Gabe's Story: It all happened at SAH

A year ago, I wasn't sure if I would be here this Christmas.

Local Chartered Professional Accountant, Gabe Stefanizzi, is sharing his story so you can understand the profound impact local care has had on him and his family.

It started in late August of 2024. I was coming back from a family trip, and I had a terrible cough. At first, I thought it was just a summer cold – but it wouldn't go away.

In September, the body aches came. I decided to call my family doctor. Something didn't seem right. X-ray results came back with pneumonia, so I started medication... but it wasn’t helping. My doctor requested a CT scan from Sault Area Hospital, and my original appointment was set for December 30th. When the cough got worse, my CT scan got bumped up to the end of October. It was the next day I got the news: stage four lung cancer.

I'm a non-smoker. I run regularly, and I've always lived a healthy, active lifestyle. I was shocked. How could I have lung cancer? But the symptoms added up – coughing, pain in my side, shortness of breath. It was all there. After that CT result, everything happened so quickly.

Dr. Kuntz, my family doctor, immediately connected me with the Chief of Surgery at Sault Area Hospital, Dr. Reich. A few days later, I met my Oncologist, Dr. Febbraro. When we met Dr. Febbraro at SAH, she gave us a grim picture: if we couldn’t find a treatment, I could be palliative in 6 months. My world was upside down.

I spent an entire day in the hospital for the follow-up appointments. CTs, MRIs, biopsies... test after test. My daughter is an MRI Technologist at SAH, and she told me you need to stay still in the MRI, so they can get a clear image. I remember laying there with this cough, and the pain hurt so bad, but I could hear my daughter in the back of my head saying, “Dad, you can’t move. Make sure you don’t move.”

Gabe and his daughter, Brianna. She is an MRI Technologist, and is studying to become a Physician Assistant!

When the results came back we were shocked. My lung had a 7.6-centimeter tumor on it. The cancer had severely damaged bone in my left hip, and my right shoulder. They found it throughout my spine, on my liver, and in my skull. It was everywhere. After my first set of scans, Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Costain, told me that I had to stay off my left leg and hip. I left with crutches, but I didn’t understand the severity of everything that was happening.

I’m lucky to have a doctor in my family. My brother-in-law works at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, and I asked if he could be part of my care team. Thanks to electronic records, they could share the test results with him. He was able to review my records and tests as they were being done.

I was put on some pretty heavy medication, and I was very lethargic. I hadn’t slept in months, I wasn’t eating, couldn’t chew or swallow. My wife was concerned, so she reached out to her brother. He took one look at my most recent bloodwork and told her, “You should get him checked into the hospital”. When I got to SAH, they told me I had a large pericardial effusion – fluid buildup around the heart. This became a medical emergency requiring immediate intervention in the cardiac cath lab. I ended up in the ICU for the weekend, then moved to 3C for almost three weeks where I underwent two radiation treatments.

Given the extensive bone damage, I was required to remain in a wheelchair until my bones healed... they estimated 8 weeks. Between the physicians, the nurses, PSWs, even the caretaking staff... everyone had their job to do and it all seemed so seamless. It was while I was admitted that we got the good news. Dr. Reich came into my room and said, “We found some hope. We found a marker.”

I was formally diagnosed with ALK Positive Lung Cancer – Stage IV – a very rare type of lung cancer which only occurs in 1-4% of lung cancer patients. There’s nobody in Northern Ontario, on record, that has had my type of cancer. The closest person that has it is in the GTA area. It’s caused by a gene mutation. The ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) gene helps build your nervous system and digestive system at birth, then goes dormant. Mine didn’t go dormant – it just sort of laid low. Then, when it mutates, it creates cancer cells. It’s a fluke. A fluke that I have it, a fluke that they found it. I was very fortunate.

Cancer care has come a long way. I was placed on an oral therapy treatment drug. It's designed to help slow or stop tumor growth. It arrived quickly, and I started treatment right away.

I got home from the hospital on December 3rd, and at the time I was still very weak. I remember sitting in my kitchen, looking out the window and thought, "four months ago I went for a run and now I’m in a wheelchair". Christmas was quickly approaching.

We don’t have a big family, but I love to cook. I always make Bacala for the holidays – it's a traditional Italian cod dish. It was hard to be sick during the holidays, but my wife took it upon herself to prepare the Bacala for the family. She took on so much to make sure that we didn’t miss out. There’s been so much support, and I'm so grateful for all of it.

My care team told me I should start to feel okay a few weeks after I started treatment, and true to their prediction I was off my pain medication by January 1st. By mid-January, I was doing more for myself. That's when I had my repeat scan, and it’s funny... the Radiologist that reviewed my first scans, Dr. Jenkin, happened to review this one too. He made a comment in the scan, basically saying “WOW, what did you give this guy?!” The comparison was pretty amazing. The scans were showing the cancer was gone from my liver and skull. My bones were healing, and I was able to get out of the wheelchair. All because of the medication. It was a miracle.

I don’t think I’ll ever be completely free of cancer, but I’m starting to live my life again. I still come to SAH every month to see Dr. Febbraro, and every three months for scans. I’ve been working on physio, going to the gym, trying to get my strength back, and I’m trying to get back to running. I’ve pretty much resumed everything in my life that I've done before. I'm even planning on preparing the Bacala this Christmas!

There are so many things that you take for granted in life, when things are going great. Then as soon as they’re not so great, you realize all the things around you – the family, friends, and people who are there for you. Sault Area Hospital was there for me when I needed them, too.

All my care has happened right here, at SAH. I could stay close with my family, and have visits. I thought about that through the whole process... What if I was in Sudbury or Toronto? How would I communicate with family? There’s no place like home – especially when you’re sick.

I never thought I would need it, but I’m glad SAH has the equipment needed to care for people like me, because of what we do. You, me, and so many other donors who support this hospital.

Thank you for making a difference with me, for me.

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