24 Hours 4 Hans
Meet Hans
In the midst of a pandemic, a time of sickness of itself, our friend Hans began feeling unwell. It wasn’t symptoms of the illness that is currently taking over the world—Covid—but rather symptoms like feeling lethargic, craving sugar, and eventually severe leg pain.
This all occurred mainly throughout November and December of 2020 but was nothing that caused severe concern for Hans. Furthermore, Hans self-medicated and continued on with his normal life and job.
As these mysterious symptoms worsened for Hans he began to go into “hibernation mode”, as he called it. He would do this during the week in order to prepare his body for his long work weekend ahead of him. During his “hibernation” Hans developed a huge craving for sugar, first chocolate and then watermelon for weeks.
He remembers asking himself “Why am I so tired? Everyone hits the snooze button on life, but I need to rally.” He went “all gears in” every Friday at noon to every Sunday at about 3:30 PM and then would crash and do it all over again for the next weekend.
Hans remained immensely positive, but things were not getting better.
This tired yet positive lifestyle went on for about 2 months until mid-January when Hans started noticing some severe pain in his right leg. He hobbled around yet told his coworkers it was just “a torn hamstring” that way no one else would worry too much.
The night of January 15, 2021 Hans recalls that “I went to bed with 2 normal legs and woke up with my right leg enlarged and something was not right. I hobbled down the stairs of the hotel I was working at clawing the metal railing of the stairs and losing cognitive function. My back was turned to this guy named Timmy and I told him ‘I don’t feel so well.’”
“Next thing you know and I’m in an emergency surgery in a mass effort to save my life. That ‘torn hamstring’ I pretended I had was actually a major infection that almost took my life. My family was told to prepare for the worst. Fortunately, the doctors cut a hole in my leg and were able to drain it.”
Not only was Hans dealing with the recovery of a massive infection that almost took his life, but he now had other issues to worry about.
Hans said, “shortly after surgery my doctor walked in and said, ‘Hans you have cancer.’” Hans was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer. He was told he has an inoperable tumor that will require intensive simultaneous radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
“I knew it. I knew I had cancer. It all makes so much sense now. It makes sense because cancer craves sugar.” Hans thought to himself after hearing this news.
Due to the infection and procedures needed to be done for the cancer, Hans spent 19 days alone in the hospital. He said, “My only family were the nurses, pain meds, and my phone vibrating nonstop.”
Hans is now at home waiting to start treatments to shrink his tumor. He remains positive and notes “After day 1 in the ICU I was alive, I can’t do anything about the decisions I’ve made, all I can do is adjust my attitude and win.”
His mission is simple “get through this and get into remission.”
But Hans can’t do this alone. His positivity and light have gotten him this far, but this is a significant financial hardship due to his inability to work. He needs our help to continue this long and treacherous journey. He has inspired and lifted many through his lifetime. Any contribution of any kind will be gratefully appreciated. Thank you in advance for helping Hans get back on his feet and onto the road to recovery.