Background

The family of Greg, Colleen and Ilona Beck have published this blog to inform those who love the Becks as we do about Greg’s progress in battling cancer and the needs they will encounter along the way.  None of us can fight this battle alone!  They need our help – and yours.  Pray with us – give with us.  Thank you.

The Situation

Greg’s cancer, considered “cured” in 1988 after aggressive chemotherapy treatment and surgery, recurred in 2010,  prompting more chemotherapy and eventually major surgery in August 2010 to remove any remaining tumor mass. Greg was able to work throughout his chemo treatment, and returned to week only a few weeks following surgery. He recovered well, and he and Colleen were hopeful hopeful that with his health restored, and they could continue to live and work on their Texas ranch with daughter, Ilona, raising the horses they all love so much. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2011, blood tests revealed that his cancer markers were rising again, and so once again Greg faces chemotherapy – this time, however, the stakes are higher than ever.

How it Started

My sister, Colleen Carlton, met Greg Beck in March 1985, on a family camping trip to the desert. It was quickly apparent that they were meant for each other, and they were married in November 1985, at Skyline Wesleyan Church in Spring Valley, California. Sharing a love for animals, and especially horses, they settled down in Jamul, California, where they worked together on their home and property, enjoying life in Southern California “horse country.”

Then, in March 1987, Greg, a healthy and robust construction contractor, father of two (from a previous marriage), athlete, and general construction contractor and business owner, was diagnosed with testicular cancer following months of debilitating pain, consultations with specialists, x-rays, scans, and even the suggestion that perhaps the specialist he should be seeing was a psychiatrist. With finally a definitive diagnosis, Greg underwent debilitating chemotherapy treatment (20 treatments in four months), followed by surgery for a major lymph node dissection in October 1987. In March 1988, Greg’s blood tests again revealed an increase in cancer markers, and he subsequently endured an even stronger regimen of chemotherapy. This was followed by major surgery involving another lymph node dissection, as well as removal of his right kidney, one lobe of his liver, and his gallbladder.

After his surgery, Greg and his family lived on pins and needles for months, then years – always fearing that each twinge, pain, or spasm signaled the recurrence of the cancer and the nightmare it represents. Gradually, eventually, they began to feel safe – to feel as if they finally beat it. Several years after his last surgery, Greg and Colleen were blessed with the birth of their daughter, Ilona, whom they adopted in 1994. This completed their family, which also includes Greg’s children from his first marriage, son John (now age 31) and daughter Melinda (now age 34). Greg continued to run his construction business, and the family pursued their passion for horses, eventually embracing the breeding and raising of a beautiful breed of draft horses, called Gypsies.

It’s Back!

In 2006, the Becks sold their home in Jamul and moved to Texas, to pursue their dream of raising Gypsy horses on their own horse ranch (see photo at top of blog). Greg has been in excellent health since his last surgery in 1988, and after 21 years, his past history of cancer was just a dim memory, until 2009, when he began having some pain in his side. When it persisted, he decided to have his AFPs drawn (cancer markers in the blood). To their horror, they were elevated, and in March 2010, Greg was diagnosed with a recurrence of his testicular cancer. He underwent chemotherapy from April through July, undergoing major surgery in August, which was subsequently pronounced a success by his surgeons.

Following this surgery, Greg recovered well, and returned to week a few weeks later. Life was returning to normal on their beautiful little Texas ranch, and the following spring brought new life, as several new Gypsy babies were born on the ranch. However, spring also brought word that Greg’s cancer markers were climbing once again. This was devastating news:  Not only would Greg
now have to face riskier, far more aggressive treatment than he had ever undergone before (which is difficult to imagine), but financially, they were completely tapped out and struggling to make ends meet.