The father of a four-year-old boy has less than two weeks to raise money for emergency surgery to remove a five-centimeter tumor from his kidney.
Shakir Pichler, 57, was moving artificial grass in the backyard of his Perth home last month when he began experiencing intense back pain.
“I went to the doctor after it didn’t go away for about a week, which was a bit unusual,” Pichler told Daily Mail Australia.
After undergoing multiple scans and tests, doctors discovered that the 57-year-old man had a large cancerous tumor in his right kidney.
“It’s been crazy, life can change in a second,” he said.
‘It’s so strange how those things happen. If I hadn’t moved that huge roll of grass and If I hurt my back, I would go on my merry way with a kidney tumor.
Pichler was referred to WA’s public health system but was warned he would have to wait up to three months before his kidney could be removed.
As the tumor is considered large and has the potential to grow rapidly, the Australian father has booked a private consultation to complete the surgery.
Shakir Pichler (pictured with his wife and young son) went to the doctor after suffering a back injury. Tests revealed a five-centimeter tumor in his right kidney.
“If it was just me, I would have just stuck it out in the public system and moved on,” he said.
“But I have a four-year-old child and I don’t just have to think about myself.”
“Shit’s different when you’re a dad.”
Pichler is due to have his surgery on Dec. 18, but he doesn’t have private health insurance or enough savings to cover the initial costs.
“Our friends were asking us if they could help us or telling us to do a GoFundMe, but I was too proud,” he said.
‘We are close to being able to afford the surgery, but there is all the aftercare and loss of income. My wife is a teacher and will probably have to take some time off.
“Then there are all the other unforeseen events that you just don’t think about.”
TO GoFundMe She has since raised nearly $15,000, and Pichler says one of the positive aspects of the experience is the care shown by her friends, family and complete strangers.
Pichler (pictured with his son) opted to undergo private surgery to remove his entire kidney, rather than wait three months for the procedure in the public system.
“It kind of opened my eyes to the kindness and love that you kind of forget exists during your everyday life,” he said.
“At first it just didn’t feel right to me, because I thought, ‘I could have gone public, why should I go private if I don’t have private health insurance?'”
“But the reason is to be here to help my son as he grows and give me the best opportunity to do so.”
In the operation, called a radical nephrectomy, Mr. Pichler’s entire kidney will be removed.
“We could remove just the tumor, leaving a partial kidney, b“But then there’s always the possibility that there are cancer cells somewhere inside that kidney,” he said.
‘So I’ll be the one kidney guy.
“It seems that most people lead a fairly normal life after the procedure and it doesn’t change their life expectancy at all.”
Kidney cancer is the seventh most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, with an average of one in 65 people aged over 85 affected.
A GoFundMe for Mr. Pichler (pictured with his son) has already raised nearly $15,000
Cancer is more likely to occur in men than women and has an average age of diagnosis of 65 years.
Common symptoms of kidney cancer include blood in the urine or urinating more frequently, back pain, a lump in the abdomen, fatigue, sudden weight loss, and fever.
Smoking has been linked to about a third of kidney cancer diagnoses. Doctors recommend not smoking or quitting smoking as a preventive measure.