Nick’s Story

Cancer discovered the hard way.

About a month ago Alyssa Magnotti rushed out the office at thinkspace to meet her husband Nick over at the ER because of a ruptured
appendix. The appendix ruptured from a tumor. After getting the results back from pathology, Nick was diagnosed with Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the appendix, a very rare type of cancerous tumor (typically found in patients in their 60’s and older) that can release cells into other areas of the abdomen. Nick just celebrated his 25th birthday a few weeks ago.

Stage 4 cancer and emergency surgery.

This is a Stage IV cancer. Normally Stage IV means that a cancer has spread to the lymphatic system or blood stream. But, that’s not what it means
in Nick’s case. The only thing it means is that the cancer is not contained within one organ and that it is technically not operable (meaning that a surgeon can’t go in and ever promise to get all the cancer out).

There are a handful of promising cancer treatment centers in the United States but none of them are local. Alyssa and Nick are evaluating
between Nebraska and North Carolina to have a procedure called HIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, an aggressive procedure that uses heated chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells much faster than traditional chemotherapy by enabling specially trained surgeons to apply heated chemotherapy directly within and throughout the peritoneal cavity, to kill any hidden tumor cells that may not have been removed during CRS (cytoreductive surgery). Basically, they go in and scrape all of your organs and your abdominal area and remove any unneeded organs, then flush the entire area with chemotherapy medication that has been heated to kill cancer cells faster.

This is a couple in their 20’s who could never have planned for this.

In life you plan for lots of things: saving for a house, family, children’s education, retirement. But, this is definitely not something Nick and Alyssa could have planned for. While they have insurance, the surgery may not be covered. If it is covered, it may only be covered up to 40-60%. The cost of the procedure is between $200K and $300K. The recovery period can also take between one to three months. They will both be missing work for a period of time as they go through this. Right now we have 30 volunteers planning this fundraiser event. Each person is working hard, giving up sleep, essentially working two jobs, with the sole purpose of raising funds to help save Nick’s life. While the planning is important, support and participation from each person out there is critically important.

Please register for the event and help roast Nick’s cancer.

Stories from Nick’s twin sister Michelle:

“Nick was born and raised in the Bellevue area. Right before my and Nick’s second birthday, we moved into a house our father, Jeff Magnotti, built (he is a carpenter). This is the house we grew up in.”

“Nick and I attended Sammamish High School, where nick played football, water polo and baseball for a couple of years, then switched to join me on the cheer squad. I have to point out here that Nick is an unbelievably strong man. Not only did he add physical power to our squad, but he came in as someone all the girls respected and trusted. When other cheerleaders where in disagreements, Nick always knew how to handle the situation in a way that both parties could see the other person’s point of view and lay aside the disagreement. He was a great neutralizer in the midst of a whole lot of estrogen!”

“Nick met Alyssa the summer of 2007 and in 2008, they were engaged. I got to spend that summer helping with the wedding and took advantage of every opportunity I could to get to know this girl who’d won my brother’s heart. I’d prayed for a wife like this for my twin brother! I am continually blown away by her passion, strength and trust in God.”

“Nick has worked for Lexus of Bellevue for almost 5 years now. He is one of the most hard-working, committed people I know. I have always admired his drive and success in the business world.”

Words from big-sister Jacki:

“Nick and Alyssa were introduced through a mutual friend and their first date was a Mariners game. It took a little while for Nick to get Alyssa to fall in love with him, but once she did they
were inseparable, and they have been inseparable ever since! “

“The way Alyssa has stuck by him during all of this and stepped up to fight for him and be his advocate when necessary has been such an amazing blessing to our whole family! They are a wonderful couple!”

“Nick is amazingly strong and has really kept his good humor about everything that is going on. As his big sister, I struggle with seeing him not feel well (he has always been active and healthy) and I know that this is only going to get harder as his treatment progresses.”

“I know that the one thing he has really been missing is playing with his softball team. This team plays for a good part of the year, and he can’t play while he is recovering. This is really hard on Nick.”

“Something else that I think is important for people to know is that with this diagnosis comes a lifetime of tests, travel and possibly treatments, and Nick will never be able to let his guard down. And while we (Nick, Alyssa and his family) so very much appreciate everything that everyone is doing right now, Nick and Alyssa will be needing assistance for years to come.”

“I do know that Nick has always had the dream of one day becoming a police officer; he’s always felt a pull toward public service.”