Last year brought an uncertainty and fear into our lives. On March 27, 2017, Fritz got sick, I took him to the ER, during a CATSCAN a mass behind his right kidney was found. It was estimated at about 5". After several days in the hospital he went to his doctor who set up a biopsy. The biopsy was April 5th. We went back to his doctor a few days later and heard the dreaded words, "You have cancer." Wow! First question is where and how do we get this gone. Doc called Roswell Cancer Institute and at the same time sent over his records. That was on a Monday. The next morning he got a call with the date to come in. Within days we were at Roswell meeting Dr. Kane. Dr. Kane said the mass was now the size of a softball. It did appear to be encapsulated which was a good thing. He showed us the scan pictures. Holy crap!! Everything was so pushed out of place it looked like there was nothing on the right side that belonged there. The left side looked totally normal. A colonoscopy was scheduled. First time ever that Fritz was knocked out. It went great. He was so clear he was out of surgery in minutes. That was really good news. The cool thing is Fritz found it so easy he had no concerns about facing the surgery to get the cancer out.

June 1 he went under the knife. Lordy, that was so hard. I felt like he was so alone and vulnerable and hated not being there holding on to him. Six hours later Dr. Kane came out and showed me the photo of the mass they removed. It was HUGE! It weighed 10 pounds and was the size of a watermelon. Weird thing is that Fritz had no real pain before the surgery until a few days before and that was only if he moved wrong. Amazing he wasn't in a lot of pain with something that huge inside of him. Now we knew why his belly wouldn't reduce in size no matter what he did.

He was amazing in the hospital. Allowed me to push him into walking the halls at least a couple times a day and thanks to the epidural being left in place his pain was very minimal. He started to eat light and did a great job recovering. I brought him home June 7th. He had the most amazing staff and team of doctors working with him.

June 14th he complained of not feeling well. I took him to the ER. They drew bloods and did xrays. While we were waiting for the results he said he felt like someone was sitting on his chest and was sweating. I called for the nurse with dread in my heart. The blood test results were coming back at the same time. Doc came in and said he was suffering a Myocardial Infarction (cute word for heart attack). They were setting up a quick transfer to Buffalo General for an angiogram. His meds list changed instantly. Off we went to BGH getting there just about midnight.

Doc Sullivan did the angiogram. Seemed to take forever, but it wasn't. He came out and said there had been a clot and that he got it. He did find a blockage but it was an old one and he didn't want to mess with it since it didn't seem to be affecting his heart. Off we went to ICU.

The next morning I come back in to be with him. I get in there to find he is throwing up tons of blood. This wasn't good. He had a reaction to the blood thinners. Those are a no no for him now. They got the vomiting under control and ordered and endoscopy. He had that done. The doc came out and told me he tore his esophagus up pretty bad with the throwing up. He had been having acid reflux before the surgery. So, on the meds he goes. Meantime, he gets two transfusions of 2 units of blood each. Had to get his blood counts back up. They pumped him full of fluids too. He has tender kidneys to needless to say he retained a ton of fluids. They sent him home weighing 52 pounds more than he did when he went in. They said he would pee it off. Ok.....

Six nights later he got up to pee and came back to bed. As he put his head back down on his pillow he asked me, "Why can't I breathe?" Uhoh!! He sat up and thought it was better for about 2 minutes. I told him I was calling the ambulance. He refused and wanted me to drive him in. I drove him in with one hand on the wheel and the other on his chest to I could make sure he was still breathing. We got him in, they took a chest xray and almost immediately came in and said he was in Congestive Heart Failure from the fluids squishing his heart. Oh boy!! The doc said no more messing around. It was time for Lasix. He was admitted. In the next 5 days he peed out 3 gallons, but only lost 2 pounds. After the 5 days he was sent home with a script for lasix.

For the next few weeks he was so uncomfortable because he was so swollen. All of a sudden the lasix took hold and weight started dropping off. He went down 55 pounds!! He was so happy. He loved it. It was the lowest he had been since high school. He loves how much easier he can move around, bend over etc. He went down 6 sizes in his trousers. I can reach around him and clasp my fingers together.

Dr, Kane said they sent out parts of his mass to many places to be rechecked. They all came back with the same answer.....very very slim chance of return. It was a very low level cancer that had recently become cancer. At first they were going to keep him on an intense watch schedule, but he is doing so well that after the July and November visits he will go to every 6 months. They do want to watch him for 10 years. He was only #38 to have this type of cancer in the history of Roswell which goes back to 1898. God has been good to us. He helped us find the most awesome team of docs from Dr. Kane to Dr. Banas for his heart, to Dr Dougherty for his GP.

A follow up Endoscopy in the fall showed his esophagus healed well, but he has Barrett's Esophagus which is precancerous. He is on medication which stopped the acid reflux and should keep him in good shape for the next 20 years. 

He gained back 40 pounds, but it didn't effect his body shape. He is still comfortably in his new size clothes. He does have to push a bit to get out of his recliner (good core exercise I keep telling him) which leads us to believe the weight is in the lower belly and hips. I try to get him to do his core exercise of getting in and out of his chair several times at a time a couple times a day. Next will be get him to an endocrinologist to work on his weight and shape so this cancer doesn't return. I try to find all the kinds of foods that help prevent cancer and we are eating a bit more of a Mediterranean diet which Dr. Banas said is closest to the American Heart recommendations. He said we don't have to change our diet, just eat sensibly and not feel guilty if we indulge one day a week. HA!! That quickly backfired. Back on the good routine again.

I set up a prayer group for him on FaceBook. He has over 350 people who are praying and encouraging us through this journey. For myself, I could not have gotten through this without the friends and family support and love. Every person holds a very special spot in our hearts!!