Grzelcyk's dad still on job at TD Garden after prostate cancer treatment

BOSTON -- John Grzelcyk has attended Hockey Fights Cancer Night after Hockey Fights Cancer Night, watching as players and fans have raised purple signs with names on them.

People have fought for grandparents, for friends, for a cure. But, until Oct. 25, none had affected him as much as the one raised by Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk that night at TD Garden.
It read, "My dad."
"It means a lot to me, when he says I'm praying for my dad," John Grzelcyk said. "It's like, 'Oh man, I feel bad for the people that are on the card.' Well, now I'm on the card."
Quietly, John Grzelcyk, who will reach his 54th anniversary as a member of the Bull Gang at Boston Garden and TD Garden in December, had started radiation treatment for prostate cancer on Feb. 28. He hadn't really wanted anyone to know. He didn't feel worthy of anyone's admiration or good wishes, believed it wasn't such a big deal, didn't even expect his son to show up on April 1, when it was his turn to ring the bell to signal the end of his radiation treatments.

But even so, Matt arrived with his mom and girlfriend, there to share in the moment.
"For his final treatment, we had a game the night before, so we didn't tell him, we just showed up, a group of us," said Matt Grzelcyk, who grew up a mile from the Garden, in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston. "He really appreciated that. Then he walked straight to work after."
The 72-year-old is about to hit a milestone this year, finally seeing the 27 years he worked at the old Boston Garden matched by 27 at TD Garden, as part of the crew that transitions the arena for different events. He has no plans to stop, which was part of why he opted to treat the cancer the way he did.
It had been discovered when John Grzelcyk's doctor determined his PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels were high, which can be a marker of prostate cancer. He was sent for an MRI, which led to a biopsy.
It was cancerous.
Grzelcyk was faced with three options: Since his prostate wasn't enlarged, he could have done nothing and seen how it progressed, he could have opted to have it removed or he could have gone for radiation. Given that he didn't want to be out of work or unable to care for his grandkids, Grzelcyk went the radiation route. The course would be 30 days, going to Massachusetts General Hospital -- a quick walk from TD Garden -- each day.
"[It took] about 15, 20 minutes," he said. "I'd come back to work. I worked after. Radiation is not like chemo, it's not as bad as chemo. It's still radiation, after about the third week, I got tired. I took a day here and there, but not during workdays. I took a day when there was nothing [no events] here."
It was a stressful time anyway, with John Grzelcyk also carrying the secret that his son was injured. Matt Grzelcyk had sustained a shoulder injury in January, something that wasn't confirmed until after the season had ended, when he went in for surgery. It meant that John was keeping his mouth shut on multiple fronts.
"There's people that have worse cancer than I have," John Grzelcyk said. "I don't want to say it's normal -- there's no such thing as normal cancer -- but kids out there, young kids that have cancer. Women that have breast cancer and stuff like that. My sister-in-law died of breast cancer when she was really young, she was about 40, 41. So it hits home with me there, and now it's hitting home with me.
"But I've lived for 72 years. Some of these kids get cancer when they're 8, 9, 7 years old. It breaks your heart. If I could swap with a kid and let him live the rest of my life and take his spot … But yeah, I just feel bad for them."
And so, he hadn't wanted anyone to know, not really. And almost no one did, until Matt Grzelcyk posted the video of his dad ringing the bell on his Instagram account. John Grzelcyk's phone started buzzing.
"I'm not surprised by it," Matt Grzelcyk said. "But pretty motivating just to see. He never wants to make it about him. He just didn't want to upset anyone. It was cool to see his strength."

Since the course of radiation finished, John Grzelcyk has returned for check-ups, with his PSA levels continuing to drop.
It has all been good news.
"Prostate cancer is a silent killer," he said. "You might not have any symptoms for 20 years. But they screen earlier now. That's why they have more instances of cancer, a lot of people are picking it up now earlier."
So his message is clear.
"More people should be getting screened for it at a certain age," he said. "It's just a simple blood test to find out your PSA levels and, after that, that's when you talk to your doctor and he'll either send you to a urologist and they take the MRI and do the biopsy and they go on from there.
"But to start it off is a simple blood test."
On Oct. 25, Matt Grzelcyk watched as Mayah White, a 15-year-old who was diagnosed in January with Stage 3 anaplastic large cell lymphoma and whose scans in June showed no evidence of the disease, dropped the ceremonial puck. He watched as Andrew Marshall, who is cancer-free after being diagnosed with leukemia at 16, sang the national anthem.

He got chills.
"I can't imagine getting that news, and then here they are now," he said. "It's just another motivating factor."
Along with his dad.
Fifty-four years and a course of radiation into his tenure at the Bruins' home arena, John Grzelcyk still isn't letting anything stop him. He calls work on the Bull Gang "good therapy," something that took his mind off what he was going through and helped keep him busy.
"I don't think he's ever going to give it up," Matt said. "He loves going there."