Survivor Series: Dan Litwicki

One morning nine years ago, Dan Litwicki woke up and everything was black. He couldn’t see anything.

“I woke up to go to work. I heard my alarm, but I couldn’t see anything,” said Litwicki. “I got rushed to the hospital, and they said that they found a cancerous tumor on the left side of my brain and a cancerous tumor on the right side of my brain. The cancer was also in my lungs, lymph nodes, adrenal glands, and spine.”

Litwicki had stage IV metastatic melanoma cancer, which is incredibly rare to have at such a young age. That morning, the area of the brain that controls sight was being suppressed by one of the tumors, leading to the loss of eyesight that eventually came back with time.

After learning the diagnosis, Litwicki was sure he would not live to tell a survival story. At the time, he was just 24 years old.

“I did a bunch of tests, including MRIs, a PET scan, and other scans,” said Litwicki. “They took the tumor on the left side of my brain out on October 5, 2017 and they took the tumor on the right side of my brain out on October 14, 2017 – eight days apart.”

In total, Litwicki has had five brain surgeries. In addition to removing the tumors, he also had to have his brain cleaned up from scarring stemming from the surgeries that removed the tumors. He had to relearn how to walk three times.

Despite initially being convinced that he would not live, Litwicki found hope. It was family that kept him fighting each day. In particular, his nieces kept him going.

“I didn’t want them to have to go to my grave site,” he said. “I wanted to be there to watch them grow up, visit with them.”

Today, at the age of 33, Litwicki is in remission. He receives regular scans and tests at Northwest Cancer Centers. The latest scans and MRIs are keeping the cancer inactive. Additionally, he has regained full eyesight. Last year he was the keynote speaker at the National Cancer Survivor’s Day event hosted by Powers Health in Crown Point.

“As of right now, I get a PET scan and an MRI every six months,” said Litwicki. “Last year, it was every three months. Before that, I had to do radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.”

Litwicki never gave up, and he encourages anyone battling any type of cancer to do the same.

“I would say to anybody out there that you can’t give up. You have to find something to fight for no matter what that is – whether it’s your family or, like I said, my nieces,” Litwicki said. “You just have to find something that motivates you because unfortunately I know a few people that have gotten cancer and within three months or so they’re gone just because they pretty much gave up as soon as they got the cancer diagnosis. It’s all about being positive and somehow finding a way to motivate yourself daily.”

Litwicki is a living testimony of the power of positivity and persistence despite the challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis, especially a late and aggressive diagnosis. Like Litwicki, others can channel these two tools to help them through their cancer journey as well.