Zach Cardinal Cancer Warrior

Back in October of 2017, one of my best friends, Zach Cardinal went to the ER for abdominal pain. A CT scan was ordered of his pelvis to evaluate what was going on. The doctor that read the scan mentioned that there was a lesion on his left hip of unknown significance. His other symptoms cleared up, but his primary doctor wanted to follow up on the lesion. A PET scan was performed, which looks for possible cancerous areas, and unfortunately the lesion showed on that scan as well. He was referred to an orthopedic oncologist in Syracuse, who decided based on all the information to get a biopsy. The biopsy confirmed that the lesion was indeed cancerous, an extremely rare form called Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE). This is a cancer that grows from blood vessels, and is mostly found in the bone, liver, and lungs. Luckily, further testing showed it was only located in the one area in his hip. On January 25th, Zach had the tumor, along with 8 centimeters of his hip bone, removed at Upstate University Hospital. After a 3 day hospital stay he was discharged to recover at home, and has been going to physical therapy to gain the strength and range of motion in his hip and leg back. Thankfully, the tumor came out in one piece, and the surrounding areas were deemed cancer free. He will need to continue to get follow-up scans every few months for at least the next 5 years. While he is extremely grateful the tumor was found and able to be removed, he has also racked up some large medical bills just a few short months before his wedding to his fiancé Eileen. As a fellow Cancer Warrior I know how stressful medical bills can be compounded with your recovery and all that you want to worry about is to get healthy again. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.