STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — They say every great man has a story to tell.
But this Staten Island son brings it to another level. A few years back when Rob Ricco saw his reflection in the mirror, he noticed there was a slight difference on one side of his neck compared to the other, he reported to Prevention magazine, where his story was first reported. The next morning, the Castleton Corners resident, 55 at the time, made an appointment with his physician, Dr.
Edward Levine, a doctor of internal medicine in Dongan Hills. They decided to schedule a few tests to ascertain whether or not it was something to act on. Ricco followed up with testing at Regional Radiology.
Two days later, Dr. Levine called him into the office. Ricco was suspicious that there was something wrong.
He was told tests revealed it was cancer. And with that diagnosis Ricco immediately placed a phone call to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. “It took two weeks to get in,” he recalled.
“They ran all kinds of tests and at first they thought it was lymphoma and couldn’t locate the cancer. But within a short time they learned it was in fact esophageal cancer.” Esophageal cancer is a type is malignancy arising from the esophagus, the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach.
Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. But oftentimes, as was the case with Ricco, it doesn’t manifest any symptoms at all. Ricco said he must admit, the first doctor he saw at Sloan was a bit blunt and didn’t offer too much hope.
“When we asked to see someone else, a beautiful doctor by the name of Dr. Yelena Y. Janjigian walked in and we were told her speciality is primarily seeing patients with Stage 4 esophageal cancer,” Ricco said.
Sadly, in addition to the esophagus, Ricco’s cancer had already metastasized to his liver, his spine, his bones and his lymph nodes. RICCO’S TREATMENT OPTIONS The Riccos — Rob and his wife, Linda — were then faced with several treatment options. They did research and learned as much as they could and discussed options in great length.
“We really went in blind, with no idea what was going to happen or what to expect from the treatment process. That’s one of the scary parts,” Linda told Prevention magazine. “But Rob’s doctor was an angel .
.. she was like his head coach, from the first day.
” Rob Ricco and his wife, Linda. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance Together, they decided on the treatment approach and ultimately on Opdivo in combination with chemotherapy — but in a clinical trial. Opdivo plus chemotherapy was since approved by the U.
S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2021 — but wasn’t approved at the time. The drug is used for the treatment of adults with cancer of the stomach (gastric cancer), cancer where the esophagus joins the stomach (gastroesophageal junction cancer), and in adults with esophageal adenocarcinoma.
“My doctor, actually it was her idea, to do the Opdivo plus chemotherapy,” Ricco explained to Prevention magazine. “With my doctor as my head coach and with Linda by my side, I felt confident I had a way forward.” Ricco, however, wasn’t having symptoms at first, but by Nov.
4 and Nov. 5 of 2017, he felt like the cancer had taken over his body. THE INITIAL STEPS “I got to Memorial-Sloan Kettering at 1:30 a.
m. in the morning one night and my wife, Linda, and daughter, Lorelle, were crying hysterically. They began administering the drugs and within a short time I felt amazing.
I was in a clinical trial. I took a big chance. A lot of people didn’t make it.
I was one of the lucky ones.” Rob and Linda Ricco during Rob's chemotherapy treatments. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance Ricco said that during that time period he never felt he was going to die.
“I was really positive that once I went on that medication my condition would improve,” he said. And as it turns out later in April of 2021 Opdivo (nivolumab) was approved.” Ricco explains that after a port was inserted into his chest, infusion treatments were administered every other week — for six to nine hours at a time.
And as it turned out, three months into the trial, Dr. Janjigian became the chief of Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Ricco said, smiling. FAMILY LIFE Rob and Linda met in high school.
Rob, a health conscious individual, had never undergone any medical issues and was extremely active working out at the gym several times each week. He never stopped remaining positive and forceful in his convictions. Over the years, Ricco had been immersed in coaching youth sports, always giving pep talks to team members and remaining extremely positive on a personal or business level.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING Linda was her husband’s rock, and his support system, as was close friend Mike Ames, who helped hold things together for the sake of their family. Ricco's best friend Mike Ames, left, was by his side every step of the journey. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance “My family is unbelievable,” Ricco said in his account to Prevention.
“I love my wife, I love my kids — we can talk to each other about anything, and it makes all the difference.” Ricco's daughter, Lorelle and grandson, Michael Robert. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance At this writing, Rob is no longer being treated with Opdivo, but continues to see his health care team for follow-up appointments.
Given their heart wrenching experience, the Riccos now regularly connect and offer encouragement to others facing cancer, helping them stay positive and feel supported through challenging moments or offering non-medical guidance and advice. Rob Ricco and his grandson, Michael Robert. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance “A lot of people reach out to me through social media, and I love helping them,” he continued as he described his journey.
“We need the clinical trials, the doctors, the treatments, but we also need people who can lend their positive attitude and knowledge of the cancer journey to others and that’s what I love to do.” FAST FORWARD TO 2024 AND RICCO HAS WITNESSED MANY HAPPY MOMENTS Fast forward to 2024 Ricco, now 62, returns periodically to Memorial-Sloan Kettering for follow-up scans. Ricco got to walk his daughter down the aisle during her nuptials at St.
Patrick’s Cathedral in 2022 and witness the birth of his grandson, Michael Robert, now 8 months old. Linda and Rob Ricco and their grandson, Michael Robert. (Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance Rob and Linda Ricco and their grandson, Michael Robert.
(Courtesy/Ricco family) Staten Island Advance Memorial Sloan-Kettering has now deemed him cured, in fact one of the first individuals in the United States to ever beat a Stage 4 cancer with a 1% chance of survival. And now Ricco’s a representative for the Opdivo Drug Company and even doing some podcasts. “Faith over fear! What the mind believes, the body can achieve,” he said.
“And good things happen to people who don’t quit.”.
