Help Justin Giardini Fight Stage 4 Cancer

Hi, my name is Justin Giardini, and I never imagined I’d be sharing my story like this—but here I am. I’m a proud dad to two amazing kids, Liam and Rilynn, and my partner Samantha, who’s truly my rock, is the love of my life. We’re a small, tight-knit family just trying to get through an unimaginable time.

Two years ago, everything changed.

Out of nowhere, my neck swelled up. I rushed to the ER at Warren General and was quickly flown to Hamot in Erie, where I had my first thrombectomy—a procedure to remove blood clots. But it didn’t stop there. A few months later, my arm and neck swelled again. I had a second thrombectomy. Then a third. This time, they sent me to Shadyside in Pittsburgh because something clearly wasn’t right.

That’s when doctors found a tumor growing off my thymic gland, and things took a serious turn. During surgery to remove it, they had to cut it from my lung. I lost a lot of blood, and they had to collapse my lung and cut further than expected to save me. I ended up spending six weeks in the hospital recovering. That long stay was also due to complications in identifying exactly what I had. Pathologists struggled to pin down the cancer type.

Eventually, the diagnosis came:

Stage 4 Thymic Carcinoma — a rare cancer with fewer than 400 cases a year.

Since then, I’ve been in treatment for nearly a year, going through immunotherapy at Hillman Cancer Center in Erie. I kept fighting, kept showing up for my kids and Sam, even on the hardest days.

But recently, I faced my toughest battle yet.

One morning, I woke up extremely swollen again. After an echocardiogram, I was rushed back to Pittsburgh. They found two masses inside the right atrium of my heart. My doctors said I needed open heart surgery immediately—that without it, I wouldn't have long to live.

On June 2025, I underwent an 8-hour open heart surgery. Both heart masses were removed successfully, but the cancerous tumor is still there. I'm now in recovery and waiting until I can begin chemo or other treatments—after my heart heals enough to handle it.

Why We Need Your Help

This journey has been incredibly difficult—physically, emotionally, and financially. I’ve spent weeks in hospitals, missed work, and had to rely on help just to keep things running at home. Samantha has been doing everything she can, but it’s hard doing it all with two kids while also being my caregiver.

We’re asking for your support to help cover:

Medical expenses not covered by insurance

Travel to and from hospitals and treatment centers

Basic living costs while I’m out of work recovering

Childcare support for Liam and Rilynn

Bills that keep piling up during this medical crisis

Every dollar counts. Every share helps. Every kind word lifts us up.

If you can give, thank you from the bottom of my (healing) heart. If you can’t, please consider sharing my story.

With gratitude,

Justin, Samantha, Liam & Rilynn