Man With Rare Cancer Fighting To See Birth Of His Child
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A south metro man is fighting to stay alive in hopes of one day meeting his baby.
Thirty-one-year-old Zach Caruso of Savage and his wife, Erin, are expecting their first child in July.
Zach was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, but he is no stranger to hospitals.
"I was three-to-five months old when I had my first surgery," Zach said.
He spent his life battling a rare respiratory disease – called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP -- that only affects 20,000 people in the United States.
After more than 100 surgeries throughout his life to remove tumors in his respiratory tract, Zach never imagined he would be back in the hospital for a completely unrelated, very rare type of cancer.
Zach has stage 4 angiosarcoma, which impacts the inner lining of blood vessels.
"We agreed that I was going to be OK to cry, but that didn't mean that we weren't fighting," Erin said. "Family and friends can take you a long way."
Given a 50-percent chance of surviving the first year of his diagnosis, Zach is worried he will not be able to care for his family.
He was denied affordable life insurance because of his pre-existing condition. Zach is now more determined than ever to survive.
"During that whole process, we found out we were having a baby, so you know, you can't just, you can't fall down and not get back up," Zach said. "You got a baby that you want to be part of its life, and you got to beat the odds."
"I can't even explain how grateful I am for the support system and the people stepping forward," Zach said.
After fighting one rare disease to only to be struck with another, Zach hopes others will remember tomorrow is not promised.
"You need to forgive everybody whether you want to or not, and not dwell on all the things in the past because, you know, this could happen to anybody," he said.
Zach hopes to start chemotherapy soon, and the couple will find out if they are having a boy or girl on Saturday.
The nurses at Abbott Northwestern Hospital are going to surprise them with either blue or pink cupcakes.
