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My Answer to Cancer
Patient Profile: Stewart Francke
Posted Date: 8/19/2005
We went down to Karmanos Cancer Institute because we knew it was the leading place to go for cancer,, he says. Everyone there the doctors, the nurses, the techs they are all so knowledgeable and caring..
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As a teen in Saginaw, Mich., Stewart Francke dreamed of being a professional musician. And by the time he was 19, the kid from Saginaw was playing bass for Chuck Berry and other R&B legends. He was on his way.
Stewart released a number of critically acclaimed recordings and became a regular performer at clubs and music venues throughout the Midwest. He even opened metro Detroit arena show for touring acts including Warren Zevon, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Bryan Adams, Hall & Oates, Chicago and Hootie & the Blowfish.
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Stewart Francke
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He was living the dream of countless musicians – making music for a living and receiving critical acclaim for his work. He married a beautiful woman named Julia and together they had two children. Then, in 1998, the 39-year-old musician was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
“We went down to Karmanos Cancer Institute because we knew it was the leading place to go for cancer,” he says. “Everyone there – the doctors, the nurses, the techs – they are all so knowledgeable and caring.”
As one of only 39 nationally designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, patients at Karmanos Cancer Institute often have access to innovative cancer therapies not yet available at other hospitals.
In the fall of 1998, Stewart received a bone marrow transplant from his sister, Kit Reece of Troy, Mich. The transplant probably saved his life, but he says the worst was yet to come.
From 1999 to 2002, he experienced serious complications to his bone marrow transplant, including immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and Graft-versus-host disease (GVH). But he says the experts at Karmanos knew exactly what to do.
“I don’t want to be discouraging to anyone because a lot of people don’t have these problems,” he says. “But for me it was a tough couple of years.”
Still, he kept at his music, releasing a new CD every year during his illness. The music was therapeutic – a way to work through the emotions of his cancer battle. And, as you’d expect, his illness affected his music in profound ways. It became funkier, more soulful. He started writing songs about the connections between people, songs about race.
“Since I got sick, I’ve just felt a deeper connection to the rest of humanity,” he says. “When you really get down to the basics where breathing is what you’re concerned about, you realize how many things we all share.”
In 2001, music critics began to notice the change in Stewart’s music. In a May 2001 review, Playboy music critic Dave Marsh wrote that Stewart Francke’s new record was “the most important blue-eyed soul record in a musical generation.” High praise from the nation’s most respected music writer.
Today, Stewart Francke is healthy and cancer free, thanks to his sister’s bone marrow donation and the expertise of physicians at Karmanos Cancer Institute. He continues to record and perform original music. His latest CD will be released in 2005.
“It’s been a harder road than I ever imagined, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it.”
And now – besides calling himself a husband, father and musician – he can add a new title to his bio: Survivor.
 
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