Young Cancer Patient Determined to Get College Degree

By ABBIE O'RYAN

Most 25-year-olds are thinking about careers, vacations, concerts and the next Saturday night.  

Stanislaw Kij is not wired that way, which helps explain why he is the object of such support and affection from the medical team striving to help him beat stomach cancer.

“Stan is the most selfless young man I have ever met,” said Gerri Neylon, an oncology nurse at Advocate Christ Medical Center and founder of Christmas Without Cancer based in Evergreen Park.  “Here he is with cancer and he’s more worried about his parents, his sister, his classes but never himself.”

Thanks to community support and sponsorship success in recent months, the grass roots, non-profit group Christmas Without Cancer has been able to expand its mission beyond the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On Monday night, Christmas Without Cancer volunteers made a surprise visit to the Kij family home in Burbank and presented a new Apple iPad Air for Stan’s birthday. For the newly minted 25-year-old, the tablet serves as a different kind of vehicle, one that will help him stay on schedule to finish his associate degree in business management at Moraine Valley Community College.

Kij’s condition has required him to take all his classes online at MVCC. The connectivity of the Apple machine will keep him dialed in to all his friends and schoolwork.

Advocate Christ’s Kelly Post, a gastrointestinal nurse navigator, works with Neylon. She paired the need and motivation and turned to Christmas Without Cancer.

Kij’s great fear has been computer failure and an inability to stay on task and keep up with his classes.

Neylon met with her core board members, voted to purchase the tablet and recruited a higher education support company to provide additional services for the Apple product. Through Campus Tech Support, Kij will receive unlimited technical support for any software or hardware problems that he may experience while using the tablet.

The Chicago-area company has pledged to take care of Kij at no extra cost no matter how many times he uses the service.

Last February, Kij thought he was the victim of food poisoning. The persistent pain worsened, however, and doctors at Advocate Christ found a malignant tumor growing from his stomach lining. The diagnosis was gastric cancer.

The young man receives nutrition through a tube inserted in his chest and the stage 4 cancer has spread to his lymph nodes. Despite unbearable pain and cramp-induced vomiting, Kij’s spirit remains immune to his health challenges.

Kij, a former bodybuilder, is 80 pounds removed from his playing weight and the days when laboring was easy at Food 4 Less in Burbank. The Reavis High School graduate was 14 when he immigrated with his parents and sister from Poland to Chicago. His parents depend on Stan and his sister, Halina, to translate English for them.

“Stan is more worried about his mom getting to work on time and the outstanding medical bills that his dad is dealing with than anything about himself,” said Post.  “He has a very strong work ethic.”

Despite the circumstances, Kij is grateful to know both Post and Neylon.

“She’s a great lady,” said Kij of Neylon. “She created Christmas Without Cancer so she can help patients with gift cards and presents. I admire her.”

Of Post, Kij says, “She takes care of my every need when I go to the hospital. I’m glad I met her and all the doctors because if it weren’t for the doctors and the nurses I’d be dead by now.”

Neylon was joined by a few members of the Christmas Without Cancer team: Pat O’Connell and Mona Venegan. The three volunteers were equipped with balloons, cards and treats.

The Kij family had a spread of food  for an evening of guests arriving with get well and birthday cards. Stan’s sister, Halina, translated for her mother, Helena, and her father, Jan. Grandma Kij watched from a love seat in the corner.

Stan’s fellow body builders – brothers Adam and Dominik Bydlon – arrived and teased him about not being able to devour the cake the way he usually does at parties.

At the same time, they predicted Stan’s massive appetite would be back by Dominik’s birthday in October. Everyone nodded in agreement.

As the group readied to leave, mama Helena wiped away tears while hugging her son’s two nurses, Post and Neylon.

“All Stan really wants is to get his life back,” said Neylon.