BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — 58-year-old Richard Czosek sort of fell into his career as a nurse.
"My sister is a nurse. My stepfather was sick with cancer and I was taking care of him, stuff like that. I think that everything just seemed to fall into place. It wasn't planned," Czosek said.
But after 32 years as a nurse, and working throughout the pandemic in the vascular intervention suites, this caretaker became the patient.
"It's not nice knowing everything or knowing a lot. It's just more anxiety, that's about it," Czosek said.
Last June Czosek was diagnosed with prostate and pancreatic cancer.
"My stepdad wound up getting cancer, my mother had breast cancer, my oldest sister had breast cancer, my oldest brother is cancer free, and my brother right above me actually just had prostate cancer. I actually have prostate and pancreatic cancer, so I figured if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right, you know?" Czosek said.
Czosek grew up with his family on Park Street in Cheektowaga. Five out of the six members of his household were diagnosed with cancer. He said many neighbors were too.
Areas of East Buffalo and West Cheektowaga have been deemed cancer clusters.
The New York State Department of Health said the area where Czosek grew up was part of a studythey performed back in 2019.
"New York State Department of Health researchers investigated this area of Erie County because of elevated numbers of colorectal, kidney, prostate, oral, esophageal and lung cancers. Based on a review of available environmental data, there were no clearly evident unusual patterns or trends which explain the excess numbers of cancers for the six types that were elevated. However, higher tobacco use in the East Buffalo/Western Cheektowaga Study Area, compared to other areas of the state, was a likely contributor to several of the elevated cancers in this area. Additionally, other risk behaviors, such as obesity, lack of physical activity and alcohol consumption, which were more common in the area, may also have contributed."
But Czosek said only his stepfather smoked; His mother, him, and his siblings did not. So, he questions if higher tobacco usage is the true cause of the cancer cluster.
"We were very close to... a quarry. Across the street was this place called Allied Chemical. Our street was parallel to this creek or stream that used to go through there," Czosek said.
The Department of Health's survey faced the same criticism when the results were first released back in 2019.
But regardless of what caused the cancer, Czosek said he's doing everything he can to beat it, no matter how much it costs.
"The Keytruga is I think $26,000 a dose. Chemo I know runs between $10,000 and $15,000 every week. But I still have my health insurance and everything like that. It bodes well. The other doctors obviously will not take insurance, and that's all out of pocket. That's rather pricy," Czosek said.
Czosek's family is raising money for him via GoFundMe.
"Every little bit helps," Czosek said.
