Photo:Emily McAllister
Emily McAllister
Zak and Cori Salazar were surprised with separate cancer diagnoses this year, receiving them just months apart.
But the California couple — who have received treatment at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland — hope to inspire others with their story of courage, perseverance and love.
“It’s not until real life and hardship happens that you learn about yourself, and about life, and people around you, and about God,” Zak, 38, tells PEOPLE.
Cori, 38, was first to receive a diagnosis. The Mission Viejo mom says she was going about her daily business one day in March when she and her husband noticed “a fairly large” growth in her neck.
At first, doctors weren’t sure what the mass was. But after conducting a biopsy, they determined it was cancerous, and Cori was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The mass was removed in two separate surgeries. After the first procedure, doctors realized Cori had “an aggressive” form of thyroid cancer and asked her to come back for a second surgery on June 6, where they removed more of the mass and some of her lymph nodes.
While Cori was recovering from her surgeries, Zak saw an ophthalmologist to get an updated prescription for his glasses. But during the ocular exam, he was asked a seemingly strange question: “Do you experience headaches?”
“Yeah. I do, actually. They’re horrible,” Zak recalls answering. The ophthalmologist then told him that his optic nerves were swollen in both eyes and that she wanted him to see a retina specialist right away.
The next week, the retina specialist “confirmed the same thing,” Zak says. “I didn’t really know what that meant, but he assured me that it wasn’t good news.”
The specialist recommended he have an emergency MRI done as soon as possible.
Zak says he was diagnosed with a “fast-growing type” of tumor known as a grade 4 astrocytoma — also known as “glioblastoma multiforme,” according to theNational Cancer Institute’s website.
Though treatable, the cancer is not curable. Doctors have said the life expectancy after a diagnosis like Zak’s is about 12 to 18 months.
However, Zak says he’s committed to “beating and surviving” his cancer. The family refrains from discussing the numbers and statistics surrounding the disease and instead cherishes every moment together while they can.
Zak was able to leave the hospital briefly the Friday before his surgery so he could spend time with his daughters — Juniper, 4, Delaney, 3, and Luna, 18 months. The next day, the family and some of their closest friends spent the day together at the beach. And on Sunday, the family met at Irvine Park, where Zak works as a ranger.
“It was just so beautiful to see our friends and community come together that quickly and just put something together that was so beautiful,” Cori says.
After his surgery, Zak says he came home to “the warmest welcome.” Family members had helped decorate his home with photographs of loved ones, ensuring every corner was covered. There were also flowers “all over the front porch” and “vases upon vases of flowers and letters from kids” who watchThe Ranger Zak ShowonZak’s YouTube channel.
Zak started the program during the pandemic while he and his wife were searching for educational programming for their daughters to watch in lockdown. “We couldn’t really find anything that was really checking all the boxes for us. So it was Cori, actually, who said, “‘Well, why don’t we just make our own show?’ "
Now, more than 7,500 people subscribe to Zak’s YouTube channel. Last week, a group of Ranger Zak supporters held a lemonade stand fundraiser for Zak and his family, which they attended.
Surgery recovery is going relatively well for Zak, who begins a six-week regimen of chemotherapy in early August, the couple says.
Meanwhile, Cori undergoes blood testing “every three to six weeks” to ensure her cancer does not return. If the numbers are off even slightly, she will undergo radioactive iodine therapy, which would take her away from her children for at least three days.
“It’s really hard because I can’t be at home,” she says of the procedure. “There’s no way that I can be away from the girls.”
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So far, over $217,000 has been raisedvia GoFundMein support of the Salazars. Zak and Cori say the money is helping them support their family during this time of hardship and is going toward various items such as rent, diapers, wipes, food, childcare, preschool and other basic needs.
The funds are also a safety net for the future. “Should the worst happen, we need to know that the girls are taken care of, and Cori’s going to be taken care of,” Zak says. Any additional money would “be donated to somebody who’s going through a similar challenge,” he adds.
Zak is especially thankful for his wife, who has been working hard to support both him and their children during their dual health crisis “with such incredible grace, and kindness, and patience.”
“Honestly, I have an entirely new outlook on life,” Zak says. “It is a blessing, in a way. I feel like my eyes are open for the very first time, and I’m fully awake and aware of what life is all about.”
In fact, Zak believes his diagnosis saved his life in a way and gave him more time with loved ones. “From here on out, every additional second that I get to spend with my family — with my wife, my girls, and the people I love — is a total and absolute gift,” he says. “I don’t intend on wasting a single second.”
The couple also hopes their story will show others that it is possible to tackle some of life’s most difficult challenges and that some of the biggest life lessons can come from the toughest of times..
“You can do hard things,” Cori says. “You can get through anything, although it won’t always be comfortable, and it’s not something that you always choose.”
source: people.com
