Help Rich fight Stage IV lung cancer.

Rich is a loving husband, father, and grandfather, and his family loves him more than anything. They are not asking him to suffer so they can hold on longer. They want him here because they love him, and they want these days to be as gentle as they can be. When it is hardest, he is the one who says it. My family needs me. That is his reason for fighting.

In August 2025, a cough that would not leave and pain in his back led to scans. It was Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer, and it had already reached the bone. From there the year became a long, sorrowful decline. Treatment, setbacks, and nights when the people who love him did not know what the morning would bring.

In November he started chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Over Christmas his blood counts fell to a life-threatening low. He needed transfusions and shots just to stay out of a worse crisis. He survived it. The family still calls it a Christmas miracle, and it took a heavy toll. In February 2026 he started Zeno, a targeted drug for the rare fusion in his cancer. Through the spring and summer the infusions continued, week after week. His counts slowly steadied. His body did not get a rest.

In September he collapsed at home. Fractures in his mid-back had compressed his spinal cord. Emergency surgery fused that part of his spine. He spent 20 nights in the hospital, then went to rehab, hoping to get some strength back. That was only two weeks ago. Rehab has not been enough. He has grown worse since then. A scan just found a fracture in his hip, and he is in the hospital right now for surgery so he can stand and move.

He has not let go. These past two weeks, even with his body failing him, he is still choosing to fight. His faith is carrying him. The family is staying close, loving him, and trying to make him more comfortable. They are not asking him for more than he wants to give.

We do not know what the next days will hold. We love him, and we want him here. Please keep sending positive thoughts and well wishes, and please keep praying for him.

Non-small cell lung cancer, often called NSCLC, is the most common kind of lung cancer. About 80 to 85 percent of lung cancers are this type. Rich’s is Stage IV, which means it has spread beyond the lung, including to bone.

People often assume that someone with lung cancer is a smoker, or used to be. Rich never smoked a day in his life. Lung cancer happens to people who never smoked, and his did.

Testing found a CD74–NRG1 fusion. A piece of the CD74 gene has joined a piece of the NRG1 gene. That fusion is rare. It can leave a growth signal switched on, through proteins called HER2 and HER3. Naming the fusion matters because it can change which treatments his doctors consider.

In February 2026, Rich started Zeno, zenocutuzumab (Bizengri). It is the only FDA-approved drug for non-small cell lung cancer with an NRG1 fusion, including CD74–NRG1. This page is not medical advice. FDA approval notice

Rich is being cared for at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His family knows he is in some of the best hands in the world.