Four years ago, when he was diagnosed with liver cancer, Wilson resident Larry Ptacek was shocked, but took the news in stride.

“I’ve really been fortunate not to have a lot of symptoms from this,” he said Friday after speaking at the annual Ellsworth County Cancer Fund’s Triathlon. “I’m able to go to work and enjoy all the things I did before. I’m just a little bit slower and stuff like that, but that could be age, too.”

Ptacek, who will turn 66 in September, is co-owner of Mike’s Plumbing and Heating of Wilson and former Wilson mayor.

Fortunately, liver cancer is not terminal.

“Cancer in the liver never leaves the liver,” he said. “It doesn’t go into the rest of your body. I could actually live without a transplant, but my time would be marked and it would only last so long. So to get rid of the cancer for sure, I’d have to do the transplant.”

Ptacek is currently on the waiting list to get a new liver.

“I’ve had two calls to go in (to KU Med in Kansas City, Mo.),” he said. “I have a blood type that is kind of hard to match.”

Ptacek said he is on the waiting list for a new liver.

“I go in about every three months and get a whole bunch of tests done to make sure I’m still healthy enough in my body to survive a transplant,” he said. “The last call I got, the organ was just about as bad a shape as what I have, so they canceled it. They don’t know until they get it there (at Kansas City) and check it over to make sure.”

The reason why Ptacek was shocked by his cancer diagnosis was because he was “kind of on the young side.”

Ptacek said he realized quickly that it takes a lot of money for people to travel to Kansas City to see the doctor, given the expense of fuel, lodging and meals while they are there. He relies on help from family, friends and the Ellsworth County Cancer Fund.

“I thought I’d be able to overcome that, but eventually I realized it takes a lot more (money) than most people have, even with insurance paying,” he said.

Ptacek is appreciative of the Ellsworth County Cancer Fund.

“They’ve been helping me with some of the expenses on traveling there to see the doctor,” he said. “(ECCF) helps people directly when they need it.”

Ptacek said the cancer diagnosis has given him a new outlook on, and appreciation for, life.

“You’ve got to deal with whatever life hands you the best you can,” he said.

This year, a total of nine teams competed in the Triathlon. They are Harvest Bible Church, the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, Team Maico, Team Mog, Team Schultz, Team Bryant, Ellsworth County Medical Center/the Ellsworth County Health Department, First Bank Kansas and Team Finke.

Deb Mog, organizer of the Ellsworth County Cancer Fund, said this year’s Triathlon raised $40,030 as of Monday, June 13. This fiscal year, which ends June 30, the ECCF has provided $33,056 to Ellsworth County cancer patients battling cancer.

Ellsworth County Cancer Fund is affiliated with the Smoky Hills Charitable Foundation, Ellsworth. All donations to the Fund are tax deductible, as the Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization organized under the Internal Revenue Service.

All monies raised by the Fund stay here in Ellsworth County to assist Ellsworth County residents battling cancer.

For more information, call Mog at (785) 252-7261.

“... eventually I realized it takes a lot more (money) than most people have, even with insurance paying.”

Larry Ptacek

Wilson resident diagnosed with liver cancer, ECCF recipient