CANFIELD — “There is always something to be thankful for.”

That’s a framed quote lining the stairway to the second floor of Beau Halcomb’s township home, where hope and gratitude seem to be winning against darker forces.

Beau, 42, who’s facing cancer for the second time, earlier this week got news that a scan showed no sign of the disease.

His wife, Rebecca, 36, said they’ve got so much to be thankful for and said chemotherapy will continue and a stem cell transplant will likely happen in the new year.

They still have a long road ahead, she said, “but we’re heading in the right direction.”

His wife and community are making sure that Beau doesn’t have to go it alone.

The Halcombs have three sons, Kellen, 10; Camden, 7; and Beau Jr., 4, and were just recovering emotionally and financially from a prior bout with cancer when news of a recurrence sidelined them Oct. 14, six years to the day he was declared free from Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

This rare and aggressive cancer was stage 2 the first time around but is now stage 4. A scan in October showed cancer in bones, muscle, his jaw, rib cage, adrenal gland, liver and lymph nodes.

The couple sat down with The Vindicator earlier this week to talk about his most recent diagnosis.

Beau, who said he’s always been physically active and in shape, was working out four times a week when he began having back pain. At first, he tried to write it off, thinking he overdid it with a workout.

He realized he hadn’t been feeling well and when that continued, he said, he knew something was wrong.

“I was six years cancer free,” he said. “Life was just moving along, and I’d go fishing with the kids, go to church, watch them play sports.”

The diagnosis was hard to accept and Beau said he sometimes wonders what he did to deserve it. “You didn’t do a thing,” Rebecca told him softly.

Compounding the situation, Beau said he lost his job as a medical practice administrator. Rebecca is a communications and media specialist at Old North Church in Canfield, and they pay into Cobra insurance.

They said the cost for his type of treatment is astronomical. Though they had good insurance, Beau said the total cost for his first bout with cancer was close to $30 million.

COMMUNITY CARES

A fundraiser earlier this month will help with medical bills, and friends and family have chipped in to provide meals, help around the house and yard, and care for the kids when Beau and Rebecca are in Cleveland for treatment.

Rebecca said it’s easy to think about all the bad things happening in the world, but Beau’s illness has shown them that goodness abounds.

“We are so blessed to live in this community,” she said. “We can’t ever repay everything that’s been given to us.”

Since Beau got sick initially, Rebecca said she’s learned more than she ever wanted to about things relating to his illness. She speaks fluently when discussing his diagnosis and the related medical jargon — because his life depends on it.

In the beginning, Beau said, there were times he told her she’d be better off without him — a notion she quickly shot down.

“I told him absolutely not,” she said, explaining they took an oath before God that they’d stick together through sickness and health. “I’d marry him all over again.”

Beau’s immune system is weak so he has to avoid groups of people and public places. Getting together with family over the holidays is a call they’ll let Beau’s doctor make.

“I have to really be careful,” he said.

LOT OF HELP

With help from their family, church, friends and community, Beau and Rebecca said they know they’ll get through this. When they do, Beau said he plans to continue coaching his kids, stay involved in the community and work from home as a supply chain specialist in the medical field.

In the meantime, he’s putting his faith in God and relying on those closest to him.

“It’s my family,” he said. “They keep me going.”

Benefit for Beau

A dodge ball tournament to raise money for the family will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at Game On Sports and Training Center, 7095 Lockwood Blvd., Boardman. A preview for raffle items will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 6.

Food, including sausage sandwiches, hamburgers and hot dogs, will be served outside under a heated tent. A DJ will provide entertainment and a silent auction will feature prizes including football helmets signed by Deion Sanders and Donovan McNabb.

Basket raffles will give attendees a chance to win big, with one lucky winner walking away with a 55-inch flat screen TV, iPad and Nintendo Switch mini.

Organizer Pete Raptis, who co-owns Game On with Tim Bednar, of Canfield, said the two wanted to help ease the family’s financial burden.

When Raptis was director for NEO flag football, the league was short on coaches so he approached Beau, who didn’t hesitate to volunteer.

“Now it is our turn to pay it forward to a family in need this holiday season,” Raptis said.

Everything, from the tent, DJ and food, have been donated or paid for by businesses and individuals, he noted.

Adult and kid teams can still register. The cost is $105 per team. For more information, call Raptis at (330) 787-3006.