Bryan Schulz is the single father of two beautiful daughters. Ruby is in high school and Skylar is in college. He grew up in Illinois, but he and his family moved to the corridor just over 10 years ago. Bryan started working as the building manager of Plaza 425 in 2017. Bryan is a dear friend, but we also get to collaborate at work! If you know him, you know he is an all-around great guy with many talents and a super helpful demeanor. In addition to working full-time as the manager of Plaza 425, Bryan uses his construction experience and talents to work as an independent contractor nearly every evening and on the weekends. As you can imagine, with all these work commitments, he has very little time for much else. He’s a bit of a workaholic and typically cannot sit idle for long.

During a routine medical procedure last fall, Bryan was diagnosed with late Stage 2 colon cancer. His team of doctors wanted to begin aggressive treatment immediately. Within weeks of being diagnosed, Bryan had surgery to install a port, and then he began intense chemotherapy treatments. The first 6 chemo treatments were scheduled for every other Thursday. He would arrive for his infusion on Thursday mornings and begin his treatment at the University of Iowa Hospital. Then he would go home with an additional bag of chemo that would be slowly administered through his port over the following 48 hours. By the time his treatments were completed, Bryan would begin to experience side effects. During the first 6 chemo treatments, his side effects never did become predictable. Sometimes, it was nausea followed by dizziness and fatigue for 48 hours, and other times it was a headache and vomiting followed by debilitating exhaustion for the following 48 hours.

The weekend following his second treatment, he was hospitalized due to some additional complications. He spent several days unsure if he would be able to complete the rest of the treatments while battling that unexpected hurdle. After several days in the hospital, everything calmed down, and he was able to continue his treatment as scheduled.

Scans were done toward the end of November to see if treatment had successfully shrunk the mass. I’m pleased to report that although chemo was difficult for him, it was ultimately very successful! On December 3rd, Bryan underwent surgery to remove the mass, and the biopsy of the mass concluded that the cancer cells are dead. He will complete another round of 6 chemotherapy treatments beginning right after the holidays. Then he will have a scan again in the spring and then periodically thereafter to make sure he remains cancer-free.

During his first 6 treatments and surgery, Bryan has been able to take as much time as needed from his full-time job at Plaza 425, with no financial implications for him. However, due to the aggressive cancer treatments, he has not been able to do any sort of independent contractor work and has incurred many medical bills. Bryan relies heavily on his secondary income to support his children. So, in addition to the lost income from his second job, he also has a hefty max-out-of-pocket to meet annually for medical insurance to cover 100%. He will undoubtedly hit the max-out-of-pocket for calendar year 2025 and very likely again in 2026.

I’m asking those who are able to consider making a financial contribution to help him through this difficult financial time. Those who are unable to support him financially can most certainly help by keeping Bryan in your prayers and positive thoughts, sending your well wishes and good juju, and by sharing this fundraising effort with others.

This is a long journey, and he is fighting cancer like a champ. Bryan is eternally grateful for the ongoing love and support from his daughters, other family members, friends, and especially Mia. He remains positive and confident that he’s going to come out the other side of this better than ever and cancer-free!