Cory was a fun loving and adventurous 28-year-old guy. He loved four-wheeling, dirt biking, riding his Harley and working on cars. Cory was not shy or quiet, when you walked into a room you knew he was there, not because you could see him but because you could hear him. He was always the life of the party and the entertainer. Cory never had an enemy a day in his life, he made new friends every where he went whether it was at the gas station or in the mountains on a trail. He had deep love for his family and friends. They meant the world to him and would do anything for them. That was just the type of guy he was. Unfortunately, in June 2018 many of these things came to a stop when he was diagnosed with a very rare form of Multiple Myeloma.
A month after Cory was diagnosed, he was hospitalized at a local hospital due to the start of paralysis from a tumor that the doctors later found was wrapped around his spinal cord. The doctors immediately started radiation in hopes to shrink the tumor to stop the paralysis. As the next two weeks went on the feeling from the chest down was not getting any better but worse. The doctors did a repeat MRI and found the tumor they first found had shrank but another tumor had grown below it. This is when the oncologists decided he needed more specialized care and transferred him to Presbyterian St. Luke’s in Denver where there is a team of Hematologists waiting for him.
At Presbyterian Cory was started on a new chemo treatment right away. The doctor’s called it “the bomb”. Cory was ready and willing to do or try anything he needed to, to be free of this cancer. However, the treatment was not strong enough to shrink the tumor in the spinal cord. He met with an amazing neuro surgeon and they decided to do a surgery the next morning. The surgery was about six hours long and the doctor removed the tumor, stabilized his spine with hardware from T5-L2 and had to use a bone cement to help strengthen his vertebrae because he already had three broken ones from the cancer as it weakens the bones. After the surgery the treatments kept moving forward and he also went to a rehabilitation floor for the paralysis. After rehabilitation Cory received a stem cell transplant which was hopefully going to keep the cancer at bay Cory also took the transplant very well with minimal complications.
On November 5thCory was able to go home. He was scheduled to be re admitted for a second transplant since his cancer was so aggressive at the end of December. However, after two weeks of being home his family noticed another tumor growing on his chest. Cory was re-admitted to Presbyterian that day to try a new treatment. After that day he had many complications one after another. He had to be intubated and on the ventilator for over two weeks due to an infection, fluid build-up and the cancer in the lungs. During that two weeks Cory also suffered from a heart attack and the infection had made it to his blood. The cancer was also growing so quickly, and the doctors could not continue chemo treatments due to the condition he was in. These complications were making Cory very weak and tired but he wanted to keep fighting with everything he could and he fought hard. Unfortunately, his body could not handle anymore, and Cory lost his battle with Multiple Myeloma on the night of December 26th.