Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

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Dave Washington 0:48
day Las Vegas. Good day Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host. I am pleased to have back on the show. Shortly we will have Chief Russell step and we're going to talk about his journey with cancer. So I think it's a topic that we need to further discuss. So we'll be with us shortly. However, in the moment, I want to talk about, you know, as an American Legion, I get a magazine as a part of my membership, and I know I'm going to butcher his name, but this is our national president, James la conteri Jr. He talks about our place at the table in DC, in Washington, DC, American Legion, and he and others have, in person, been asked to testify at 11 different congressional hearings in the first half of 2025 and this is something that we need to be doing, and in terms of different programs and things that they talk about. One is about cybersecurity, properly, staffing VA, which is some of the things that we know that 47 has been just doing some ugly things in terms of releasing people, et cetera. So we appreciate our national president going to bat for those who need the proper assistance from our government, as people have. And again, for those who don't understand, those of us who are legions, we didn't. We're not what's called VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars who have actually went into the theater where they have fought for this country, but US American Legion types, we did serve our country, but we just didn't go into the theater, into the war zone, if you will. But nevertheless, we did serve our country, and we expect a better treatment. So we appreciate our our national president, going to DC and standing up for the needs of veterans in our country. I'm going to get on the show, and he's been on several times in the past, but I know it's important to get him back on this local American Legion Post 10, Commander Jeff Jones, the post just reopened this past weekend, and they did a phenomenal job. They were closed for a number of months, and people kept asking, When are they going to reopen? And I'm going to have, I'll get the commander back on just to talk about how they were able to get what they got, because a place looks very, very good, you guys, and those of us who are legions or VFW, so what have you, in terms of former military service, you'll be proud of the work that has been done here, and we certainly thank our Vice President, Jim. And Jim, I'm sorry my name is, my brain is going blank, but he has done a tremendous job in terms of the big TVs that are in a gym. Purchased all of those. I think there's 678, of them in there, the big screen. So we appreciate that. Last week, we had on Dr Linda Bino, as well as Chief Russell step and we talked about the book that her deceased husband, our ancestor, Dudley, by no had written, and she edited and got it out. So I'm encouraging people. It's an outstanding piece of work, and it's a it's a good book for for all to read, whether you're black, white, male, female, is something as he talks about his fight for social justice within particularly the San Jose Fire Department, and it did go across the world in terms of some of the strategies other folks learned from him in terms of getting that addressed Last week, I also mentioned, I want to mention again, there's several episodes that I encourage people to go back and listen to one where 102 was uh, ances not ancestor. What am I saying? She is a icon in our community. 99 years of. Age, Miss Anna Bailey. Go back and listen to that, and you will find that she is still a very dynamic lady and and greatly appreciated by our community session. 103, was the Goodmans, Oscar and Carolyn Goodman. That was a good show that I think you should go back and listen to and just see some of the things that they put in place that are still coming to fruition to this day. And then we had 112 that was on Mount Bayou museum. We had the Johnson family on, if you get down in that Mississippi area, I think it's a museum that you would want to go and see. And then finally, we had Dr Linda by no and Bill Parker on that was one, oh, excuse me, 162 where we talked about something that trustee and Dudley by no and Burges Porter put together. There was a retiree session for that we do annually to get us together to break bread and play a little golf. So check those out, if you will. With that, at this time, I'd like to invite to Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. Chief Russell, step, how you doing?

Russell Steppe 6:11
Chief, hey, I'm doing pretty good. How you doing very

Dave Washington 6:15
well, and I appreciate you being on the show with Dr Bino last week. I think that gave some energy to to to what we were talking about in terms of the work that our ancestor and colleague, brother trustee, did for our community, and we greatly appreciate that. This week I want to talk about, and I did happen to see you on a podcast with a doctor, and I forget the doctor's name, and I trust you will recall her name, but the information that you shared, Russ, I think, is so important, and that's why I say I got to get him on my show to talk about some of the things, because you are very, very versed. And I guess when you're going through the journey of cancer, and I know you had more than one type, so just tell us a little bit about your journey. And when did you recognize it, and what were some of the steps? And again, one thing I noticed that you did on that particular show was you encourage folks to get to the doctor and get checked out and stop, you know, because it's a chief, it's a male thing, because I used to wouldn't go march. What is wrong with you? So now, any little thing goes on Wes I want you to know, Director, engineer, my guy over there, I rush my butt to the doctor, get checked out. Go ahead, Chief.

Russell Steppe 7:34
And you know, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here. Thank you. Thank you so very, very much. I relish the opportunity to speak on the truth. My name is Russell step. I was a firefighter for 32 years. Get exposed to a lot of stuff. A lot of the people in the military get exposed to all different kind of chemicals and all kind of different stuff. But I through my journey as a fire investigator and as a firefighter, ended up contracting breast cancer. Man, I was sitting on the couch one day. I had just done carpal tunnel on my left hand. 2021 January, I was icing my hand, and I felt a lump on my chest. I called my wife. I said, Hey, honey. I got a lump on my chest. She said, go to the doctor. I went to my doctor. Doctor said, Hey, go over here and get a test. I went and took a test. And when I went into this room, and I see a saw the look on the women's faces, wanted to say something to people, but, but, but I don't know, just in my spirit, it said, don't say anything. Just look right. And I had an opportunity to go to the mammogram thing. Not a lot of guys get a chance to go experience that mammogram machine, right? But I did, and they ended up doing a biopsy. That biopsy was a lot, but you know, through the process, I found out that I had breast cancer. I never forget, it was February 26 my son was walking in with the grandkids. We were getting ready to watch him for the weekend, and the lady on the phone was saying, Yeah, Mister step you have breast cancer. And when she said that, I started laughing, right? And the reason I laughed is because I said, man, God, you trust me enough to allow me to go through this, and I know I'm going to see and learn some stuff in the process. Absolutely throughout that, throughout that process, I ended up getting a mentor that was a firefighter that also had breast cancer. Only 1% of men actually end up with breast cancer. But when he, when I talked to him, and he kind of put my spirit at ease and helped me to understand that after going through it, it's it's a lot of discomfort, a lot of there's pain associated with it. But he told me how cool he was on the other side, and just from listening to that, and it made all the. Difference in the world. So I ended up getting a double mastectomy, cut both both breasts off, wow. And in the process, they took lymph nodes out of my armpit and my home swole up like crazy. So, you know, man, chemotherapy, radiation and all of that stuff my I just want to encourage those out there. Sometimes we get these diagnosis from the doctor, and man, you could really allow yourself to get down, but there's something amazing and awesome about your faith. Yeah, all of us have a measure of faith. And man, it just, it's that thing that has the power to help you get through whatever you think you're going through Absolutely

Dave Washington 10:42
and you know, you mentioned mentoring. I don't know if you ever met Spike Jones. He was out of St Louis, fire, and Spike was an instructor at EDI. He had the same he had pancreatic cancer like I had. And he said, Dave, there'll be days that you'll get so low that you'll be asking, God, why you? And I told him. I said, No, I'm not going here. Don't think chief that he didn't try to get into my head on a number of occasions, but I kept fighting it off. I'm like, you know, I'm 73 years old at the time that I got diagnosed and Spike, he passed away two years after his whipple surgery. So, you know, one of the things that I always kept telling myself was I got to maintain my faith, and I'm not going to question God as to why this happened to me. Because when I go down there for my test, and you know, as I was going through this process, and when you see babies, and I call them babies, any children, black, white, male, female, young, three, anywhere from 345, years old, one arm, one eye, bald head, they've been they're going through the meal. And I'm like, I'm 73 I have I'm only grateful to God for having given me all this time. And I pray for the, yeah, I pray for these young kids, because they're fighting for their life, man. And I've lived a good life. And I thank God every day, and I thank you for, as you said, go get tested. Don't be waiting if something is going on. And I noticed my weight was dropping, and people say, you look like, you like Man, I ain't lost no weight. We had got back from South Africa visiting family down there, my son in law's folks, and my ring slipped off my finger at the golf course. When I wash my hands, I say, Something ain't right. I call my doctor. I call my doctor. Russell got blood work, and when I go to his office, I see all this red stuff. I said, What is all that red stuff on my medical report? He said, You got some problems, and we got to find out what they are. So they run me through all sorts of tests. And again, I have used this platform to include I've had my surgeon on here kind of explaining things, and when I saw you talk about what you talked about on that show with your doc or a doctor, I say I got to get Russ on here, because I want people to listen to someone who's going through this journey. And I can tell you that John Rhodes, remember, former Councilman here in the city of North Las Vegas, Mujahid Ramadan community activists. These guys were CO and they had a different form. But still, the journey is your journey. In my family and chief my family, we've been a pretty public family. I say, hey, once we got the diagnosis, let's tell folks, and let's get the prayer line going. I say, You know what we have got to well again, listen to these guys talking you as well, even though they may have had to include my brother spike. Now an ancestor may have had the same thing, but your journey is your journey.

Russell Steppe 13:54
Absolutely it's your custom journey, just for you. Yes, and you know what, you have the power in your journey to control how you feel, how you think, how you react, how you interact with other people. But the most powerful thing about your journey is sharing your story. Yes, you know, I had an opportunity to go through breast cancer. I can talk to any woman that's had an opportunity to go through breast cancer, and we can compare stuff, and I can I can get with her, and we can share some stuff for the guys, for the few guys that actually ended up with it, right? But not too long after that, I ended up finding out I had prostate cancer too. Man, so many of us guys end up with prostate cancer, and matter of fact, I saw a report the other day that says it's increasing the occurrences of prostate cancer within our society. And so, man, you know, fellas, we gotta reach out to our doctors, yes, and if something's not right, when you start to feel something's not right. In your body, go to the doctor and get it checked out. That's right. The longer you wait, the worse things can be. The sooner you go, the sooner you have the ability to to solve the problem. That's right, especially with the prostate. It's a simple blood test PSA, and they go in and they just look at your blood, simple blood test, and they can tell you what your PSA numbers are, and that might be a reflection of if you have prostate cancer, if you're heading towards that, you know, it's, it's, it's just a simple, simple test that we need to do just to be able to determine what's going on in our

Dave Washington 15:39
bodies. Absolutely. Once again, this is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz more. I have Chief Russell step he's retired, had two different forms of cancer, and we're just on today, just sharing the experience. And once again, it's most important, as he's just stated, that you go get checked out or you feel something different going on in your body, don't wait, because if you wait too long, you can get totally out of control. And I can tell you this, I think another one of our biggest problems is and I mentioned this because I was assigned a dietitian down at MD Anderson in Houston, and I'm like, wait a minute, this list you have given me looks like 85 90% of the stuff that I eat is hurting is harmful to me. That she said, Yes, so yeah, part of our biggest issue is, you know, and I know we live in a capitalist society, and I won't throw out any names, because I don't have an attorney if I say the wrong thing and I get sued. But I tell you this, one of our things is diet. It's a lot of the different not minerals, preservatives that they put into food to make it last longer on the shelf. We have got to deal with more raw type foods and things that that's not penetrated with so many different chemicals that it lasts long time, not processes.

Russell Steppe 17:09
I'm glad you put this that's the word this food is getting us, you know, yes, yes. And like you said, the bread doesn't mold,

Russell Steppe 17:18
the bread won't move, and that's something ain't right when it don't move.

Dave Washington 17:23
Man, but no, I, I really appreciate you g for coming on and give us some more, some more details about some of the things that because, like I say when, as I heard you talking with this doctor, man, I'm like, this brother is so well schooling this. And I school myself to an extent too, on this whole issue of in fact, I started getting a little weak in the knees as I as I read up on whipple surgery and what they do. I'm like, Oh, do I want them to do this to me? Oh, my goodness. But you know what? You got to study it, man,

Russell Steppe 17:58
sometimes a little discomfort can lead to a great healing. You know, they they say about prostate cancer is something that you can die with, but it's not something that you want to die from, right? And what that means is, if you don't go and get checked out, if you're not cognizant of what your PSA numbers are for a young man, they're talking of PSA numbers around two to three. Once it starts going above three, then they want to, want to do a biopsy and go in there and actually check and then biopsy is when they go in and they take samples. It's a little discomfort that's associated with that. But once they have those samples, they can tell if you actually have cancer going on or not. If you do have cancer, they could tell you if it's a fast dancing cancer or slow that's going to make a law of a difference in the world, because it's going to determine what type of medications and what kind of treatment they will have for you. Absolutely, they take that biopsy, they give you a Gleason score, it's a number that they use to determine what type of cancer and how aggressive it is. And then once you do that, then you have opportunity to go through surgery, you can go through different types of radiation. And what you do is you have to go and talk with your your urologist and figure out what kind of treatment is best for you, right? Like I said, a lot of us, fellas are getting it, and, you know, there's nothing like being able to help somebody else through it when you're going through it, though, right? So, having been exposed to it, it's a beautiful thing to be able to go and talk to somebody else and let them know, brother, I understand what it's like. I understand what you're going through. Hey, you're going to make it. You're going to be okay. Here's the treatments that you have available. Here's what I chose, here's what you can choose. And you know, just being able to talk with somebody else sometimes makes all the difference in the world, no doubt. And for those, those. Others who have gone through something, and we have something, something to tell. You know, we sit around at the club or at all the different places, right? And we shoot the shoot the bull, and we talk about all kinds of stuff. Yep, you know, sometimes we don't talk about the most important stuff, and that's our health. Yeah, if we don't talk, you know, I want to, I want to encourage brothers to also go out there and get a colonoscopy, because, man, you got to be able to make sure that everything's working on the inside. That's the way it's supposed to That's right. We look at the outside, we see us getting older and our body's changing, but we got to be able to look on the inside and have a better understanding of exactly what's going on inside of us, biologically, and once we have that understanding, then we can do the things necessary to heal ourselves.

Dave Washington 20:48
Absolutely. In fact, today, I was talking to a young lady who works for the company down the chairman of the board. She told me her friend and I certainly won't call any names, because I don't have the authority to do so, but she told me she has breast cancer, and then I said, a friend of mine. I didn't mention your name, but I said a friend of mine. So males, a small percentage of males, but tell her, don't give up. Don't give up whatever she did, because she's saying that. You know, she's throwing it because she's had other, you know, different medical issues going on, don't throw in the towel. Just stay keep praying and staying positive. Because one thing I've learned, if you stay positive, it's going to do more to help you with your healing. That's something that I've learned, in fact, the day that, uh, the day after my surgery, of course. And I've told this story a couple different times on the show, but y'all gonna hear it again. I had these 222, nurses to come in. They're Indians from India, you know, dark skin, straight hair. Who are you guys? Oh, we're your nurses. Why are you here? Well, we're here. We're here to get you up, Mr. Washington, get me up for what? Well, we're supposed to walk you. I say? At what time? They say, 830 I say, it's 827. Get out of my room. They looked at me, Russ. I started laughing. I said, gentlemen, I'm just joking. But one thing I tried to do, what did I try to do? In spite of what I was going through, I am not going to be ignorant, ugly, patient. I ain't doing it in spite of what I'm going through. I'm hurt, I'm hurting, but we're gonna have some joy. And I had him, I had them nurses, man, I had them cracking up, and someone was cracking me back, man, and we would say, because, I mean, why am I gonna go off on you? And I know it's hard, because don't trust me when you when you laying your butt up, that man, all sorts of things go through your head that you know you struggle with, and some you go like and I tell people all the time. I told my family, y'all don't have to come down to my children. All four of them came Russ at different times, and I was so grateful to him for coming when I thought, you know, I don't need them. And when he cry, when he came, I cried like a baby. They said, You've been absolutely You've been a good dad, and we come in and support our mom and you. Because, man, it was, you know, when you got to get up and move around and, man, oh, it was something. Man, so that support base is so important in in brothers like you, because you've called me so many different times. Amen, I just checking on you. Man, how you doing those prayers and those thoughts and words of encouragement, people must understand it helps you. They just they trying to be nosy. They care about you, and they just want to interact and give you that positive encouragement I'm telling y'all out there, audience, it will be more helpful than you think. And back to the young lady that I was speaking about. I told her, You give your friend my number and I will talk to her, and what I will have to say to her, if they'll help, I'm gonna call you Russ and say, Do you mind? Because, as a male, you

Russell Steppe 23:56
mind. You know, any day, anytime, anybody, yes,

Dave Washington 24:01
and that's what we have to do. And we can't just into me when God gives and God gave me this platform. And like I say, I've had my surgeon on here, I had others on here who've had that struggle. And we must talk about it, and we must encourage one another. And I think it's so important. So once again this Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more, I have Chief Russell step retired San Diego fire. He's had two different forms of cancer, cancer, and he's here just to share some thoughts and encouragement to others out there who may be going through this journey. Man, you gotta go get yourself some help and get and men in general, we got to go get tested. Man, stop running away from the doctor, as I had done before in the past, but now the slightest little thing, I'm going to get myself checked out,

Russell Steppe 24:51
run to the doctor. That's right. That's right. They're there for a reason. That's right, for those of you who have the VA. Man, I had an opportunity to walk with a lot of my brother. Us here in San Diego as they've gone through the VA San Diego. And you know, it's amazing how, how simple just giving a brother a ride to the to the to the hospital, to the doctor. You know what? I mean, yes, if the brother can't walk, being able to just wheel him in the wheelchair, whatever is needed. You know, we all are so, so blessed. That's right, we got to be a blessing to those other ones that are around us, you know what I mean. And so you got that love and that light in your heart, you got to share that with everybody that you come in contact with, especially those that you know that are going through some some cancer or whatever kind of medical thing they're going through. You know we all were designed to be helpful and to help each other. And so that's when we step up and do that. It makes all the difference in the world. No doubt I say that, that then when we reach out and touch and love of each other the way we're supposed to, the way God told us to do, we'll definitely make America great again.

Dave Washington 25:56
No no doubt about it. In fact, you know, when I'm down at MD Anderson, I see these young children, I always speak to them. I say, Hang in there, little buddy, you're gonna be all right. Just stay positive. And they look at me and they smile. And then if their parents even smile, then when I see older folks, I even talk to them, man, because I mean, and then when I come out, Hey, man, I got a good report. I hope y'all get the same. And they start clapping, man, because I'm, you know, bring some joy. Bring some joy. So absolutely, we got a couple minutes to go. So give us some closing remarks. And again, you've been a blessing for me, brother, just from the years that we've known as colleagues in the fire service. And then to find out the journey that you've been on with your battle with cancer was encouraging to me to to keep positive man, keep God in my life, and stay prayerful and keep it rolling.

Russell Steppe 26:50
Closing remarks, yeah, for me, I love love. Love being positive. I love talking to people and reaching out and just asking somebody I was at a stoplight just a little while ago, and there was a guy on a bicycle. We're right by the beach here in California, and man, I was like, Hey, man, how you doing? Is it a good day? He smiled at me. Said, man, it's a great day. This guy was 80, so Right? Like he was 80 something. He was riding his bike, so he was out there getting it going. And you know what, that's my biggest thing, is just being encouragement to to those that are around you. That's right, sometimes this just saying a gentle, kind word to somebody can make all the difference in the world. You know, we never know what somebody else is going through and and you know what, man, when you think about it, how blessed we all are in spite of whatever we're going through, you know, just being able to say something positive to that that brother or that sister next to us can make it absolutely it can change the world, that's right, and change a person, one person at a time we

Dave Washington 27:51
had, she's a military vet. Evelyn Pacheco was on last week, and she said that there's a group of them. They go around to us, vets and in different places, in different retirement places, and not retirement place, but rehab places. And they say an encouraging word, and just to visit people, first, they be kind of grumpy when you get in here. Then they get to talking and laughing. And it changes their spirit. Man, they start laughing and talking. And it's so important. It's so important. Well, Russ, I appreciate your brother till Jermaine Marsh, and I said, Hello, love you and love her man. And thank you for your encouraging words to these brothers and sisters, male, female, black and white out there who is going through this journey. So thank you so much, and we look forward to having you back on Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more in the future. Thanks, Russ,

Russell Steppe 28:45
Thank you Chief. Thank you Wesley. You guys. Have a good day. God bless you

Dave Washington 28:48
guys. All right. Thanks. Oh.

Music 29:22
All the smoke in the air till they hate when they stare all the pain that we bear, all you bet.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai