Story
Dear friends and family, We reach out to you with heavy hearts, seeking your support for our beloved Michael Vitek, who is facing a rare and challenging cancer diagnosis. Michael is an award-winning public school teacher and coach at Ridge Point High School in Sienna. He is a devoted husband to his wife Emily, and a loving father to their son Lane, a second grader at Sienna Crossing Elementary. As many of you know, Michael had his right foot amputated last September due to a recurrence of an extra-axial chordoma, a rare bone cancer with only 200 cases to date. After his surgery on September 9th he returned to work on October 18th, the first day of basketball season. However, during the season, he underwent a second surgery due to new bone growth from the original surgery in 2020. The surgery was on a Friday, and he was back to work the following Monday. With the support of his coaching staff and hard work of his players the Panthers finished the season with a district record of 11-5. The Panthers went on to the play-offs for the 8th time in 9 years. At the end of the school year, Michael was the first recipient of the FBISD John Furlow Award, recognizing a player or coach who has overcome adversity and demonstrated great leadership. Michael has not let his amputation slow him down; he continues to hunt, fish, spend time with family and was able to float the Comal once again this summer. Due to the second surgery, his first prosthetic did not fit properly, necessitating a new one, which he received in August. The new prosthetic fits well and is much more comfortable, and he aims to walk full-time by his niece’s wedding in March. At the end of the '23-'24 school year Michael made the difficult decision to step down as the head girls basketball coach at Ridge Point. He remains on staff teaching Economics and Psychology and is the varsity girls basketball assistant. Since last September, doctors at MD Anderson have been monitoring two nodules in Michael’s right lung. In July, the medical team referred him to the thoracic department due to their growth. After numerous scans and appointments, they determined that the original tumor had metastasized, requiring surgery to remove the middle lobe of Michael’s right lung, scheduled for November 8th. The Vitek Family will be very busy leading up to Michael's surgery. He is expected to remain in the hospital for nearly a week, along with a 2 week post-op recovery at home. We kindly request that you prayerfully consider bringing a home-cooked meal or purchasing a gift card so that daily dinners will be one less concern for the Vitek family. Thank you everyone for the continued outpouring love and support for this wonderful family!
Special Notes
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