticing them. She smiles at his late discovery, and goes back to choosing a new color for their stripped door.

This is an everyday occurrence for the Watermeiers. Along with sons Sam, who lives with them, and harry now in Philadelphia, they’re working to restart their lives after more than a year in limbo while Steve battled throat, and then liver cancer – four months of which he spent in a medically induced coma.

“You lose track of time,” Steve said. “You come home thinking the groceries you just bought are still good, but you’ve been gone almost a year and a half… and four months of that you were completely gone”

ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE
“I’m still a reasonably young man,” Steve, 56, said “I still have a lot to do.”

That outlook on life may have been what pulled Steve through, says Toni, who was by his side every step of the way. She recalled counting 32 IV poles standing around his bedside at one point, during which he was on dialysis 24 hours a day.

“The doctors and nurses have told us they’re convinced Steve made it through becasue of his attitude,” Toni said.

While the initial operation to remove Steve’s throat was successful, he became septic afterward. Doctors put him in a medically induced coma while they treated the infection. Months later, after waking from the coma, and after, as Toni recalled with awe, spending weeks with his esophagus and stomach (now pulled up into his chest) exposed through a cavity in his chest, tests showed cancerous spots on jis lived, requiring yet another surgery.

Today, back at home with wife and son, Steve seems eager to make the most of his second chance at life.

“I traveled a lot for work, so I missed a lot while my boys were young,” he said. “It’s been great to be back and see my wife and son Sam every day, and my son Harry regularly. To see my sons start becoming adults, to watch what they’re going to do, that’s been a thrill.”"

“Just sitting around in the backyard grilling, or raking leaves with my wife… those are the things I missed,” Steve added.

LEADING A HELPING HAND
Sam Yudes, owner-operator of the local College Pro Painters franchise, was looking for nominees to receive a free home paint job when he heard the Watermeiers’ story from one of their neighbors.

“I hadn’t selected them yet when I first met them,” Yudes said. “But we sat down and ended up talking for an hour and a half What I liked about their story was that they were persevering through all of it, and that it had a happy ending”

Sherwin Williams Co. donated hundreds of dollars worth of paint for the project- stripping and re-painting all the exterior walls, window shutters and trim, as well as roof work- and Expert Window and Hime Remodeling offered it’s services to do necessary wood repair.
The total project ran nearly $5,000, which the Watermeiers said just wouldn’t have been possible on their now-fixed income.

“When you’re in the hospital  that long, you lose your job,” Steve said. “Even though my family did an incredible job keeping up with everything in our 35-year-old house, there’s still a lot of things that need to be done. The housse needed paint badly, but where that money would have come from, I don’t know.”

“When Sam came up… I mean, you talk about godsend,” he added.

For his part, Yudes just seemed enthusuastic to do the work, even during a week where frequent rains delayed, interrupted or prevented entire day’s work altogether.

“What touched me about their story was that they were presevering through all of it, and that it had a happy ending” Yudes said.

A month ago, Steve was given a clean bill of health and is now in remission. As far as what’s next for the Watermeiers, the sky is the limit, they said.

“What I’ve found out through this is, cancer is not a death sentence,” Stave said. “It’s all about attitude”

By: Jordan Fischer

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