Adrian was born and raised in San Diego. He is the youngest of 7 siblings, and family has always been the most important thing. Adrian has added a beautiful wife and three amazing children to their brood. Angela has been the love of his life for the last 13 years. They have a 19 year old son, Armando, who has decided to start his adult life in service of others as a proud member of the US Army. He is currently on the front lines, stationed in Afghanistan. Kai, their 14 year old son, is a bright young man who is also a member of the JROTC. Marlee, 9 years old, is their baby girl and is the actress, director, singer extraordinaire, and is destined for amazing things. In 2003, Adrian was living the life of a successful business owner and family man. His concrete company, Pacific Coast Concrete, was growing and thriving. His beautiful family was complete and life was beautiful.  Nobody could have foreseen or expected what life would bring them next.

In 2004, a large lump in Adrian’s neck changed their lives! The diagnosis was Nasopharyngeal  Undifferentiated Carcinoma. Simply put: head and neck CANCER!  Surgery to remove the tumours and cancer cells was quickly followed by chemo and radiation. He enjoyed remission for a short while and in 2008, tests showed that the cancer had returned. Without missing a beat, Adrian called the upcoming familiar cycle (of surgery, chemo and radiation) “maintenance”.  Every 3 to 4 months following the return of his cancer, Adrian has had to have surgery to remove tumours and suspicious cells. This resulted in a total of 8 surgeries in 8 years. On April 28th, 2010 he had 3 surgeries to remove his spleen, ½ his thyroid and 2/3 of his 10th rib where cancer had been seen during earlier sonograms and PET scans. The cancer was more aggressive this time and had found its way into more areas than previously. After a long and painful period of cancer therapies, Adrian was once again told he was in remission. 

In the most recent chapter in our story, Adrian is still fighting the good fight. Two days after he and Angela had returned from their overdue honeymoon in Hawaii, they received the news that the cancer had returned.  The cycle of chemo and treatments began again, and life began to feel like a broken record, skipping. The cancer had spread to his liver, many lymph nodes and to his retro-peritoneum. Seeking out the best care, with a combination of both Western medicine and alternative medicine, Adrian traveled to Seattle, WA where he spent 3 months away from his home, family and friends. There he endured another long round of powerful, painful chemotherapy. He sacrificed this precious time with his loved ones in the hopes of being able to shrink the cancer or keep it at bay long enough to make it to the day that the Kanzius machine is approved for human clinical trials. The treatments shrank much of the cancer in his body, but the disease still plagues his cells and his retro-peritoneum. We have learned through experience that this disease is stealthy and persistent. He has fought this disease bravely and aggressively and now it’s time for us, all the people who love and support Adrian, to get a little more aggressive with his cancer! Adrian has been diligent with his “maintenance,” but even superheroes need a little help sometimes.

The current protocol of “wait and see” that so many doctors seem to follow just doesn’t feel like it’s enough. Through his proactive research for “a better way”, Adrian stumbled upon the work of John Kanzius and a felt a resounding “YES” in every fibre of his being.  While Adrian puts in the hard work to rid his body of cancer through intense treatments, let us all do the easy work of giving and asking our network circles to help the Kanzius Organization find better treatments and, we believe, eventually, a cure! Let us reach out to our local and national government and ask them to educate themselves and to lend their support. Let us arm Adrian with every cancer fighting weapon that we have available, because we know that he is strong enough to beat this and he does not have to do it alone. We MUST encourage every politician and every decision maker in this country, who can bring about change in our public health policies and contributions, to ask themselves, “What would I do if this man were my father, brother, husband, son or friend? When would I stop searching for better treatments and a cure? When would it be too much money or time to contribute? What would I do to save the life of someone I love, and what would I do to save the lives of the millions of cancer patients who are fighting for their lives and for more time with their families?” Each and every person can join the effort to increase support and awareness of a treatment that will one day end the war on cancer as we know it!