- F
Allow me to introduce my friend, Bob Sladky. When I first met him, I knew I would like him right away, how could I not he was the husband of one of my new and soon to be close friend, Amy Sladky. That was almost 14 years ago!! Hard to believe!! Since that time, the Sladky Family has had some WONDERFUL accomplishments and milestones, far too many to list here. Believe me, though if you needed someone to count of for support, this is the family to go to!
Unfortunately, life as we know it, can get tough, even when you are fortunate enough to be blessed with an amazing family and wonderful friends. It got tough for Bob and Amy on January 20th, 2016.
Rising in the early morning, getting ready for the day, Bob collapsed on the living room floor in excruciating pain. Refusing an ambulance, he and Amy head towards the hospital after a call to Grandma and Grandpa to come over to get the kids ready and off to school. En route to the hospital, the pain becomes so unbearable that Bob believes he is having an aortic aneurysm and he is so panic stricken that they stop at the nearest fire station. Paramedics load him into the ambulance to get him to the hospital, with Amy driving separately in complete shock. Upon arrival, the ER Doctor explains that the kidney is bleeding internally, so he wants to admit Bob to watch him as the kidney may heal itself.
During the night, the nurses must call the on-call doctor to get orders for a transfusion as Bob is losing blood. As a new day arrives the ER doctor, along with a colleague now tell them that it is not a kidney bleed but a large mass on the kidney (they do not believe it is cancer) and that surgery must be done immediately. Through of fog, paperwork for Power of Attorney and DNR wishes are completed in the hospital room. Grandpa and Grandma bring the kids (Carolyn – 14, Joslyn – 12 and John – 8) to see their Dad before surgery. Hugs are given and much love is given and off he goes into the OR. The surgery lasts much longer than is expected. Once over, the doctors give the update that the kidney had ruptured due to the mass and that all of it has been removed. With a brief sense of relief that Dad is out of surgery, Grandma and Grandpa take the kids home for much needed sleep.
Amy is allowed to go to the ICU and stay with Bob; as she is speaking with the nurses, she is told that Bob had flatlined and needed to be resuscitated. (The ICU nurses were amazing, informative and comforting during this very horrific time to both Amy and most importantly Bob.) After spending close to one week in the hospital with much trepidation of what the results of pathology would be (on this SOB mass that has cause such destruction in Bob) they are told that it is Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma, initially told Stage 2, but it is actually Stage 4.
Needless to say, this is staggering news to the entire family, and they begin a journey to recovery. After all, Stage 4 is a big deal, and with the traumatic nature of the surgery, he shouldn’t have survived. But he did and he did it like the BEAST that he is.
Over the next 5 years, there were far too many doctor visits (oncologists, nephrologists, neurologists, radiologists), far too many CT scans and far too much pain. That’s right, while Bob kick the big C’s ass, he was also kicking pain, pain he felt physically (not only from the surgery but a previous nerve condition that affected his head/neck and was exacerbated by everything that had occurred), pain mentally and most importantly pain emotionally.
You see, Bob not only lost a kidney that day, he also lost his freedom and his ability to work at something he LOVED to do (massage therapy). So many unknowns were researched tirelessly by Bob and Amy, research on the side effects of drugs, of chemo, of radiation. Research on disability, clean living, herbal supplements; an enormous weight to shoulder for a new way of life.
All of this seemed to be paying off too. At every six-month appointment, no detectable cancer is found, the remaining kidney is doing the job of two! By December 2019, things had begun to, dare I say it, “normal”. No more living day to day in fear. They bought their dream home; their kids were flourishing, they even got to go on a family vacation to see the “Old West”.
And then another blow…. October 15th, 2020. Another scan, but this time it wasn’t all clear. That damn, ugly, life altering Big C was back. This time it wasn’t only in the kidney bed where his other kidney used to be but now it had moved to the liver. Bob and Amy accepted the challenge!!
They had a two-prong approach after the news. They went mainstream first. The doctors couldn’t recommend surgery this time, not without addressing the systemic problem; they wanted to start with immunotherapy drugs. These drugs have no guarantees, in fact they can further compromise the immune system, potentially attacking other organs.
And then they went to a functional medicine provider. This provider offered a path that really resonated with them, a path that gave Bob the best hope for survival along with a quality of life as they forge this new path. This provider is within reasonable driving distance, with decades of experience, who, in an odd stroke of “luck” is a renal cell survivor herself for 10 year!
Now the unfortunate part is that functional medicine is not a covered by any insurance. It is all out of pocket.
And so, an additional strain is on the family. Fear of the unknown inhabits their daily lives, there are far too many “what if” and “how” and “why” days. It is overwhelming. But through all of this, Bob is a BEAST; he is kicking the Big “C” and he is taking no prisoners! He strives daily to keep moving forward; to play ball with his son, to enjoy Daddy time with his daughters, to play frisbee with his four legged pal Jackie, to dole out the morning kitty treats to Lippy and Charlie and to love his wife.
So, what is my ask? (And it is mine as Bob will probably KILL me but that’s ok, I have big shoulders and can handle it ) Let’s help the Sladkys, let’s pay it forward to them… I would love to raise $10,000.00 to help with treatment, to help with the kids schooling or just to help. Won’t you join me in helping these amazing people? If you find that you cannot provide monetary support, can you please share this with as many people as possible on every social platform you have? I appreciate you reading Bob’s story. I appreciate your generosity. I know the Sladky family will as well.
Unfortunately, life as we know it, can get tough, even when you are fortunate enough to be blessed with an amazing family and wonderful friends. It got tough for Bob and Amy on January 20th, 2016.
Rising in the early morning, getting ready for the day, Bob collapsed on the living room floor in excruciating pain. Refusing an ambulance, he and Amy head towards the hospital after a call to Grandma and Grandpa to come over to get the kids ready and off to school. En route to the hospital, the pain becomes so unbearable that Bob believes he is having an aortic aneurysm and he is so panic stricken that they stop at the nearest fire station. Paramedics load him into the ambulance to get him to the hospital, with Amy driving separately in complete shock. Upon arrival, the ER Doctor explains that the kidney is bleeding internally, so he wants to admit Bob to watch him as the kidney may heal itself.
During the night, the nurses must call the on-call doctor to get orders for a transfusion as Bob is losing blood. As a new day arrives the ER doctor, along with a colleague now tell them that it is not a kidney bleed but a large mass on the kidney (they do not believe it is cancer) and that surgery must be done immediately. Through of fog, paperwork for Power of Attorney and DNR wishes are completed in the hospital room. Grandpa and Grandma bring the kids (Carolyn – 14, Joslyn – 12 and John – 8) to see their Dad before surgery. Hugs are given and much love is given and off he goes into the OR. The surgery lasts much longer than is expected. Once over, the doctors give the update that the kidney had ruptured due to the mass and that all of it has been removed. With a brief sense of relief that Dad is out of surgery, Grandma and Grandpa take the kids home for much needed sleep.
Amy is allowed to go to the ICU and stay with Bob; as she is speaking with the nurses, she is told that Bob had flatlined and needed to be resuscitated. (The ICU nurses were amazing, informative and comforting during this very horrific time to both Amy and most importantly Bob.) After spending close to one week in the hospital with much trepidation of what the results of pathology would be (on this SOB mass that has cause such destruction in Bob) they are told that it is Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma, initially told Stage 2, but it is actually Stage 4.
Needless to say, this is staggering news to the entire family, and they begin a journey to recovery. After all, Stage 4 is a big deal, and with the traumatic nature of the surgery, he shouldn’t have survived. But he did and he did it like the BEAST that he is.
Over the next 5 years, there were far too many doctor visits (oncologists, nephrologists, neurologists, radiologists), far too many CT scans and far too much pain. That’s right, while Bob kick the big C’s ass, he was also kicking pain, pain he felt physically (not only from the surgery but a previous nerve condition that affected his head/neck and was exacerbated by everything that had occurred), pain mentally and most importantly pain emotionally.
You see, Bob not only lost a kidney that day, he also lost his freedom and his ability to work at something he LOVED to do (massage therapy). So many unknowns were researched tirelessly by Bob and Amy, research on the side effects of drugs, of chemo, of radiation. Research on disability, clean living, herbal supplements; an enormous weight to shoulder for a new way of life.
All of this seemed to be paying off too. At every six-month appointment, no detectable cancer is found, the remaining kidney is doing the job of two! By December 2019, things had begun to, dare I say it, “normal”. No more living day to day in fear. They bought their dream home; their kids were flourishing, they even got to go on a family vacation to see the “Old West”.
And then another blow…. October 15th, 2020. Another scan, but this time it wasn’t all clear. That damn, ugly, life altering Big C was back. This time it wasn’t only in the kidney bed where his other kidney used to be but now it had moved to the liver. Bob and Amy accepted the challenge!!
They had a two-prong approach after the news. They went mainstream first. The doctors couldn’t recommend surgery this time, not without addressing the systemic problem; they wanted to start with immunotherapy drugs. These drugs have no guarantees, in fact they can further compromise the immune system, potentially attacking other organs.
And then they went to a functional medicine provider. This provider offered a path that really resonated with them, a path that gave Bob the best hope for survival along with a quality of life as they forge this new path. This provider is within reasonable driving distance, with decades of experience, who, in an odd stroke of “luck” is a renal cell survivor herself for 10 year!
Now the unfortunate part is that functional medicine is not a covered by any insurance. It is all out of pocket.
And so, an additional strain is on the family. Fear of the unknown inhabits their daily lives, there are far too many “what if” and “how” and “why” days. It is overwhelming. But through all of this, Bob is a BEAST; he is kicking the Big “C” and he is taking no prisoners! He strives daily to keep moving forward; to play ball with his son, to enjoy Daddy time with his daughters, to play frisbee with his four legged pal Jackie, to dole out the morning kitty treats to Lippy and Charlie and to love his wife.
So, what is my ask? (And it is mine as Bob will probably KILL me but that’s ok, I have big shoulders and can handle it ) Let’s help the Sladkys, let’s pay it forward to them… I would love to raise $10,000.00 to help with treatment, to help with the kids schooling or just to help. Won’t you join me in helping these amazing people? If you find that you cannot provide monetary support, can you please share this with as many people as possible on every social platform you have? I appreciate you reading Bob’s story. I appreciate your generosity. I know the Sladky family will as well.
Organizer and beneficiary
Amy Sladky
Beneficiary