Pritzy's Fight against Stage 4 Cancer

As you may, or may not be aware, our son, Pritzy was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in the Spring of 2020. After further tests and appointments, the doctors determined that the cancer had also spread to his liver. Pritzy's treatment plan and battle began right away.

By May of 2020 he underwent surgery on his colon and shortly thereafter began his first cycle of 12 rounds of chemotherapy. Initial test results showed that his CEA numbers were declining, meaning the cancer was responding to treatment. After finishing the cycle, his numbers began to creep back up. By June of 2021, Pritzy had endured another 9 rounds of chemotherapy and his scans were showing the tumor and lesions shrinking and with no additional metastasis in other organs.

In November 2021, Pritzy began experiencing mild to moderate back pain. In mid-December 2021 the pain became so intense we took him to the emergency room. Unfortunately, the doctors were unable to determine the source of the pain and sent him home 6 hours later. 2 weeks later, 2 days before New Years Eve, Pritzy collapsed. We rushed him to the emergency room and where he underwent an MRI and tumors were found on his spine, causing paralysis of his lower extremities. He was quickly transferred to M.D. Anderson. They found that the cancer had metastasized to his to 2 areas of his spine and the tumors that were pressing on his vertebrae were causing near permanent damage. Pritzy immediately underwent spinal surgery late that evening.

After surgery, the oncologist reviewed his levels and MRI/CT scans. At what we thought would be the appointment to plan his next round of chemotherapy with the addition of targeted radiation, the oncologist informed Pritzy that his liver function had deteriorated so much due to the growing/spreading lesions that it would no longer be able to withstand chemotherapy. He was in the advanced stages of liver failure. This was a crushing blow. My heart broke into a million pieces. We were advised that the prognosis was 1-2 months with palliative care.

After 6 weeks in the hospital and rehab recovering from his spinal surgery, we brought Pritzy home. We have enlisted the help of the hospice team and are doing everything we can to keep him comfortable. We are now spending as many moments as we can with him. We talk and reminisce of good times, sometimes just sit quietly together and if you know Pritzy, you know we even crack a joke or two.

Pritzy has fought the cancer and has never given up. He is truly a testament to perseverance and hope. I am so proud of my son.

The financial toll this battle has left on our family is one I would not wish on anyone, but we would go to the ends of the earth to save our son. We continue to be faced with mounting medical bills that never cease to arrive. We have organized this GoFundMe to help with the bills so that we can try to relieve Pritzy of as much of the financial burden as we can.