On June 1, 2025, Daniel Litwicki was the keynote speaker at the National Cancer Survivor's Day Event hosted by Power's Health in Crown Point, IN. Daniel shared his story with a crowd of survivors, family members, medical professionals and community organizations who gathered in support of survivors. Here is Daniel's story in his own words:
Hello everyone, my name is Daniel Litwicki. I am 32 years old and have been under Dr. Kassar's care for the past eight years—come this October. It's been one hell of a ride, but this wonderful man and his amazing staff never gave up on me.
Here's my story: In the summer of 2017, I started getting numbness in my left leg and headaches. At first, the symptoms came once a week and only lasted about five minutes. That then progressed to three days a week and eventually increased to every day for an hour.
Being a hard-headed 24-year-old, I thought nothing of it. But in September of 2017, I had an MRI on my brain, which showed two golf ball-sized tumors—one on each side of my brain. The doctor I was referred to before Dr. Kassar told me to go to the hospital immediately. But again, me being a big, bad 24-year-old, worked on Friday, then went out with friends on Friday and Saturday. I felt better on Sunday morning and expected to go to work on Monday.
When I woke up on Monday, I could hear my alarm going off, but I couldn't see anything. Luckily, my dad hadn't yet left for work. He rushed me to the hospital. I had PET scans and pretty much every type of test imaginable done.The tests showed masses in my brain, spine, as well as tumors in my lungs, lymph nodes, and adrenal glands. On October 6, 2017, I had my first brain surgery to remove one golf ball-sized tumor. Eight days later, I had my second brain surgery to remove the other tumor on the opposite side of my brain.
My parents were told that I would probably be dead within six months to a year, but Dr. Kassar had a different plan.
I was in the hospital from October until December 22. I did a trial of a full dose of an immunotherapy drug that put me into a coma for four and a half days. I gave my sister the best birthday gift on December 8—her birthday—when I finally urinated. The doctors told my family that’s what needed to happen to know my organs were starting to heal, and they took me off the vent. I had radiation therapy at Dr. Blonigen’s office. I’ll never forget how incredibly huge that room seemed to be. That same year, I had my third surgery to clean up scar tissue around my brain. During all of this, I was working as a welder and receiving immunotherapy at Dr. Kassar’s office every other week. Unfortunately, in 2019, I started getting seizures roughly once a month.
I don’t know if any of you here today have ever experienced a seizure, but I can personally tell you—it is the absolute most terrifying thing a person can go through. You wake up on the floor or on a gurney. If you were in a public place when the seizure occurred, you might even throw up. Later that year, I developed a blood clot in my left leg. Let me tell you—when that clot decides to seize up and activate, it is the absolute worst feeling in the world. You can’t move, the pain is unbearable, and it lasts for 7–10 minutes. Usually, you treat blood clots with blood thinners. Well, that was done, and I developed bleeding on my brain. So, for the fourth time, I had a procedure done on my brain. I began to retain water weight—so fast that I gained 50 pounds of water in a single week. After recovering for a few days, they pulled the tube out, but I still wasn’t feeling well. They discovered my brain was still bleeding. So, for the fifth time, I had a procedure done on my brain to make sure the bleeding had stopped.
As I continued my rehab, I was advised to transfer to St. Catherine’s Rehab Facility. Then, on Valentine’s Day, my blood pressure became uncontrollable. I guess I wasn’t meant to have a valentine or any chocolate candy. And then came the year everyone hated—COVID. I had to learn how to do things from home. At first, I was on oxygen because I was so immunocompromised. It was scary to be at home and hear a machine next to you, monitoring your breathing. I had to learn how to walk three separate times.
Then something changed. I wasn’t hurting all the time. My body wasn’t so achy anymore. Immunotherapy every other week didn’t seem so bad—especially because I only had to get Opdivo through my port for 40 minutes.
To all of you here right now who have to sit all day, or even for four hours, and get the drug injected into your port—you are the true warriors. I personally don’t know if I could sit there like that. Please take a moment and give yourselves a round of applause.
I’ll leave you with this: You can do it. You just have to truly believe you can find something to fight for.
For me, I have two nieces, Lyla and Kay, who were five and two at the time. I wanted to be an uncle to them—not a gravesite for them to visit. I wanted to make memories with them. My nieces are now 12 and 9, and we’ve made a ton of memories.
I couldn’t imagine putting my family through the pain of not having me there. So, I fought for them. All of them—my cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, mom, and my dad. They are what kept me going.
And in October, thanks to Dr. Kassar and his staff, it will be a total of eight years of life that he has given me. I personally feel I will have many more.
Stay strong. Never give up. And always know that you can defy the odds. I’m living proof.
Thank you for listening to my story. Keep fighting, and don’t ever give up. Thank you.