Cancer survivor still fights disease as fundraiser, volunteer

Although his personal journey with cancer may very well be complete, Frank Arostegui won't stop battling the disease.

Others need help fighting, and Arostegui aims to help as many people as he can - as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society and as the driving force behind a campaign designed to raise awareness of cancer and promote prevention through healthy lifestyles among his co-workers while collecting $20,000 this year for ACS programs.

Arostegui, of Aurora, is spearheading the campaign at Carol Stream-based printer American Litho, where he is vice president of sales. He's planned a year's worth of events to hit the fundraising target and to help educate employees and others.

In some ways, his mission was set for him the day he was diagnosed.

Battling the disease

Arostegui's own fight with squamous cell carcinoma - a type of skin cancer - started in 2008. While lifting weights at the gym one day, he nicked himself on the head.

It seemed minor at the time, but that small injury did not seem to heal, Arostegui said, and even antibiotics did not help. Eventually, Arostegui got a biopsy. The results were positive: he had cancer.

Just a few months before, Arostegui said, he had learned he had an immune deficiency, meaning he lacked the main antibodies that can fight certain types of cancer.

"How I got the actual cancer is I just literally couldn't fight it," Arostegui said. "And I had unfortunately spent a lot of time as a kid in the sun, on boats, in the water, and I didn't protect myself."

Arostegui heard the bad news just before he, his wife and his three young daughters were set to go on vacation to see his father in North Carolina.

"I said to them, 'I'll come in after my vacation,' " Arostegui said. "The nurse said, 'You don't understand, this is life-threatening. We need to see you Monday morning.' "

Once the nurse said it was life-threatening, Arostegui remembers, he broke down in tears. His wife came running in and also began to cry, he said.

"Of course, we had to cancel vacation, which just made everything that much worse," Arostegui said.

After that day, Arostegui went through a few surgeries and is now a survivor, though he says it takes a few years to be truly cancer-free.

But surviving was not enough for Arostegui.

Dedication to service

About a year ago, Arostegui walked out of a Warrenville gym after a workout and met a man getting out of a Rolls-Royce - a "beautiful car," Arostegui remembers. He told the man it was a nice car.

"And his exact words were to me, 'Yes it is,' " Arostegui said, laughing.

What started out as a conversation about the car left Arostegui with a valuable life lesson that inspired him to help others.

"He says, 'But let me just tell you,' " Arostegui recounted, " 'It's not the money, it's not the material things that matter in life. It's what you do for your family and your community.' "

So Arostegui went back home, showered and went straight to an American Cancer Society office in Batavia to offer his help.

"I introduced myself, and I said, 'I want to get started. I want to give back. I want to contribute and I want to be part of this American Cancer Society volunteer program,' " he said.

Looking back on his own battle with cancer, Arostegui said he remembers asking a radiologist whether she could determine who would survive the disease and who would not. When she said she could, he asked her how.

"She said it's all about the support. It's all about, do they believe that they're going to survive," Arostegui said. "And it's all about their friends and their family, their support, the people that support them to get through it."

He knew that once he got through his own experience, he wanted to give back, but Arostegui just didn't know how. The conversation with the man in the Rolls-Royce made everything clear.

"In a moment of clarity, if you will, I knew I needed to get involved with the American Cancer Society to give back to those people that are in need, to those people that don't have friends, that don't have family, that have limited support," Arostegui said.

Helping Out

Ever since that decision, Arostegui has tried to help out with the support of his company.

He put together a team from American Litho to participate last year in the company's first Relay For Life. They raised $3,500.

Arostegui is also a member of the DuPage County Regional Leadership Board for the American Cancer Society.

And now he is leading his company on a mission to raise $20,000 for the society this year.

American Litho President Mike Fontana said Arostegui brought the idea of a fundraising and education campaign to upper management, who thought it was perfect.

Throughout the yearlong campaign, American Litho is hosting monthly events to raise awareness and money, as well as to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Some of the company's campaign events and projects include participating in this year's Relay For Life, creating a cookbook of healthy recipes to sell, discussing how to lead a healthy lifestyle and reduce cancer risks, and motivating employees and their friends and family to get tested for colon cancer.

Other parts of the campaign include a fundraiser at Bulldog Ale House in Carol Stream in July, and a hockey event in August.

Arostegui's work and attitude are not going unnoticed by those who know him.

"Frank's a great person, he's a great employee, he's a great salesman," Fontana said. "He's giving, caring, follows through on what he says. He really is a nice guy."

And as a cancer survivor, Arostegui has some advice for those who are still battling the disease.

"You can never give up. You can never stop believing," he said. "And at the end of the day, you have to learn to lean on those people that are there to help you, that love you and support you."