This was the kind of week Homer Drew envisioned when he retired last spring. With work commitments a thing of the past, he and his wife, Janet, would travel and share monumental moments in the lives of their three children.

Few stretches would have been more significant than four days this week.

Their oldest son, Scott, coached Baylor against Kansas before the Bears traveled to Missouri for Saturday's Big 12 showdown. Son Bryce, who replaced his father as coach at Valparaiso, took his squad to Cleveland State to play for first place in the Horizon league. And daughter Dana is having her jersey retired Saturday at Toledo, where she led the Rockets to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Homer and Janet won't witness any of these events.

They will be at home in Valparaiso, Ind., Homer recovering from prostate surgery and Janet completing her fourth round of chemotherapy after surgery to remove her cancerous bladder. Husband and wife were diagnosed three days apart in September and had surgeries separated by one week.

Homer Drew, who won 640 games as a college coach, is doing well but consumed with caring for Janet, who received a stage 3 diagnosis, the disease having spread.

"My dad worked so many years, and they were planning on traveling a lot to see my brother's games and go on some of our road trips," Bryce Drew said by phone as his team traveled to Cleveland. "So, it has changed the plans somewhat. But God is good, and we're being faithful."

As the Valparaiso team bus moved through Ohio, his voice cracked.

"They're so disappointed because they want to be there for my sister," he said

The Drews are a basketball family to the core. But these days they are all about family with basketball serving as an escape.

Bryce and Dana live within minutes of their parents, a convenience that has made the support system stronger. Scott is immersed in a dream season that has Baylor at No. 6 in the rankings. His only trips home came before the start of the season and on an off day when he opted to delay some recruiting.

"The good thing is I know they're going to Heaven when they pass, so I don't have to worry about that," Scott said. "And in the meantime, we just try to be successful on the court to give them something to look forward to when it comes to watching games."

He laughed before adding, "The last time we played Mizzou, it didn't really help them."

THE DOUBLE DIAGNOSIS

The recommendation for a biopsy helped doctors catch Homer's cancer in its early stages. That didn't make the news any less jarring for the native of Webster Groves. Then as the days passed and he came to terms with his illness, Janet scheduled some medical tests.

They were together in the doctor's office the day her bladder was scoped, the images appearing on a screen.

"Janet and I watched everything going on," he recalled. "The doctor said, 'Here's the bladder. Here are the vessels.' Then all of a sudden a big mass appeared. He just paused. We looked at each other, and he said, 'We need to address this right away.' "

Her biopsy revealed the cruel truth of the familty's second cancer diagnosis. A family decision was made to overlap the surgeries, and Homer and Janet had rooms in the same wing of the hospital.

As they recuperated, Homer decided that a "date night" was necessary. He was wheeled to his wife's room where they dined on stew and macaroni and cheese. For Dana Drew, it was "one of the neatest memories" during an otherwise emotional ordeal.

Homer's surgery had caught the cancer early, but Janet's proved more troubling. Surgeons had to remove lymph nodes and form a new bladder from parts of her intestines. It became clear her recovery would be the more difficult of the two.

Through that process, Janet has been unable to leave the house, except for treatments and unexpected hospital visits, such as last week when she developed a fever. Homer has been able to get out some, attending a few Valparaiso home games.

But Dana Drew has seen a different side of her father.

"It's actually been a really beautiful testimony to what a marriage is," she said. "Mom has always been the rock of our family. If there's anyone I want to emulate, she's at the top of the list. Going in, we were all a little skeptical how well Dad would do being the caretaker. But he's far exceeded what any would have thought in being tender, loving and her biggest advocate."

CLOSE TO HOME

Homer Drew announced his retirement from coaching in May, handing the reigns at Valpo to Bryce after 22 seasons. He had started his career as a graduate assistant at Washington University after starring at Webster Groves High (Class of 1962) and William Jewell College.

He married Janet in 1967, and they began their trek through his coaching career. Bryce played and coached for his father. Scott also worked on Homer Drew's staff before taking the job at Baylor. Dana married 1998 NBA draft pick Casey Shaw, and the two lived in Europe for more than a decade.

Bryce has done his best to juggle his first year as a head coach with family matters, taking advantage of the 10-minute drive from his house to his parents' home.

"I feel blessed to be able to drive and be at their house to spend time," he said. "It's harder on Scott because he's so far away, and he can't just drive over for breakfast or lunch. Whether it's stopping by on the way to work or after practice, I try to make time, even if it's just for five minutes."

Scott has relied on technology to keep in touch with his parents. He, Bryce and Homer have been known to connect for three-way calls to discuss basketball and life updates.

Dana moved to Valparaiso with her family at the start of 2011 after Shaw's playing career ended overseas. Last spring, she home-schooled the couple's children with an assist from Janet. Having been raised in Italian schools, they needed extra help with English and writing and their grandmother provided the lessons.

"My mom was a big part of that home-schooling," Dana Drew said. "She got to spend a lot of quality time with each one of the grandkids. A lot of people have said, 'Aren't you sad you came back to this?' I feel blessed we had some good times with her and dad before both were diagnosed."

Janet also suffers from diabetes, which was discovered several years ago. After this round of chemo is complete, she will undergo testing about a week later to determine the status of the cancer.

"You go through thinking, 'Why me?' " Homer said. "I felt we got mine early. The real concern is with Janet because hers was a real radical surgery."

EDUCATING OTHERS

Homer Drew, 67, saw his father die of prostate cancer at 75. That family history kept him alert to the possibility for two decades before he was diagnosed. Not only was he tested annually, but he alerted others to the need.

These days he likes to quote statistics about cancer and isn't shy about asking your age and whether you have annual checkups.

Larry Holley, a college teammate, is one person who benefited from Drew's persistence. The two kept in touch over the years, largely because both were college coaches. Holley is in his 33rd season at William Jewell. In 2008, Holley found out he had prostate cancer.

"I started going to get checked because of Homer's father and at his urging," Holley said. "I saw him once, and he asked if I'd ever been checked. He got me on that track. And now all is well and I'm cancer free."

Holley called to offer support when he heard about Drew's diagnosis. So did Tod Eberle, a high school teammate who had prostate surgery three years ago.

A couple of years ago Vic Thompson, another Webster Groves High grad of 1962, sent Drew an article about the death of a teammate due to pancreatic cancer. The friend had retired six months earlier.

Friends in childhood, they were beginning to be touched by the same setbacks. But Eberle said you'd never know it from Drew's attitude.

"Homer always sounds upbeat," he said. "He's always positive. You'd never know if something was wrong."

Drew said the news about him and Janet generated an outpouring from the coaching community, which has developed a powerful organization with Coaches vs. Cancer.

Scott and Bryce have done their own parts to promote awareness. For his first game as coach, Bryce wore a light blue jacket, choosing the color that designates support for prostate cancer patients.

"I've had a lot of emails, a lot of texts and a lot of cards," Homer said. "The nice thing is that Bryce and Scott have endorsed Coaches vs. Cancer. When word got out about us, we weren't seeking attention but thought if we can help others learn about options and the goal to be cancer-free, we should."

TIME TOGETHER

There are a lot of basketball games in a season, and Bryce Drew hopes his Mom will improve enough to see Valparaiso play in person. But the Crusaders and Baylor are on TV regularly, providing plenty of viewing opportunities.

Dana was given the opportunity to select a date for her jersey retirement. She opted for February, thinking it would be enough time for Janet to recover from surgery and be able to travel.

"I thought there was no way she wouldn't be there," she said. "She's been my biggest supporter since birth. It's really hard to go knowing she's not going to be there."

Homer also will stay home, by her side. It will be another weekend of communicating and monitoring events via TV, texting, video, TiVo, Skype and other devices that will allow them to keep up with the kids.

"Janet teases me that I wanted to retire so we could spend time together," Homer Drew said. "Now I say, 'Have we spent enough time together?' and we kind of laugh. This isn't what we were thinking."

Vahe Gregorian of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.