A Stage 4 Lung Cancer Diagnosis and a Life-Changing Second Opinion
“HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers saved my life. I would not be here if it wasn’t for them.”
Lloyd of Oconto was 69 years old when he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in November 2018. His mother and sister both died from lung cancer and a brother died of colon cancer. The first oncologist Lloyd saw in Green Bay made him feel like he would also die of his cancer, and quickly.
“She said, ‘Well, no treatment – six months. If you have treatment, it could be a year.’ And then she turned around and started walking out of the room,” he recalled.
Lloyd asked the doctor about quality of life with chemotherapy. “She shrugged, told me not to eat sugar and walked out,” he said. “I felt I was expendable. We left there and, to be totally honest, there was no hope. I was going home to die.”
It all felt wrong to Lloyd and his family. At the time, he was the mayor of Oconto, biked seven to eight miles a day, golfed regularly, played pickleball and was in good health overall. The only sign of his lung cancer was what seemed to be a cold he couldn’t shake and unexplained weight loss. Nonetheless, Lloyd decided not to pursue treatment, thinking the side effects would cost him what little time he had left.
“One of my grandkids was in the back of the family room while we were opening presents and my daughter, his mom, found him crying. He said, ‘We’re not gonna have grandpa anymore.’”
That moment, along with strong encouragement from his wife’s best friend, led Lloyd and his family to seek a second opinion at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.
“Honestly, I felt I’d hear the same thing,” said Lloyd. “But Dr. [Brian] Burnette was so confident. And he sat knee-to-knee with me, asked me to tell him my story, and he said, ‘Lloyd, we don’t roll that way; if you want to sign up, I’ll walk you to the registration to get you signed up.’”
Dr. Burnette laid out a plan: four cycles of heavy chemotherapy, one every 28 days, followed by immunotherapy for maintenance.
“He said, ‘I honestly believe we can help you,’ and he sold the package. I mean, we were in – my family, my wife and I were in.”
His seven-hour chemo infusions were made easier by the presence of his wife, Patty, and a nurse named Cindy, whom they knew from church.
“She was in and out, checking on me and Patty,” Lloyd said. “Every nurse I’ve ever had there was just phenomenal.”
Lloyd remained active through treatment, continuing to serve as the mayor and never missing a meeting. Being treated so close to home allowed him to spend infusion days with people he knew – neighbors, friends and others also receiving care.
After finishing his chemotherapy in February 2019, Lloyd started receiving an immunotherapy medication called Keytruda®, which helps the body’s immune system fight cancer cells. At the time, Lloyd was under the care of Dr. Mike Volk as his primary medical oncologist in Oconto Falls.
“About three treatments into the Keytruda, Dr. Volk looked at me and said, ‘Lloyd, you’re feeling way too good. I think we should request a brain scan.’”
Lung cancer commonly metastasizes to the brain, so Dr. Volk set Lloyd up for a scan at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay to check for brain cancer. Soon after that scan, Lloyd learned he had lesions on his brain, indicating his lung cancer had indeed spread to his brain. Luckily, the radiation oncologist was able to treat it in three sessions, and it hasn’t come back since.
Lloyd also dealt with a bout of bladder cancer in the past few years, but Prevea Health urologist, Dr. Daniel DeGroot at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital took care of that, too.
Through all of it, Lloyd stayed on Keytruda, going from infusions every 21 days to now, nearly seven years later, every 42 days.
“It’s amazing how many people you get to know and how many people from Oconto were there getting treatment,” he said. “Every once in a while, we’d all hit at the same time and it’d be funny – there would be six or seven of us all sitting around in a circle, laughing and telling jokes.”
While some of those friends have passed, Lloyd is filled with gratitude for the life he’s still living.
“There isn’t anything I can’t do that I did before I got sick,” he said. “I play pickleball seven years into this cancer journey. I’m 75 now – so I’m not as fast as I used to be – but I’m still a decent player and I enjoy doing it.”
“I’ve got two more next year and one after that, which is three years away,” Lloyd said. “And I believe I’m going to be here to see it. I really do. And it’s all because of the treatment that I’ve had and how things have been going.”
Lloyd believes that he owes the past seven years of his life, and however many years come next, to the HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.
“Dr. Burnette made me believe that HSHS had something they could do that the first cancer center I went to didn’t,” said Lloyd. “I highly recommend this place to anybody that talks to me.”
To others facing a diagnosis and wondering what to do next, Lloyd has one simple reminder:
You have a choice. Choose a team that will guide you with compassionate expertise.
Click here for more information about the HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.
Lloyd of Oconto was 69 years old when he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in November 2018. His mother and sister both died from lung cancer and a brother died of colon cancer. The first oncologist Lloyd saw in Green Bay made him feel like he would also die of his cancer, and quickly.
“She said, ‘Well, no treatment – six months. If you have treatment, it could be a year.’ And then she turned around and started walking out of the room,” he recalled.
Lloyd asked the doctor about quality of life with chemotherapy. “She shrugged, told me not to eat sugar and walked out,” he said. “I felt I was expendable. We left there and, to be totally honest, there was no hope. I was going home to die.”
It all felt wrong to Lloyd and his family. At the time, he was the mayor of Oconto, biked seven to eight miles a day, golfed regularly, played pickleball and was in good health overall. The only sign of his lung cancer was what seemed to be a cold he couldn’t shake and unexplained weight loss. Nonetheless, Lloyd decided not to pursue treatment, thinking the side effects would cost him what little time he had left.
A Grandson’s Tears and a Second Opinion
It was just after Thanksgiving and Lloyd and his family tried to make the best of the holiday season. With tears in his eyes, Lloyd remembered that Christmas was rough.“One of my grandkids was in the back of the family room while we were opening presents and my daughter, his mom, found him crying. He said, ‘We’re not gonna have grandpa anymore.’”
That moment, along with strong encouragement from his wife’s best friend, led Lloyd and his family to seek a second opinion at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.
“Honestly, I felt I’d hear the same thing,” said Lloyd. “But Dr. [Brian] Burnette was so confident. And he sat knee-to-knee with me, asked me to tell him my story, and he said, ‘Lloyd, we don’t roll that way; if you want to sign up, I’ll walk you to the registration to get you signed up.’”
Dr. Burnette laid out a plan: four cycles of heavy chemotherapy, one every 28 days, followed by immunotherapy for maintenance.
“He said, ‘I honestly believe we can help you,’ and he sold the package. I mean, we were in – my family, my wife and I were in.”
Compassionate Cancer Care Close to Home
That same day, Dr. Burnette also introduced Lloyd and his family to a team of nurses and got him set up to get a chemo port put in the following Monday. On Tuesday, he had his first chemo treatment in Oconto Falls at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital.His seven-hour chemo infusions were made easier by the presence of his wife, Patty, and a nurse named Cindy, whom they knew from church.
“She was in and out, checking on me and Patty,” Lloyd said. “Every nurse I’ve ever had there was just phenomenal.”
Lloyd remained active through treatment, continuing to serve as the mayor and never missing a meeting. Being treated so close to home allowed him to spend infusion days with people he knew – neighbors, friends and others also receiving care.
After finishing his chemotherapy in February 2019, Lloyd started receiving an immunotherapy medication called Keytruda®, which helps the body’s immune system fight cancer cells. At the time, Lloyd was under the care of Dr. Mike Volk as his primary medical oncologist in Oconto Falls.
“About three treatments into the Keytruda, Dr. Volk looked at me and said, ‘Lloyd, you’re feeling way too good. I think we should request a brain scan.’”
Lung cancer commonly metastasizes to the brain, so Dr. Volk set Lloyd up for a scan at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay to check for brain cancer. Soon after that scan, Lloyd learned he had lesions on his brain, indicating his lung cancer had indeed spread to his brain. Luckily, the radiation oncologist was able to treat it in three sessions, and it hasn’t come back since.
Lloyd also dealt with a bout of bladder cancer in the past few years, but Prevea Health urologist, Dr. Daniel DeGroot at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital took care of that, too.
Through all of it, Lloyd stayed on Keytruda, going from infusions every 21 days to now, nearly seven years later, every 42 days.
“It’s amazing how many people you get to know and how many people from Oconto were there getting treatment,” he said. “Every once in a while, we’d all hit at the same time and it’d be funny – there would be six or seven of us all sitting around in a circle, laughing and telling jokes.”
While some of those friends have passed, Lloyd is filled with gratitude for the life he’s still living.
“There isn’t anything I can’t do that I did before I got sick,” he said. “I play pickleball seven years into this cancer journey. I’m 75 now – so I’m not as fast as I used to be – but I’m still a decent player and I enjoy doing it.”
Living Life Fully
He’s no longer the mayor, but Lloyd still bikes around Oconto, stopping to chat with friends along the way, and he and Patty recently got a puppy. Two of their grandchildren, including the one who thought he would lose his grandpa in December 2018, have graduated from high school.“I’ve got two more next year and one after that, which is three years away,” Lloyd said. “And I believe I’m going to be here to see it. I really do. And it’s all because of the treatment that I’ve had and how things have been going.”
Lloyd believes that he owes the past seven years of his life, and however many years come next, to the HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.
“Dr. Burnette made me believe that HSHS had something they could do that the first cancer center I went to didn’t,” said Lloyd. “I highly recommend this place to anybody that talks to me.”
To others facing a diagnosis and wondering what to do next, Lloyd has one simple reminder:
You have a choice. Choose a team that will guide you with compassionate expertise.
Click here for more information about the HSHS St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers.