"Lawrence is the best place to have cancer" - Mat Schwenk's story

Mat Schwenk started to notice that his breathing was off. He could take normal breaths, but he struggled to take deep ones. In the midst of a recent move to Lawrence and other major life events, he thought the cause must be stress, anxiety or lingering COVID symptoms. That all changed when he received a phone call following his chest X-ray.

“I was driving my kids to their first day of school when I got a phone call from LMH Health about my X-ray results,” Mat said. “They said I needed to come in for a CT scan immediately. My first thought was, ‘This is something serious.’”

Jodie Barr, DO

Mat hurried into LMH Health for his scan, and then met with Jodie Barr, DO, an oncologist with the LMH Health Cancer Center. She explained that they had found a potentially cancerous tumor pressing against his trachea, and more scans were needed.

“I was able to get in for a biopsy within a few days,” Mat said. “Dr. Barr knew it was cancerous before the CT scan results came back- she knew it from the blood levels and sort of prepared me for it psychologically.”

This type of tumor is a rare form of testicular cancer that formed when Mat was a baby. The tumor was caused by leftover embryonic tissue that traveled up in the body to rest behind his breastbone near the trachea. Over time, the tissue grew and developed into a cancerous tumor.

“Less than five percent of the population has this disease,” Dr. Barr explained. “With Mat’s case, he leans into that percentage, making his diagnosis very rare.”

Treatment begins

The initial treatment for a mediastinal germ cell tumor is aggressive chemotherapy. If some tissue remains after chemo and further scans, surgery is needed to remove the remnants.

Within an hour of the diagnosis, Mat checked into LMH Health and was scheduled to start chemo the following morning. He was prepped to complete four rounds of chemo which would each last eight hours.

“After just one round, I remember telling Dr. Barr, ‘I can breathe again,’” said Mat.

The treatment was shrinking his tumor, but Mat struggled from the side effects of chemo. For the next couple months, he was in and out of the hospital and started to fear that he was going to fail.

“It’s not just the chemo and the reaction to chemo--it’s the side effects of the chemo,” said Heather Schwenk, Mat’s wife. “His red blood cells were too low, and he needed a transfusion. We had many ER visits from the side effects. We were worried about brain bleeding, and it all became overwhelming.”

Into surgery

Following chemo, the tumor shrank 60 percent in size. Mat was now able to have the remaining tumor tissue surgically removed. He was referred to a subspecialty center for his surgery that was performed just three days before Christmas.

“I was sad to be in the hospital over the holidays without my family.” Mat said. “On top of that, it was a serious surgery with tons of needles, IVs and tubes which was uncomfortable and mentally challenging.”

Several days after treatment, Mat was able to return to LMH Health for care. When he was 45 days post-operation, the doctors confirmed that his tumor had been entirely removed and no cancer cells remained. Soon he was back to doing household chores, driving and getting back into his routine. On February 16, 2023, Mat was declared cancer-free.

Support from LMH Health and the Lawrence community

Mat and Heather Schwenk

The Schwenk family endured many obstacles throughout their cancer journey such as rearranging important celebrations, missing out on holidays as a family, coordinating child care and pausing work. Mat is thankful to his family and friends for their support, but most of all to Heather.

“Comically, I scrolled to the bottom of Instagram for entertainment during all this,” said Mat. “But really, I would say my wonderful wife got me through it. She just kept the things going and kept life as normal as possible for our family which allowed me to have some space to just go through it.”

Despite the stress and series of hospital visits, Mat looks back with fondness on the care he received throughout his cancer journey at LMH Health.

“Dr. Barr is straight from heaven,” he said. “I remember her saying at our first appointment ‘We are going to take care of you,’ and those words meant the most because you feel very lonely and scared with your diagnosis. Part of what got me through this journey was Dr. Barr’s confidence about curing my cancer.”

Mat’s gratitude extends to the entire nursing staff and how they rallied behind him to provide the best care possible.

“The oncology and hospital floor nurses were incredible and checked up on me throughout my several weeks of chemo,” he said. “During that first week, there was an amazing overnight nurse at LMH Health, and man, she just got it. She got me.”

The support didn’t stop at LMH Health. The Schwenks moved to Lawrence in 2020 and were overwhelmed by the community’s acts of service and kindness. Neighbors they hadn’t gotten to know yet wrote their family notes, parents at school brought them food and the community vowed to pray for their family and Mat’s recovery.

“Lawrence reached out and the support was sincere, deep and profound from the community at large,” said Heather. “It was very overwhelming being new and knowing how much people cared. Not only did people really show up for us, but they truly meant it.”

Heather made a shirt for Mat to support him and bring positivity in the midst of very difficult times for him and their family – one that boasts “Lawrence is the best place to have cancer.” He wore his shirt to see Dr. Barr the day of the good news – the day Mat officially beat cancer.

“Mat’s shirt is awesome because it shows you the quality of care we give, but also the personalized care that’s close to home,” said Barr. “That’s exactly what we are about at LMH Health.”

Mat is grateful to have his life back and only has kind words to say about LMH Health. After a long and challenging journey, he wears his shirt confidently and cancer-free.