Two years ago our son, Chris Neutz, was experiencing some palpitations in his stomach wall.  He had an MRI then, which revealed he had a Desmoid tumor the size of a softball in his abdominal wall.  He had surgery which removed portions of his small intestine at that point and was back to work in 6 weeks.  We all hoped and prayed that this surgery was the end of this story.  It was not.

In late summer of 2020 during one of Chris' annual MRI's that it appeared that his Desmond tumor had now spread to his Sigmoid Colon.  On December 14th, Chris went in for surgery to remove this new tumor with the hopes of once again removing whatever "tumor cells" from his last surgery were now removed.  He had 4 inches of his colon removed along with a small portion of his colon.  We had hope that he was on his road to recovery and would be back to work soon.  

It was 5 days later that sepsis had set in and another surgery was required.  His colon was "dying" at the surgical juncture.  He went back into surgery again and had more colon removed, his appendix, and a portion of his small intestine.  These areas showed additional Desmoid cell structure in the pathology report.  We hoped and prayed this was the end and a speedy recovery was on it's way.  

Chris is still in the hospital, which has now crossed over years from an insurance perspective.  We pray he will be released soon.  He still has drains in from his surgery, along with an unstitched wound site as he is still recovering from a "fistula" from the surgery.  We pray he can get a wound vac installed on this for a speedy recovery.  He is prohibited from eating as since he currently has a hole in his colon and is getting nutrients via an IV.  

Chris remains optimistic while he faces a 2nd recurrence of this Desmoid Tumor.  It is a very rare disease that has no cure.  I am attaching a link below as we also need to raise awareness of this disease.  Our family prays for a speedy recovery for Chris and a cure for this horrible cancer/rare disease.  

We do not know what the future holds for him, aside for continued support from family/ friends and a hope for a cure.  

His medical bills were just paid off from 2 years ago and battle will be far more expensive, as it has lapsed over two years on his deductibles.  What has turned into a forecasted 6 weeks out of work will now be going into many months.  

Thank you all for your prayers and continued support.  We have to keep fighting, as we know we are not alone in this.  

The Neutz family

https://www.cancer.gov/pediatric-adult-rare-tumor/rare-tumors/rare-soft-tissue-tumors/desmoid-tumor