A Father Faced with Heart Cancer
- Ross Mangan, 31, found out he had cardiac sarcoma after go to the emergency room for chest pain and fainting.
- Cardiac sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that begins in the heart. Normally, more than 75 percent of primary cardiac tumors are benign (non-cancerous).
- Facing cancer as a parent can be an incredibly daunting task. But having children can also give you another reason to fight the disease as hard as you can.
So cancer never even crossed the 31-year-old accountant’s mind when he started having random bouts of chest pain last fall. The father of two even got a COVID-19 test, which was negative, and decided to forget about his odd symptom for the time being. But eventually, his chest pain became so unbearable that one night he couldn’t sleep lying down flat. Then, he fainted, and his wife called 911. He was rushed to the hospital and fainted three more times.
Read MoreBut, thankfully, another doctor stepped in to help. Dr. Robert Cusimano, a cardiac surgeon at Toronto General Hospital who specializes in heart cancer, knew they had options for treating the deadly disease even though Mangan’s condition was dire his tumor had caused fluid to build up around the sac surrounding his heart causing chest pain and moments when his heart stopped.
"It’s a very rapidly lethal cancer. The average life span, if you leave it untreated, is about two months," Cusimano told TODAY. "These people are being told to 'Go home and die. There’s nothing we can do for you,' but in fact, there is."
Treatment began with a biopsy and chemotherapy to shrink the tumor. After six months of chemotherapy, his tumor shrank away from important structures and the doctor was able to operate on May 5.
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The open-heart surgery lasted more than six hours, and Cusimano removed two blood vessels, removed a heart valve and rebuilt about a quarter of Mangan's heart. Thankfully, post-surgery check-ins have been good, and lab results showed no cancer left behind. Now Mangan is in recovery mode and embracing a much more positive outlook on his cancer journey.
"I don’t feel any anger or disappointment that it happened to me. Obviously, I wish that it didn’t happen," he said. "(But) everything that needed to go right for me when I had the worst odds did… I feel very lucky with the way that things turned out."
Understanding Cardiac Sarcoma
Ross Mangan’s cancer, cardiac sarcoma, is a type of tumor that occurs in the heart. Cardiac sarcoma is a primary malignant (cancerous) tumor meaning it originates in the heart, but it’s important to note that primary tumors of the heart are rare. According to Stanford Health Care, over 75 percent of primary cardiac tumors are benign (non-cancerous).
We don’t know exactly what type of cardiac sarcoma Mangan has, but cardiac sarcomas are most often a type of sarcoma called angiosarcoma. This sarcoma usually begins in the right atrium (right upper chamber) of the heart, or on the pericardium (outer surface) of the heart with about 80 percent occurring in the right atrium. When this happens, it blocks the inflow or outflow of blood potentially leading to swelling of the feet, legs, ankles and/or abdomen as well as distension of the neck veins.
Treatment of this disease can vary greatly depending on the location and size of the tumor. Luckily for Mangan, his tumor had not spread outside of his heart before doctors caught the cancer. However, Stanford Health Care says that 80 percent of cases where symptoms are present involve metastasis which means the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body beyond the heart. This can make treatment much more challenging, so it’s important to always consult your doctor if you think anything is off.
Facing Cancer as a Parent
When Ross Mangan first found out about his cancer, his mind immediately went to the place where many parents’ minds do: his children.
“It was the worst day,” Mangan told TODAY. “My wife was there and we just started crying, and I started thinking about my kids.”
Thankfully, Mangan is doing much better today, and he’s recovering at home enjoying some quality time with his three and four-year-old kids. But facing cancer when you have children to take care of can be an incredibly daunting task. Then again, having little ones can also give cancer patients another huge reason to fight for their lives.
Jovannie Lorenzo knows this to be true. She was just 32 years old when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, she explains the immense fear she felt during her cancer journey. Not just because of the cancer itself, but also because of her three kids. As a single parent, Lorenzo knew she needed to do everything she could to be around to raise them.
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"I knew that I had to do everything possible to be here for my children," Lorenzo says. "They are my saving grace. They are the reason I wake up every morning. They are the reason why I fight every single day and I make a choice to be positive, to be happy, and to move forward.”
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