ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — An Orchard Park art teacher, known for his popular puppeteer YouTube videos, announced he was diagnosed with cancer, earlier this month.
On Tuesday, August 2, 34-year-old Adam Kreutinger posted to his popular YouTube channel about his diagnosis, in a 10-minute video.
"I really don't want people to be upset by this. I just thought it was important for everyone to know. I don't want people to feel bad for me. I appreciate everyone's support. I'm sure people will continue to support. I want to keep doing [puppetry] and I'm going to keep doing this. It might look a little different for a little while," Kreutinger shared in the YouTube video.
His family created a GoFundMe account to help Kreutinger during his battle with cancer. It surpassed its $50,000 goal within four days.
The GoFundMe goes into detail as to how the family learned about his brain tumor, on July 13, while playing volleyball:
"Adam Kreutinger unexpectedly experienced his first seizure while playing volleyball with his colleagues. He was rushed to the hospital, where a mass in his brain was detected during a CT scan. The news came as a shock to him and his family. So the doctors performed a biopsy to find out more."
Kreutinger was scheduled for surgery Wednesday morning to remove as much as the tumor as possible.
Doctors want to remove as much of the tumor they can, that would give him the best outcome, according to the Kreutinger.
"What seems to be the unique problem with my situation is the size, location and shape of the tumor is in a place where they can't really get to it easily. They're afraid that if they try to remove too much, it could do too much damage to the brain where I could risk losing mobility, body movement, use of a leg, or an arm. Many other cognitive potential problems," Kreutinger explained in his YouTube video.
On Saturday, his wife, Maria, shared that Adam suffered another seizure which "resulted in an injury". Fortunately, "scans did not show any additional damage to his over all condition", according to the Twitter post.
https://t.co/fRynN6cck8
— Adam Kreutinger (@AdamKreutinger) August 6, 2022
Update. pic.twitter.com/loznWC83JW
Along with being a teacher for about a decade, Kreutinger is a father of two children, a husband, a puppeteer, a YouTuber and a writer.
In a statement sent to 7 News on Tuesday, Adam Kreutinger said:
"Thank you everyone for your support and kindness during this time. My family and I are beyond grateful by how many have reach out to support us. Please wish me well. I look forward to getting back to the Puppet Nerd Studio soon! We plan to keep people updated. To pass time during recovery, I would love to see some videos or pictures of anyone making puppets or performing puppet skits they made. Use the hashtag #PuppetNerd so I can receive them. Thank you again And keep making puppets!"
Adam Kreutinger
Kreutinger shared an update post-surgery Thursday afternoon, on Facebook,"So far things seem to have gone as good as they possibly could have. As effects of surgery ware off from yesterday, I am definitely feeling it more today and pretty exhausted."
Health updates will be shared on the Adam Kreutinger's "Kreutinger Puppets" Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.
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